As the end of the semester nears and a new one begins, students living in residence halls should be on the lookout for the familiar faces of faculty members in their homes.

While it may seem out of place for the faculty members to be in the residence halls, the intention of the Faculty Fellows program is to help bridge the gap between the two demographics.

“It is an opportunity to impact the lives of our students directly: to break the barrier of having the professor on stage with students in the classroom, and interact with (the students) directly as people,” said Reed Benedict, a professor and a co-chair of the Faculty Fellows program. “(The ability) to bridge the gap between the faculty and students is a common goal across the EIU faculty.”

In order to bridge the gap, faculty who chose to participate in the program are broken into teams and assigned to a residence hall. From there, each team captain communicates with the Resident Assistants to plan events specifically geared toward the needs of the different communities, Benedict said.

Jody Stone, the assistant director of housing and dining and a co-chair of the Faculty Fellows program, said past programs have included games such as bags, video games, faculty feud as well eating meals together.

“We’re focusing more on the social aspects and hope to enhance the relationship between faculty and students,” Stone said.

One of biggest events for the Faculty Fellows is helping with fall semester move in.

Kip McGillard, an associate biology professor and member of the Pemberton Hall team, said this event is his favorite.

“We assist in the move-in process, carrying stuff and greeting the students and parents. It gives the parents reassurances and is our first real opportunities to meet many of the students and find out a bit about them,” McGillard said.

Other events McGillard, his team and the Pemberton residents have participated in include grocery bingo and volunteering at the Douglas Hart Nature center.

Stone said it has the taken the program (which is in its sixth year) a while to catch on, but he encourages both students and faculty to get involved.

“Students need to come out and more faculty need to get involved,” said Bonnie Irwin, a six-year member of the Pemberton Hall team and dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “It’s a great program but there is room to grow.”

Benedict offers a similar sentiment.

“Students should get involved because it is a great opportunity for them to directly interact and seek advice from faculty and gain knowledge outside of the classroom,” Benedict said.

McGillard agrees.”Anytime students have the opportunity to get to know faculty on an informal basis, it’s a good thing that they should definitely take advantage of,” he said.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-7942 alwywialowski@eiu.edu.