Faculty-Student Mini Grant Summaries

Faculty-Student Connection Mini Grant Summaries

Student-Faculty Luncheon
AGEDS Learning Community
Michael Retallick
In a seminar, students, with the guidance of the peer mentors, developed a list of questions to ask the faculty members then met with them individually prior to the luncheon. Also at that time, students drew names of the faculty members. Students made appointments to meet with their faculty member. At the luncheon, each individual introduced the other. The event was very laid back and provided an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to get to know one another.

Student-Faculty Dinner and Musical
Agricultural Business Learning Community
Laura Bortz
Students had dinner with faculty at Hickory Park. Some of the faculty members brought their spouses and one brought his daughter. This was a great way for students to get to know the professors on a more personal note. At dinner, the faculty, learning community members, and past learning community members mixed around to increase the interaction between the students and faculty. There were numerous conversations held about topics such as: what they were going to order, current movies, how classes are going, and organizations the students are involved in, and their upcoming exam. After dinner, everyone attended Oklahoma together.

Play, Dinner, and Discussion
NREM Learning Community
Sam Pritchard
Students and faculty attended the ISU Theatre production of True West. After the show, students and faculty walked to Stomping Grounds for dinner and a discussion. The play was also discussed during the next class period, as well as the experience as members of the learning community.

Business Dinner
Horticulture Learning Community
Barb Osborn and Gail Nonnecke
The goal of the activity was to increase personal, out-of-class interactions between students and faculty and staff who currently are or will be the students’ instructors. The activity was directed at students practicing skills during a “business or interview meal.” In our orientation class, students were trained in proper business etiquette and communication skills that they would need for an internship interview and for this dinner activity. LC students elected a faculty or staff member to invite to the dinner activity. The students were required to write a professional invitation to their guest. They requested that the faculty/staff member RSVP to them by email. Several menus were sent to us by ISU Dining, and the students decided on the meal plan for the evening. We requested round tables, table cloths, and linen napkins, so that students could be in a more professional atmosphere. The round tables worked well for conversation between a student and their faculty guest and among the “entire table/small group.” The students arrived early so they could greet their faculty member. A faculty member started off the evening by welcoming everyone and had each table introduce themselves to the large group. The group ate, practicing etiquette and appropriate meal time conversation. After dinner, the faculty and staff guests left, and students were divided into four small groups to participate in a Delta/Plus tool for individual reflection. Then, all groups reconvened and shared their ideas.

Student-Faculty Dinner
Ag Community Encourages Success (ACES)
Helen Olson and Ed Braun
Students invited their advisor or an instructor to dine with them in the Maple-Willow-Larch Dining Center on the evening of the Thanksgiving dinner, one of the best meals served in the dining center, according to the students. An area that could be shut off from the rest of the dining center was reserved. Students and guests gathered in the Maple Hall lounge before heading down to the dining center, and a photo was taken showing the group that dined together.

“Capital Steps” and Dinner
ACT
Peggy Baum
Students and faculty went to dinner at Lucullan’s and then attended “Capital Steps,” a political comedy show.

Student-Faculty Dinner
Ag Systems Technology (AST), Ag Engineering (AE), Industrial Technology (I Tec), Women in Agronomy
Amy Kaleita, Mary Wiedenhoeft, and Sherry Pogranichniy
Earlier in the semester, students participated in a joint activity with the WiSE and Agronomy Learning Communities regarding professional etiquette. Students and faculty then had an all-female dinner at the Basil to practice these skills. The dinner was casual enough that people were comfortable, but “fancy” enough that there was an atmosphere of feeling like a special event. One of the goals of the activity was to foster a sense of camaraderie among the female students, and the overall feel of the dinner contributed to achieving that goal.

Student Involvement with Faculty Research
MELT #128
Doug Beck, Atul Kelkar, Sriram Sundarajan
Students joined faculty for a round table discussion regarding student involvement with faculty research in the Mechanical Engineering Department focusing on thermodynamics. Pizza and pop was served to learning team members and faculty during the event.

Student Involvement with Faculty Research
MELT #122
Doug Beck, Nick Even, Song Kong
Students joined faculty for presentations and interaction for 70 minutes regarding student involvement with faculty research in the Mechanical Engineering Department focusing on internal combustion engines and performance emission on internal combustion engines. Food from Hickory Park was served to learning team members and faculty during the event.

Student Involvement with Faculty Research
MELT #128
Doug Beck, Howard Shapiro, Francine Battaglia, and Mark Bryden
Students joined faculty for a round table discussion for 1.5 hours regarding student involvement with faculty research in the Mechanical Engineering Department focusing on thermodynamics. Pizza and pop were served to learning team members and faculty during this event.

Faculty Research Presentation
MELT #123
Doug Beck and Jim Bernard
Dr. Bernard attended a learning team seminar session to talk about his research area of vehicle dynamics, globalization, and its impacts on engineering and shared many real life experiences with the students. After his talk, Dr. Bernard joined students for dinner catered by DaVinci’s.

Portfolio Review Night
Design Exchange Learning Community
Ann Gansemer-Topf
This is the first year for our core foundations curriculum and all departments have a new enrollment process for entry into the professional program. One requirement for the process is to submit a portfolio. The activity involved having each Design Exchange student bring at least two pages of their portfolio. Students divided into groups and had the opportunity to receive feedback from a faculty member, peer mentors, and their peers. When the review was over, students and faculty gathered in the Atrium for pizza and pop and continued having more informal conversations.

Faculty Research Presentations
Construction Engineering Cornerstone
Kelly Strong and Rhonda Wiley-Jones
Faculty presented overviews of their research programs, and discussed how the students’ jobs as construction engineers and the construction industry in general would change in the near future as a result of the research going on in the department.

Carver Academy and Honors-Fun, Games and Food!
Carver Academy and University Honors Program
Kathy Hickok, Carmen Flagge, and Ricki Shine
A group of students who participate in both the Carver Academy and Freshman Honors Program planned this event, along with faculty and staff members. Students who attended included some from Carver, some from Honors, and some enrolled in both. The students who planned the event led a mixer, followed by fun and challenging competitive games for the first hour. Then a dinner was delivered from Café Northwest. After the dinner, prizes (goodie bags) were awarded to the students who participated in the games and wining teams were announced.