Faculty live with and teach students in residence halls
By Adrienne Frank

(From American Magazine, Fall 2006)
3 of 3 pages

His interest piqued by Richardson’s setup, Doolittle moved into Hughes in February 2006. He’s lived there weeknights for two semesters and has become “more confident and more comfortable” in the community.

“I’ll go down in my robe in the morning and pick up a paper, and have a conversation with a student on my way back to my apartment,” chuckles the CTE associate director. “It’s a pretty good life.”

“I think students appreciate that a faculty member is willing to spend time with them and wants to share their space,” he says.

Campbell, who has maintained an office in McDowell for three years, has developed an appreciation for students’ dedication. He teaches two classes in the McDowell office and when not teaching spends time chatting with his neighbors.

“Some days I will arrive very early in the morning, and students will be hard at work on the computers” in the small lab near his office. “It’s been a very enriching experience, because I’ve gained new insights into student life,” says Campbell. “I’ve learned that they take their role as student incredibly seriously; that’s very gratifying for me . . . to see.”

The program has worked so well, says Hanson that the Nebraska Hall renovation will include a faculty apartment and a fifth faculty member will move into the renovated hall in the fall of 2007. As for the future she says, “We are still developing variations on the theme, and I hope we can preserve the experimental spirit of the program, achieve some diversity among resident faculty, and plan for succession.”

The episode of My Celebrity Home featuring AU was aired on the Style Network on December 13.

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