Program focuses on faculty-student relations
Hannah Whitsel, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/14/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
ASWC has developed a committee assigned with implementing a Dine With the Mind program that would allow students to take a professor to lunch at Sodexho and have the professor's meal paid for.
The program is modeled after a similar one at Wheaton College (Ill.), where Dine With the Mind has been met with an enthusiastic response from both students and staff, said Nancy Kapp, Wheaton student office coordinator.
"There has been very positive feedback from the students, and the faculty have been very supportive of the program," said Steve Ivester, director of activities at Wheaton.
Wheaton originally set aside $4,500 for the program, but they added an additional $2,000 to the fund last year in response to the high demand for the program, said Ward Kreigbaum, assistant provost at Wheaton.
The program at Wheaton is run by the Student Activities Office, which changed the limit from 10 to five meals per term, in response to the high use by students, Kreigbaum said.
The Provost office at Wheaton originally invested $2,000 in the program, and the human resources office agreed to match that amount when the program was expanded to include staff members, Kapp said.
Academic Affairs hopes that the program might help improve relationships between students and professors, which have suffered in the last couple of years.
Vice president of academic affairs Michael Le Roy proposed the program to ASWC on Sept. 27.
"I started thinking about it when I saw the results of the National Study of Student Engagement that indicated we could improve student-faculty interaction," Le Roy said. "I think that one of the problems is that we don't have very much shared student-faculty space on campus."
ASWC financial vice president Jeff Hixson agrees with Le Roy.
"This program is designed to facilitate student-faculty interaction in a slightly new and different way," Hixson said.
According to the ASWC minutes taken on Sept. 27, 2006, junior and Arend senator Katie Zerkel commented in discussion that, "One of the things Whitworth prides itself on is student interaction. However, we were behind in the survey, so I think it has a lot of potential to do a lot of good things."
The program is modeled after a similar one at Wheaton College (Ill.), where Dine With the Mind has been met with an enthusiastic response from both students and staff, said Nancy Kapp, Wheaton student office coordinator.
"There has been very positive feedback from the students, and the faculty have been very supportive of the program," said Steve Ivester, director of activities at Wheaton.
Wheaton originally set aside $4,500 for the program, but they added an additional $2,000 to the fund last year in response to the high demand for the program, said Ward Kreigbaum, assistant provost at Wheaton.
The program at Wheaton is run by the Student Activities Office, which changed the limit from 10 to five meals per term, in response to the high use by students, Kreigbaum said.
The Provost office at Wheaton originally invested $2,000 in the program, and the human resources office agreed to match that amount when the program was expanded to include staff members, Kapp said.
Academic Affairs hopes that the program might help improve relationships between students and professors, which have suffered in the last couple of years.
Vice president of academic affairs Michael Le Roy proposed the program to ASWC on Sept. 27.
"I started thinking about it when I saw the results of the National Study of Student Engagement that indicated we could improve student-faculty interaction," Le Roy said. "I think that one of the problems is that we don't have very much shared student-faculty space on campus."
ASWC financial vice president Jeff Hixson agrees with Le Roy.
"This program is designed to facilitate student-faculty interaction in a slightly new and different way," Hixson said.
According to the ASWC minutes taken on Sept. 27, 2006, junior and Arend senator Katie Zerkel commented in discussion that, "One of the things Whitworth prides itself on is student interaction. However, we were behind in the survey, so I think it has a lot of potential to do a lot of good things."
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