Knock, Knock. That’s how it went Tuesday, September 13, as the faculty and staff kicked off the third annual “Opening Doors...Linking Living and Learning.” Designed initially to benefit freshmen in settling into college life, the event has since been expanded to include many upperclass on-campus students, and serve as a more general meeting of the minds between the students and faculty.
According to Pete Snyder, director of Resident Life, “Opening Doors” was a great chance for the student body to experience their professors in a more informal and less tense setting outside the classroom or lecture hall. Expanding on last year’s inclusion of upperclassmen, this year saw the faculty and staff visiting upperclass students in Quad, BARH, Davison, and Warren Hall.
Snyder said that this year, 39 staff members, 26 faculty, the Grand Marshal, and the President of the Union participated in the event. He added that together they visited about 75 percent of the target audience.
Snyder discussed some of the ways in which the event seeks to benefit students. He said the event allows students to “talk with someone and have questions answered.” More than that, he added that the program provides students with a chance to talk about how things are going with their lives.
One freshman explained what he thought of the event. John Sedlack ’09, a computer science major from Bray Hall said, “It was nice that they came and had a conversation with us.”
This is especially true for freshmen, given the transition they make from high school to college. In general, Snyder explained, the event gives students an opportunity to discuss classes with faculty and give helpful insight into the student body’s thoughts on certain classes. These class-related discussions became more prevalent last year and this year as a result of the program being moved into the third week of classes. The first year, the event was held during the second week of classes and students were not as fully engaged in their normal schedules.
Snyder noted that in addition to the event reaching out to students, the faculty also enjoy participating in it. He explained that “the faculty and staff love it.” He continued, “the energy and excitement [of the faculty and staff]—you could just feel it.” Grace Tangney ’09, an undeclared engineering major living in Barton Hall, commented that, “They seemed really excited to be there interacting with the students.”
As a specific example of what different participants did, Snyder talked about how Jody Malm and Cindy Novak from the Provost’s office prepared bags of candy to entice students with into opening their doors. He joked that in years to come, perhaps they will create a competition and attempt to come up with more creative ideas to get more students involved in the event.
