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"Personal interaction with faculty members strengthens students´ connections to the college and helps them focus on their academic progress. Through such interactions, faculty members become role models, mentors, and guides for continuous, lifelong learning." (Community College Survey of Student Engagement, 2003)
Together with the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, OSD successfully launched a program through which student residents have the opportunity to benefit from spending time with selected faculty members outside of a classroom environment. The Resident Faculty program allows UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty to integrate themselves into student life and provide support for students by living in the residence halls among hundreds of students. While the program promotes academic achievement, faculty members also create an inclusive and comfortable community that encourages personal growth and development.
Resident faculty facilitate interaction and intellectual growth in a more personal environment, such as organizing field trips and hosting fun informal seminars. The professors eat in the dining commons with students and attend student-run events, programs and residence hall staff meetings. Through this program, students are given the rare opportunity for personal growth by getting to know a member of the UC Berkeley faculty and having access to a mentor in a non-classroom setting.
Currently, resident faculty reside in Units 1 and 2; however, their presence is meant to benefit all students living in any of the residence halls. OSD hopes to establish resident faculty at each of the remaining residence halls (Unit 3, Foothill/Bowles/Stern, and Clark Kerr Campus) over the next three years.
© Peg Skorpinski. |
Since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Berkeley in 1967, Professor George Chang has immersed himself in the Cal community as a respected teacher, researcher, leader among faculty and staff devoted to Cal undergraduates' well-being.
Professor Chang teaches in the Department for Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology (his research and course, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology 113, focuses on food microbiology). Each fall, Dr. Chang teaches The Freshman Experience: A Comparative Study, a Freshman seminar for which teams of students research and examine some of the challenges and opportunities facing first-year students. In the spring, he leads Papers with The Prof, a program in which teams of students conduct in-depth analyses of newspaper reports. Throughout his time at Berkeley, Dr. Chang has worked to improve the undergraduate experience at this and all UC campuses. As a leader in this regard, Dr. Chang has served on numerous committees, including The Chancellor's Commission to Study the University's Responses to a Diversified Student Body, The Undergraduate Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Courses. Dr. Chang long has taken his support for undergraduates to the residence halls, first for many years as a frequent participant in residence-hall guest lectures, faculty dinners and other events, and currently as Resident Faculty (Unit 2). Since joining the inaugural Resident Faculty program in 2005, Dr. Chang has made a strong impact on the residential community. In addition to continuing his participation in residence-hall programs, Dr. Chang teaches a Tai Chi class, his Freshman Seminar, and holds office hours in Unit 2. He has also played an important role in drawing faculty colleagues to the residence halls for programs and advising the Office of Student Development on further faculty involvement strategies.
For more information about Dr. Chang, check out the links below:
New faculty-in-residence program launched -- Berkeley NewsCenter
The secret lives of faculty -- Berkeley NewsCenter
The Teacher is in -- Letter Home
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Dr. Duncan Ryuken Williams joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 2006 as a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture and is currently the Chair of the Center for Japanese Studies. He specializes in Japanese Buddhism, American Buddhism, and Buddhism and environmental philosophy. Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Religion from Harvard University, where he was a graduate student tutor in the Harvard House system. In his first faculty position, he also participated as an inaugural member of Trinity College's faculty-in-residence program. Because he was an international student at age 17, Dr. Williams understands how students feel entering their first year of college. He sees the Resident Faculty program as a way to learn the undergraduate point of view. "[Living among students] gives faculty more sensitivity toward the rhythms and realities of student life," says Dr. Williams. He hopes to demonstrate to students the ability to balance academics with other aspects of college life, such as sports, music, and spirituality. Dr. Williams plans to take residents on field trips to Japantown and to invite in cultural speakers as part of his organized events. As a Buddhist priest, Dr. Williams brings a great new perspective to the students in Unit 1. He is very excited about living and interacting with residents.
For more information about Dr. Williams, check out the links below:
Professor Lives Beside Students in Unit 1 -- The Daily Californian
Duncan Ryuken Williams -- Institute of East Asian Studies
Internment Camp Diaries Shine Light on American Buddhist Experience -- College of Letters and Science News
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