Faculty in Residence reflect on their experiences
Professors serve as live-in supports for students, to help them feel at home.
By NINA KREMER & HANNA KARASINKA
For Faculties in Residence, the real work begins after class ends. In the “five to nine” as Josh West, the FIR for Cowlings and Ilium Residential College calls it, evenings are reserved for sharing meals with students, hosting events or simply being present in the dorm.
The Faculty in Residence program aims to cultivate deeper relationships between faculty and students. By living in the residential colleges, faculty are available to provide students support outside of the classroom through social and academic programming.
“[Faculties in residence] really try to build community here within our residential halls by … reminding students of things that they missed from back home,” said Jesús Díaz, a FIR at Birnkrant Residential College and professor of clinical occupational therapy.
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Díaz got both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at USC, and worked as a resident assistant for four years. He said he was motivated to apply to be a FIR because he enjoyed his experience as an RA, especially organizing programming, and he thought it would be a great opportunity for his family.
The program is competitive, only accepting 24 of USC’s “most prestigious” faculty, according to Residential Education. All FIR receive the same benefits: a two or three-bedroom apartment, including utilities, and a meal package for them and their families to be used in residential dining halls.
Much of the FIR’s responsibilities include planning events for students to build community. Stephanie Renée Payne, the FIR of New North Residential College, and an associate professor of writing, underscored the importance of these events in connecting with first-year students who may struggle with homesickness.
“There was a student who came to every event. Not a lot of students do that. That student confided in us that they were extremely lonely, and it was so nice to get to know that student,” Payne said. “[A fellow FIR and I] brought that student into our homes, watched movies together. My colleague had a cat, and so it was really nice. They would go to their house to play with [it], and it was nice to feel like we’re bringing that student to a space that felt like home.”
Payne and her partner host barbecues and play games with students in the New North patio. She has even invited students who cannot go home for Thanksgiving to come celebrate with her family, and has recently expanded her role as a FIR to also serve the educational needs of students.
Payne offers “Coffee with Stephanie,” which is an opportunity for her to connect with freshman residents one-on-one and answer their questions about their first year of college. She encourages students to engage with professors in their office hours and to form strong relationships with them.
Birnkrant Residential Colleg freshman admire exotic animals on display at their faculty in residence-led event on Tuesday evening. (Bryce Dechert / Daily Trojan)
West, a professor of earth sciences and environmental studies, hosts “Tuesday Tea” each week alongside all the USC Village Faculty in Residence. The faculty partner to bring in guest speakers for their students.
While it’s been rewarding for West to be part of his own residential community, he said the Tuesday events are also a chance to “cross between the different colleges a little bit,” making them one of the most enjoyable aspects of his role.
Similarly, Díaz, once or twice a month, invites residents to his apartment for dinner and brings speakers or other faculty to offer students enrichment opportunities and advice about how to succeed in college.
West sees community as the heart of his work as a faculty in residence. During the day, he’s busy teaching and leading his research group, but in the evenings — the “five-to-nine” — he shifts into a different role: one geared toward building community and connection among the Cowlings and Illium residential community. For him, these moments are what transform the residence hall into a real community.
“The whole residential education team for each community operates as one team, together,” he said, emphasizing that collaboration with RAs and staff is what makes students feel more supported.
After four years of being a FIR, Díaz has now run into seniors who were his residents in their freshman year and said he felt like a proud parent seeing how much they grew and matured. He recently saw one particular resident, whom he remembered as being shy, speaking passionately about a student organization he was recruiting for.
“I remember him from two years ago and you can see he’s grown as a leader,” Díaz said. “He looked more comfortable in who he was, and that was really nice to see.”
At its core, the FIR program is not only about the formalities of the meal plan or the housing granted to faculty and their families — it is about the connections formed and the community built among students and faculty. By opening up their homes and lives, live-in faculty create a more personal college experience for students, one where school is not only a place to study, but also a place to belong.
“Every year, I meet and get to know a handful of students really well, and those relationships are really meaningful to me,” West said. “When students graduate and send a note or card that emphasizes how important it was to have us as part of the community. … Sometimes students really resonate with the fact that I have a wife and two young kids, and that makes what would otherwise be just a dorm feel more like home.”
