Guilford is beginning an experiment. Mix equal parts student, faculty, and what professor Ken Gilmore calls “the spirit of making a connection at some level that wasn’t being made before.”
It’s called the Living/Learning Community Initiative, and it’s coming to a dorm near you.
The Living/Learning Community Initiative includes classes taught in the dorms, like Gilmore’s PSCI 330 International Political Economy class.
However, classes in the dorms are only a small part of a much larger movement, says Jodi Gill, Associate Dean for Campus Life.
Binford has a literary arts floor, advised by Doug Smith and Eleanor Branch, comprised of first-years who share an interest in writing.
People undecided about their majors share the center of second floor Milner. The special-interest houses each also have a faculty advisor.
Professor Scott Pierce Coleman’s FYE students live together in Binford, and he often teaches on their floor.
“I think we respond better to the class and to each other,” said Rachel Gavin, a member of Coleman’s FYE. “We’re like a family now.” Another of Coleman’s FYE students, Nathan Sebens, agrees. “It’s a whole community kind of thing. Plus, if you forget your homework, you’ve always got people to remind you.”
“The purpose of everything on campus is supposed to be educational,” said Gill. “That includes the residential communities. It is to make the world seamless, so that professors are aware of what’s going on in their residential environments and so students see that professors are willing to come into their other world.”
The involved faculty stressed that they are leery of any possible infringement on the students’ living space.
“I was really sensitive going into it,” said professor Ken Gilmore, who teaches in the third floor Binford study lounge. “That first day I swiped my card through the front door and walked in and was like: ohhhh, this doesn’t feel right. I respect student’s privacy.”
Gill also said that faculty “just want to show that they really care about the whole student experience.” She adds that they are not entering the halls “to enforce policy or to get people in trouble, or to intrude on the privacy of the students.”
According to Gill, the decision to try the initiative began through discussions between Adrienne Israel, Vice President and Academic Dean, and Jodi Gill. SLRP, the Strategic Long Range Planning Committee, and professors who wanted to be more involved in the lives of their students were also included. “Students were consulted,” said Gill. ” We talked to RA’s and hall directors primarily, with regards to the actual classes in the halls. In fact, two of our hall directors are executives on senate.”
A few students still have concerns about the program.
“I think certain students may be clingier, or need a parental figure when they get to school, so they may form unhealthy attachments,” said Cheyenne Hill, a Guilford student not directly involved with the program.
“I’m wondering whether that’s more of a perception than a reality, because I haven’t heard anything that would lead me to believe that that’s actually happening,” said Academic Dean Adrienne Israel in response to that concern. “I’d like to perceive that we’re all adults. So while there are generational differences, we ought to be able to engage with each other in lots of different environments. To me that’s healthy.