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Program Summary
The Faculty in Residence (FIR) program is sponsored by the Residential Education Office and aims to increase meaningful interactions between university faculty/administrators and students. The FIR position is a live-in position designed to strengthen the connections between students’ curricular and co-curricular experiences. In collaboration with Residential Education professional and paraprofessional staff, the FIRs are charged to form strong connections with residents and to help create an intentional residential education experience for students.
FIRs support the institutional, divisional, and departmental goals of intellectual engagement, belonging, diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being in a variety of ways, including those that align with their own academic interests and personal passions. FIRs design both structured and informal opportunities for engagement that will appeal to a wide range of residential students. Research suggests that mentoring from university faculty is a key element of student success. Coffee hours, study breaks, co-curricular activities, field trips, community service projects, and guest speaker programs help foster these crucial relationships in a critical moment in a student’s development.
The Faculty-in-Residence is expected to support and abide by all rules and regulations, as well as state and federal laws. The Faculty-in-Residence is also expected to conduct themselves in a professional, legal and ethical manner when dealing with students and staff.
Program Justification
Research has shown that faculty programs in residence halls benefit the students and the university as a whole. Students who have contact with faculty outside of the classroom have higher retention rates leading to graduation , are more satisfied with college , and exhibit higher levels of achievement (Astin, 1977; Bean, 1980; Centra and Rock, 1971; Pascarella, 1980). More recent research suggests that students experience benefits from such out-of-class experiences that include increased intellectual orientation, growth in autonomy and independence, increased interpersonal skills, and gains in general maturity and personal development (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The research also suggests that mentoring from faculty is a key element of student persistence and success and thus, FIRs host study breaks, co-curricular activities, field trips and excursions, service projects, and guest speaker programs in an effort to foster these crucial relationships.
The faculty members involved with students in out-of-classroom experiences also benefit from the experience. Faculty gain a greater understanding of students’ needs, expectations, strengths, and weaknesses which can lead to better structured academic expectations and challenges, and a reduction of misunderstandings (Pascarella, 1975). In addition, faculty members in the program have an increased knowledge of campus resources available to students.
Program Goals
The Faculty in Residence program strives to create vibrant and engaging learning communities for our students within the residence halls as a way of integrating students' academic experiences with their residential lives. The program offers students the benefits of "small college" life within the larger contexts of both the University and the City of San Diego, facilitating the development of mentoring relationships between faculty and students. FIRs collaborate with one another, and with various Residential Education staff to create a sense of belonging and to implement co-curricular programs that foster interactions between faculty and students. The following goals have been identified:
Goal # 1
To increase faculty presence and enhance the sense of community in the residential environment.
Goal # 2
To increase academic engagement and academic role modeling in the residential environment.
Goal # 3
To promote personal and intellectual growth and development of students through participation in intentional and meaningful co-curricular opportunities (on and off campus) that promote student learning and community building.
Goal # 4
To connect more faculty (within and outside of the Faculty in Residence Program) with residential, programmatic initiatives.
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