Faculty in Residence Program helps fuse faculty and students

Ellis, who has taught at CSC since 2014, helped pilot the Faculty in Residence program and as part of the program lives in Work Hall in an effort to increase engagement between students and faculty outside the classroom.

Ellis said Work Hall doesn’t feel like a residence hall to him.

“It has a real inviting living, learning community feel to it and is very conducive to learning and helping students find a self, which I think is a major purpose of college,” Ellis said.

Ellis said the program has probably helped him more than the students.

“Being immersed in the campus community has shown me how well CSC takes care of its students. Socially, personally and academically it seems they are very well taken care of and offered an optimal environment to figure out who they are,” Ellis said.

Ellis said the Strategic Enrollment Management Team discovered there was student interest in having faculty live in residence halls and collaborated with several departments to set up the program’s pilot.

When asked if he was interested in the program, Ellis hesitated, but after reading about the success it had at other schools, he decided to give it a chance.

“There were a lot of people who had had experience with it and thought we should give it a shot,” Ellis said. “So far it’s been a great experience and hopefully the college sees it as a benefit as far as engagement, retention and similar areas.”

Ellis didn’t want the program to come off as heavy-handed, but more of a behind-the-scenes reference or presence for students as he has realized how full students schedules are.

“I just try to make myself available to students. If they want to visit, they can visit,” Ellis said. “I didn’t want it to be anything that was in their face. They have enough things scheduled for them, and I just wanted to serve as a reference for them.”

The students’ busy schedules challenged Ellis when planning his monthly programs by the fireplace in Work Hall’s lobby. Ellis has presented on various topics including what the Faculty in Residence Program is and invited graduate students to present what they wished they would have known as an undergraduate.

In addition to the fireside chats, Ellis spends a few hours each week in Work Hall’s lobby, making himself visible and available to students.

CSC student Colton Perkins of Loveland, Colorado, often visits with Ellis.

“I have gone to a few of his programs, but a lot of the time I just stop and talk to him if I see him watching TV or grading papers up in the lobby,” Perkins said. “I think that Dr. Ellis was the perfect candidate for this program. He seems to really enjoy engaging with students throughout the dorms.”

Perkins views the program as a success.

“I think it is a wonderful idea,” Perkins said. “I think faculty members can provide information and advice that other students in the dorms cannot. Obviously most faculty members have been here at Chadron State longer than most students and they all have prior college experience, so these faculty members can sometimes be a blessing in disguise, especially to newer students.”

Edna Work Hall’s assistant director of Residence Life Channing Jons believes the program has worked toward bridging the gap between students and faculty.

“Having Dr. Ellis in the building allows the students to see what a professor’s life is like outside of the classroom, and it allows Dr. Ellis to see how a typical student lives. He said that it allows him to give students in Edna a parent’s perspective on many things, as his children are around the same age as the students here on campus,” Jons said.

Ellis plans to live in Work Hall through May.

“It is nice being immersed in the community of CSC all of the time. Every morning I walk out of Edna (Work Hall), it just feels like home,” Ellis said. “I haven’t had a bad day on campus yet.”