The Office of the Dean of Student Life has implemented Faculty Associates and Faculty Fellow programs seeking to encourage relaxed and informal student-faculty relations.
The program was developed by Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell in response to concerns voiced by students that indicated a lack of involvement with faculty. However based on the intended ramifications of the program, students are unsure if significant change will be effected.
The Faculty Associates Program involves several faculty members who will each be assigned to the four principle freshman dorms including Wolman, AMR I, AMR II and Buildings A and B. Students and faculty will be given the opportunity to create and attend a few non-academic events each semester, which will ultimately be coordinated by the Office of the Dean of Student Life.
The events themselves could range from holding simple conversational gatherings to cooking a meal in the residential common kitchens or hosting a movie night. Faculty members could decide to host a dinner at their home, teach a dancing class, go on a run with the students, or take students on a trip to Baltimore to visit various attractions. In the end, students and faculty would be responsible for coming up with event ideas.
Somewhat different from the Faculty Associates Program, the Faculty Fellow Program was established to bring faculty and students even closer by arranging common residential quarters for a select faculty member and students at the newly opened Charles Commons. The Office of the Dean of Student Life announced its first Faculty Fellow: Assistant Professor Amy Shelton of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Neuroscience Department at the School of Medicine who will be living in Charles Commons for the next two years.
Several freshmen admitted that although the intentions of the office may have been good, a lot more must still be done. "I'm not sure if most students would be receptive to this program," freshman Sheng Fu said.
"Besides, it's still going to be awkward no matter what," freshman Kristy Zhang said.
Additionally, some undergraduates in Charles Commons were unaware that a faculty member was living with them. "It sounds like a great program," sophomore and Charles Commons resident Phil Jeong said. "But, I didn't even know that a Hopkins faculty member was living with us."
The delay in the news can be explained by logistical issues, Shelton said, "It's a little slow to start because [our family] just moved in last week." Shelton expressed her expectations for the program saying, "I do have high expectations for this program and I want to help create a sense of community with the students." This would be developed, in part, through informal get-togethers, discussions and other social events.
According to Dean Boswell, students in the past have repeatedly expressed their desire to have more time to personally interact with their professors. "The program was designed to give students the opportunity to interact with faculty outside the classroom," Boswell said. Program coordinators hope to ease the uncomfortable difficulties that many students and faculty members alike face in an environment outside of the classroom.
Students are also hopeful for the program's success, "Although I don't know much about the program, I'm looking forward to interacting with the faculty outside the classroom," freshman David Attarzadeh said. "It'll give the students a chance to get to know them outside the world of academia."
One of the members of the Faculty Associates, Matthew Roller, professor of the Department of Classics expressed his enthusiasm for the program. "When I was an undergraduate at Stanford, there was a program like this.
Faculty fellows lived in dormitories with the students and it made it easier for students and faculty to talk to each other," he said. "We're trying to find ways to get faculty and students to interact a little bit more easily outside of classrooms."
In fact, Stanford University is one of many universities in the United States that have placed its faculty members with students together in residential areas. Although Stanford always receives an array of evaluations from students regarding the program at the end of the year, the responses are generally positive. Participating faculty members at Stanford have enjoyed the program as well.
Dean Boswell expressed the financial commitment that the Office of the Dean of Student Life was willing to make to the Faculty Associates Program. "We're basically prepared to provide resources for whatever kind of events that the faculty wants to do," she said. "We're not anticipating that there would be a huge amount of financial support needed but we're prepared nonetheless."
Other participating faculty members of the Faculty Associates Program include Josh Reiter, of the Center for Leadership Education, Elizabeth Rodini of the Department of History and Science and Technology, Katrin Pahl of the Department of Romance Languages, Joanne Houlahan of the Department of Computer Science, and Karen Fleming of the Biophysics Department.
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