Every Monday, from noon to 1, students can find two of their deans eating lunch, usually towards the back of the caf and waiting for more people to join their table.
Dean of Campus Life Anne Lundquist and Academic Dean Jim Hood began the Dining with the Deans program last Aug. to “get students to raise their concerns, and ask questions,” Hood said.
“Jim deals with the academic advising, for example when people are sick and out of class for a long time,” Lundquist said. “I work with outside-of-the-classroom concerns.”
In terms of the success the idea, “not a lot of students have come by, but I’ve had many great conversations with Anne and a few students,“ Hood said. “We would like more students to come; we’ve only seen about eight over the last semester.”
Lundquist feels that people may be slightly intimidated by sitting with the deans, but they are trying to keep the meetings as informal as possible.
Since most of Guilford is on the meal plan, it is an easy opportunity to stop by their table while eating in the cafeteria.
“I love seeing the deans eating in the caf with the students,” said sophomore Kate Doom, Student Union President. “It is reassuring that the deans are down- to-earth enough to eat the caf food and share the salt and pepper with students.”
The deans are willing to listen and help make change for the better, Lundquist said. “I want to hear good and bad things.”
“The deans were actually quite jolly each time I talked with them – very talkative and open,” Doom said. “I enjoy talking with them just as much as I do my friends.”
First-year Julia Hood, daughter of Jim, also had positive things to say.
“I learned a lot more about the processes and legitimate reasons behind the decisions they make, and therefore my reactions were different from those of students who just saw the deans as the bad guys.”
One of the intentions of Dining with the Deans is for Hood and Lundquist to clarify rumors on campus. “We discussed Student Union, Milner’s state of grossness, student activities, upcoming events, my classes, as well as random topics,” Doom said.
“Not many people seemed to take advantage of it, but part of that may have been that [its timing] was not always clear,” Julia Hood said.
The future of the program depends on the turnout this semester. “We’ll see by spring if this is the best use of our time.” Lundquist said. “For me it is not quantity, but how to be where the students are so they don’t always have to come to me.”