Prospective
Students & Families 
Resources Faculty-Student Interaction Best Practices
Connecting faculty with your learning community students can be challenging.
Here are some ideas gathered from a discussion on increasing faculty involvement with learning communities.Carver Academy and Multicultural Vision Program
Carmen Flagge
- invite faculty to a semester opening event in which they have 3 minute getting-to-know-you sessions to speak with students one on one – this process allows faculty to feel more connected to the studentsFood Science and Human Nutrition
Anne Oldham
- students invite faculty to lunch in the MacKay Tea Room; the faculty meet with 3 students at a timeChemical Engineering
Brenda Kutz
- students take a faculty member to lunch using a dining card; the students prepare three questions that will be asked of faculty at the lunch, then they do a reflection on the answers given afterward
- students take a tour of faculty research labsHorticulture
Barb Osborn
- personal invitations are sent to faculty for an etiquette dinner; small tables work best for this type of interaction
- students write a paper that the Horticulture faculty critique (topics are matched by the faculty members research area of interest) and then the students give a poster presentation on their paper to the facultyMechanical Engineering
Doug Beck
- faculty talk about their research to small groups of students over pizza, giving students the opportunity to seek out specific information in an area of personal interestTechnology
Steve Freeman
- students tour industry with faculty membersAgricultural Engineering
Steve Mickelson and Sue Ziegenbusch
- students perform faculty interviews in early fall
- faculty provide a one hour hands-on activity for the students to do which offers some exposure to future classes
- mentors take a larger role with increasing faculty involvement which seems to be more effective than having coordinators ask for involvement
*list compiled at faculty-student interaction workshop in Fall 2007