Plans for new LLC under way

A new Living-Learning Community for students interested in teaching, leadership, education policy and working with youth will start fall 2014.
 
This new housing option, called the INSPIRE LLC, is a partner with the School of Education. It will be IU’s 10th Living-Learning Community.

“The idea is to use this resource to recruit the kind of students we want to recruit into education and provide them with the holistic preparation they need to teach,” said Gerardo Gonzalez, dean of the School of Education.

Members of the LLC will be housed in one wing of Rose Hall, which can accommodate up to 54 students. The staff is expecting 40 incoming freshmen and 14 upperclassmen.

The LLC will require residents to enroll in a one-credit class. Judy Crow, staff assistant director of the INSPIRE LLC, said though the details are not finalized, the class will focus on a broad interpretation of education and not be limited solely to teaching in the classroom.

“We want to recruit a diverse group because everyone has something to learn, and everyone has something to teach,” Crow said.

In addition to the class, members of the INSPIRE LLC will do some hands-on work in the community and partner with other established groups on campus, with the goal of exposing the students to new environments and people.

“What it means to learn and live in the 21st century is undeniably about learning with and from each other across backgrounds, cultures and perspectives,” said James Damico, director of INSPIRE LLC staff.

That practice of diversity is integral to INSPIRE LLC, Crow said.

“Classrooms today are not only multicultural, they are multilingual,” Crow said. “We want our students to become comfortable around all different groups of people from a variety of backgrounds.”

Gonzalez said another perk of the LLC is its proximity to the School of Education.
“It is literally next door,” he said. “You can look out the window and see the school. It truly feels like an extension of it, and that is an important and tangible element.”

Gonzalez said the LLC was made possible by a former IU alumna of the School of Education who donated the money for the start-up and scholarships for its
students.

Crow said she hopes it inspires students who weren’t planning to go into teaching to get involved in working with youth.

“We want people interested in making a difference,” she said.