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news
Faculty finds
free room and board
By Kimberly
Pasquis
On-line Forty-Niner
Imagine coming
to a popular university as a faculty member new to the school,
new to the state and not have to worry about where you are
going to live or what's for dinner.
This is the lifestyle
for those in the Faculty in Residence program, housed in Parkside
Commons, which began in 1986 with the opening of the new housing
facility.
One faculty member
is housed in each of the nine Parkside buildings.
Former Cal State
Long Beach President Steven Horn wanted to model a program
that had been running at Stanford University.
Faculty is selected
by the housing director through an application and interview
process to choose those that are the most student oriented,
according to Stan Olin, director of Housing and Residential
Life.
Faculty lives free
of charge in exchange for 10 open office hours a week, which
allow students living in the dorms to access professors for
tutoring.
"We are exposing
students to faculty as real people," Olin said. "Everything
we have wanted to happen with the program has happened."
"For new faculty,
the program is fabulous," said English professor Susan
Carlile, originally from Arizona. "I am getting to know
another side of campus and meeting more people."
Carlile is enjoying
the benefits of her first year teaching at CSULB by not having
to worry about commuting or money.
"I am thinking
about continuing in the program until I can afford to buy
a house," Carlile said.
Carlile received
a lot of resident interest in continuing a reading group that
was started by a previous faculty member. The group members
select a short story and perform a read around, then at the
end they discuss their selections.
"I assumed
the students would be too busy," Carlile said. "I
was excited that so many students wanted to do it."
Chris Burnett,
professor of journalism and News Editorial Director for the
On-line Forty-Niner, said he is having a similar positive
experience after coming to CSULB from Colorado.
"It's a good
way of avoiding the high costs of living in Southern California,"
Burnett said. "You never have to worry about cooking."
Burnett said he
believes that the Faculty in Residence program helps faculty
understand what students are going through. Aside from being
awakened by a few late-night fire alarms, Burnett said he
finds Parkside to be amazingly calm. The only thing that Burnett
finds difficult is concentration.
"You would
think it would be strong," Burnett said. "But you
start to think that you are at school too much so it is nice
to get off campus."
Paul Frantz, professor
of international business and business law, is a seven-year
veteran of the program. Even though Faculty in Residence was
designed to be a two-year program, Housing and Residential
Life takes advantage of the faculty members that want to participate.
According to Frantz,
it makes a small-campus experience possible on a very large
campus.
"It is important
to realize that we are guests in student housing," Frantz
said. "The free room and board is just an incentive to
be able to be a part of this great program."
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