Talking Stick - January/February 2011 - 52

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FORMING A MORE PERFECT UNION

the process of nominating faculty that they “believe would do a good job of interacting with students in the residence halls.” Campbell also suggests reaching out to faculty or academic staff involved in campus committees, as this may open up opportunities for later partnerships. The key is that both faculty and housing staff must be committed to the process. Much like on a playground, the teeter-totter won’t work if one side is weighted more than the other. Housing staff and faculty must have a mutual understanding and mutual appreciation of each other’s work so that the teetertotter will remain level. This feeling of equality and shared vision can go a long way in creating a successful livinglearning community. As Lorensen says, mutual respect is first and foremost: “These partnerships have to be true partnerships from day one. If a collaborative initiative is born just in residence life or just in an academic unit, then we risk spending all our time trying to sell the idea to our potential partners.”

Live-in faculty members also have the opportunity to serve on FIR-related residence life committees, and they meet frequently with the hall director in order to keep lines of communication open. Other faculty prefer to offer segments of their time by moving some of their academic advising or tutoring sessions from the office to the residence hall for a few hours a week. As Campbell notes, any commitment that faculty can make to learning in the residence halls is significant: “In framing your offer of involvement on a continuum from one hour a year to moving into a residence hall with students, faculty can begin to see how their participation can have a positive impact on students without being a burden to their calendar.” In addition, faculty may discover that this new connection with students contributes to their own learning experience. “They may find that the energy and student contact in the residence halls is something they look forward to once they begin to teach there,” Campbell explains. The collaboration between faculty and housing staff requires a strong sense of teamwork, since the goal for both sides is the same: creating a positive living and learning environment for students. As Dr. Patrick Hickey, faculty principal of the Capstone Scholars Program at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, says, “We should all be on the same page and clear about the shared goals and expectations. Clear communication is integral to success, and frequent meetings with our housing partners assist with that.” Housing staff have much to offer in terms of sharing information that will help faculty understand the culture and climate of a residence hall. Though most live-in faculty will say they have no plans to give up their day jobs to become hall directors, they do become part of the community and may appreciate help in integrating more easily and fully into it. Andrew Gurka, director of Living Learning and

Roadmap Programs at the University of Richmond in Virginia, notes that their Sophomore Scholars in Residence faculty receive extensive training: “They go through a year-long faculty development seminar where faculty and student development professionals lead the seminar for the faculty in areas of curricular development, cocurricular development, assessing living-learning communities, recruiting and selecting RAs for their communities, recruiting and selecting students for these communities, and student development and community development theories, as well as the risk and liability of traveling with students.” At the University of Kentucky, living-learning program partners are invited to participate in a portion of RA training, and the morning of that training period is blocked off for all the partners (faculty, staff, graduate assistants, etc.) to join the residence hall staff in their respective communities and begin planning for the year. Collaboration between housing staff and faculty can open up a world of opportunities. Living-learning communities expose faculty members to the work being done inside the residence halls while also augmenting the halls’ programming possibilities. The rewards of collaboration and of mutual respect are well worth the effort of moving outside one’s own silo, and Penven suggests that housing staff be proactive in seeking this kind of partnership: “Look for opportunities to collaborate on small programs. Consider how the residence halls can better support student learning. Often there are circles on campus: academic support, advising, etc. Look for opportunities to join in the discussion. This will allow you to begin getting to know faculty.” In his opinion this is the first step in getting your foot in the door – or, rather, the faculty member’s foot in your door. tS
Stephanie CarterSmith
is the assistant director for residence life-South Campus at the University of South Carolina. E-mail cartersm@ mailbox.sc.edu.

Allies in Faculty-in-Residence Programs
Dr. Karen Jacobs, an occupational therapist and clinical professor at Boston University in Massachusetts, is currently in her sixth year as one of the faculty in residence on campus. The FIR position allows her to act as a role model for students and to be seen by students and other faculty from a different perspective. “The students don’t see my age,” she says. “They see me as a caring faculty member who wants to learn more about them.” There are many options available to faculty who wish to work with students in residence halls. Some faculty members move in, sharing as much time as they can with students and housing staff. Jacobs and the other FIR at BU open their apartments for at least three hours a week and invite students in for programming, learning experiences, and simple fellowship.
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Talking Stick - January/February 2011

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