Residents living in the Wayman Crow and Robert S. Brookings residential colleges may have noticed a few new faces around the dormitories this semester.
Robert T. Vinson, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and of African and Afro-American Studies, both in Arts & Sciences; and Andrea J. Heugatter, adjunct professor of technical writing in the School of Engineering & Applied Science and director of engineering undergraduate admissions, are the newest faculty fellows in the South 40.
The goal of the faculty fellows program, started in 1998, is to help integrate academic and residential life by having professors live in the residential colleges with students for three-year stints.
Vinson is the faculty fellow in Brookings residential college; Heugatter is in Crow.
“My husband, Larry, and I decided to be faculty fellows because we couldn’t think of a reason to say ‘no,'” said Heugatter, who has two grown daughters. “I’ve served as a faculty associate for six years and worked with 25 students on one floor of a residence hall. However, living with students, as opposed to visiting them, presents a new set of challenges and opportunities.”
She said her primary goal for overhauling her family’s lifestyle was “that I’ve been fortunate to witness the most outstanding work from my own students when I step away from behind my desk and invest some time into their interests and goals.”
“I’ve also watched students grow in remarkable ways as a result of living in the University’s residence halls,” Heugatter said. “That growth is not a natural evolutionary process; it comes from the residential-life staff and from a supporting system where students feel welcomed, encouraged and often challenged to question what they believe or accept.”
Vinson said he decided to take on the role of faculty fellow because of his love for students.
“I really enjoy teaching,” he said. “I love mentoring young people. I see being a faculty fellow as a great opportunity to continue that mentoring process on the other side of Forsyth.
“I’m young, only 36, but more importantly, young at heart.”
Vinson has several programs in place, including a weekly fireside chat in the lobby of Lien House, where he discusses current events with students. He’s also started an international film festival that regularly features movies from around the world and gives students a chance to dialogue about other cultures.
A faculty fellows dinner allows Vinson to cook for students in his apartment, which lets them see how a professor lives. Vinson said it reminds students of home and provides a way for them talk informally with him.
“I was really interested to see how students live outside the classroom,” Vinson said. “We get to see each other on a much more informal level, and I get a better sense of what’s happening in their lives.
“Being a faculty fellow has really improved my teaching, because I feel I know students on a different level now.”
Heugatter agrees with Vinson’s laid-back approach. She said she and her husband make the best connections with students when they are casually talking over dinner or coffee.
“We’ve enjoyed having students at our apartment for dinner and going with them to Wohl Center for dinner or brunch,” she said. “Each month, we team with a group of resident assistants to coordinate some type of educational or social-awareness program.
“Last week, we hosted an event with the Cultural Diversity Players and then facilitated a discussion on diversity, acceptance and some of the challenges our students face.”
Once a month, Heugatter and her husband sponsor an outreach or community-service program with an educational and social element.
“This month, the residents will be bagging laundry detergent for residents at a city shelter, and a speaker will talk about the plight of our homeless in St. Louis,” she said.
“We’re also planning a winter project based on rising heating costs and some of the serious health and safety hazards many St. Louis residents face each winter.
“In the spring, we’ll be hosting a career-development week with résumé, interviewing, networking and meal etiquette workshops.”
Heugatter said her goals as a faculty fellow are simple.
“We want the residents to become comfortable not only talking with but also working with a faculty member,” she said, “to realize that their education is enriched outside of the classroom, and to acknowledge that their classroom extends far past our University walls.”
Vinson said being a faculty fellow is really an extension of what he teaches in the classroom.
“In African and Afro-American Studies, we talk a lot about diversity,” he said. “Being a fellow lets me experience the University’s diversity first-hand.
“It’s been a very rewarding experience so far.”