Western Connecticut State University Housing and Residence Life is a featured program.
“My Road to WestConn” facilitates faculty connections and involvement. This is a dinner series held in the spring semester.
On the evening of the dinner, students can join us to share a meal, and then hear the professor discuss his/her own personal academic journey, what paths they took (other employment, internships, life events, etc.), and finally, how they came to be at Western Connecticut State and what they enjoy about it. Sometimes, this is a very informal discussion around the table. Faculty have brought Powerpoint shows that share photos of them in their younger years, things they’ve studied, or words of wisdom. Students can then engage in conversation, ask questions, and generally just get to know their professors in a way they can’t usually do inside the classroom.
A few examples from the series:
- Our first speaker last spring, a nursing professor, started her nurses’ training at the hospital in Ohio where I was born
- A professor discussed his work with military intelligence and how he used some of his experiences to get his students safely across a border that had closed during a summer program
- A justice and law professor talked about a lighthouse conservation project she runs each summer that brings inner city children to a remote Maine island, where they work on preservation, biology, and other conservation
- Our Chief of Police presented a slideshow about his career, beginning in the military (complete with photos of serving on a detail with VP Hubert Humphrey), intermingled with life lessons he learned along the way that he felt would be useful lessons for students.
The ARM staff recommends faculty and administrators, who we then invite to participate. Our food service (Sodexo) prepares a meal that is either a favorite of the professor, or in some way mirrors their “journey” to Western Connecticut State University. (For example, one professor did some international work in Southeast Asia, and requested Thai foods.)
Learn more about the Academic Resource Mentor (ARM) position.
Submitted by Maribeth Griffin, Director of Residential Programs & Staff, Western Connecticut State University