Forum addresses social space, faculty-student interaction
By BRIGID SWEENEY
News Writer
Focusing on conflicts that arise between academic and residential life at Notre Dame and possible solutions, faculty members and a lone student met Thursday night at the second open forum sponsored by the ad hoc committee on Academic and Student Life.
Sophomore Tim Dysart, an engineering major, mentioned the struggles he has encountered attempting to reconcile academics and social life.
"The workload is so demanding that it's difficult to form social relationships," he said. "My roommate is a math major, and if we talk half an hour a day, that's a lot. It's difficult to form bonds that more time would foster."
Social space in Cushing and Fitzpatrick offer a possible solution, but according to Dysart, few students utilize the social space currently available in Cushing.
"A few kids are there, usually trying to nap between classes or finish homework, but there's not a lot of interaction," he said.
At the suggestion of increased social space for science and engineering students, Dysart claimed that it would not provide much of an immediate improvement, because students already have ingrained study habits and probably would not use new facilities. In the future, however, he said he could see more students taking advantage of additional social space.
Social space proved to be a main issue of the forum, as participants noted varying experiences.
Psychology professor Naomi Meara pointed to lack of space in Haggar as a problem.
"The lounge is so small that it makes student gatherings difficult," she said. "I think if we had space, we'd have a lot of students, both graduate and undergraduate, mingling."
Associate provost Carol Mooney, serving as chairperson of the committee, commented on the situation in the law school.
"My experience as a law school professor has been quite different [from the engineering circumstances] with regards to social space," she said. "There's a very nice snack bar in the basement, and lunch is in a big open room with faculty and students alike. I sit down to eat and people inevitably join me, often students."
This case was the exception rather than the rule, as many faculty present mentioned lack of student-professor interaction outside of class and office hours.
A scarcity of casual space where faculty and students can meet outside of the academic setting form the basis of the problem.
"It seems like such a simple problem," said John Cavadini, theology department chairman. "Every school seems to manage to have informal space where students and faculty can mix. But it really is an issue."
Students and faculty operate in different spheres, and the two groups rarely meet socially.
"Students are reluctant to ask faculty to come eat in the dining hall with them," said Sister Mary Louise Gude, assistant vice president of Student Affairs. "Professors will entertain students at their home, but students won't take them to the dining hall."
According to Gude, faculty tends to eat at places such as Greenfield's, where students rarely go, although Flex points are accepted.
Mooney brought up the idea of offering reduced prices for faculty families in the dining halls as a way of both fostering unity and providing practical help to busy professors.
"As a mother of four and a professor, I remember not wanting to come up with meals every night," she said. "A faculty member in the dining hall alone is not that attractive [to students], but a faculty member with little kids would be very appealing."
Michael Palumbo, student body vice president, mentioned the possibility of bringing professors into dorms to deliver presentations, along with prospect of faculty members living in dorms.
Dysart responded positively to the latter suggestion, claiming that such a living arrangement would encourage student-faculty relationships.
"I think there'd be more interaction if there was someone I could talk to on a daily basis who had interesting perspectives or common interests," he said.
In addition to improving student-professor relationships, the discussion addressed the issue raised at the first forum that the university exerts too much control over students.
As a student, Dysart said that because Notre Dame makes the transition to college a gentle one with the highly structured First Year of Studies, students lose out on learning experiences.
"In a way, we don't have the opportunity that our peers at other schools, especially big state schools, have," he said. "Sometimes they start out first semester way over their heads, but they eventually figure things out. Here, students don't have a chance to fail and find themselves. A big part of life is how you deal with adversity, and a lot of people here haven't experienced that."
Additionally, the issue of social life in terms of dorm life and university-sponsored events received attention.
Dysart, a Morissey resident, mentioned both the positives and negatives of living in a large dorm.
"The possibility of getting to know so many people is the best part, but on the other hand, I live on the fourth floor, where no one goes without a reason," he said. "You don't really get to know everyone."
Furthermore, he commented that free time and fun activities are hard to come by Monday through Thursday.
"I could work 24 hours a day and still not finish all my work," Dysart said. "I guess I just wish it was a little more balanced."
All News Stories for Friday, February 18, 2000
