The Faculty Associates program is celebrating 10 years of connecting faculty members with students living on the South 40. A celebration of the program’s success was held Feb. 28 in the Liggett/Koenig Residential College main commons.
The program, sponsored by the Office of Residential Life, started during the 1996-97 academic year in response to the realization that there was a growing gap between faculty members and undergraduate students. Many faculty members wanted to extend their interactions with students outside the academic realm.
The program began with six associates and has grown to 37, with every freshman floor hosting a faculty associate. In addition, there are five faculty fellows living in residence hall apartments.
Throughout the program’s history, approximately 120 faculty members have served as faculty associates or faculty fellows.
“It has been exciting to see the evolution of the Faculty Fellows and Faculty Associates programs and to realize that the impetus came from students,” said Jill A. Stratton, assistant dean of students and associate director of residential life. “Both faculty and students have gained much in the last 10 years from their interactions with one another.
“It has been awesome to be a witness to the impact of the program and to celebrate this important milestone,” Stratton added. “This University initiative has certainly become a part of the fabric of the culture in our residential colleges. We all look forward to the next 10 years.”
Faculty associates volunteer to work with resident advisors and about 50 first-year students living on one floor of a residential college. Though faculty associates do not live in the residence halls, the program helps integrate them into the life of the floor by allowing them to share interests, both academic and extracurricular, with the residents. Associates receive meal-card credit and a small expense budget for programs.
These faculty enhance the undergraduate experience for residents. In turn, the faculty associates benefit from informal feedback from students, which increases effectiveness in the classroom.
“Like many faculty associates in the program, I would say it accomplishes a mutual respect between students and faculty,” said Daniel Shea, Ph.D., emeritus professor of English in Arts & Sciences and a faculty associate in The Village. “Students who’ve juggled flaming batons at an outdoor talent show, sat down to play brilliant impromptu piano after a dinner at our house or written from India about service projects far from South 40 amenities have a large, lively, even compelling profile for me in a way that term papers alone do not. And when students notice a faculty member eating and thinking at the same time, it may suggest that inquiry and wonder can be part of a person’s life long after graduation.”
For more information, call 935-7576 or visit reslife.wustl.edu.