Expectations of Sponsoring Academic Units and Faculty
Academic units decide how best to handle the sponsorship for their respective learning community. Prior to the star of the academic year, the unit head should contact the Academic Learning Community Coordinator, AnnMarie Williams with the learning community sponsor contact information for the upcoming academic year.
Faculty support and involvement are critical to the success of this initiative. Academic units agree to sponsor the community by appointing faculty/staff to work with the students, to offer one or more sections of the selected co-enrolled course, depending on community size, and to be in partnership with Residence Life for the development of co-curricular event planning at least twice each semester. It is recommended that:
The sponsoring faculty/staff should make contact with the community's student peer mentor(s) the week before classes begin to plan activities and establish mutual expectations.
Sponsoring faculty and staff are expected to attend a community specific opening event, generally held at the beginning of the fall semester. This will be the first opportunity students will have to meet the faculty they will be working with throughout the semester. The academic unit and sponsoring faculty engage the learning community students in at least three co-curricular activities during the first semester. These should be academic in nature and should allow students to interact with faculty and other professionals from the discipline.
The sponsoring faculty/staff should submit to both the head of the academic unit and the Academic Learning Communities Coordinator a report at the conclusion of the academic year, that outlines activities of the community, learning outcome, and forms of measurement.
University Housing will support each Learning Community by hiring, training, and compensating a Student Peer Mentor(s). The Student Peer Mentor(s) must be at least a sophomore, have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 and be in the same academic program as the Learning Community; ideally past participation in the Learning Community is most desirable. The Student Peer Mentor(s) will:
- Maintain regular contact with the community's faculty to plan activities and establish mutual expectations.
- Offer learning community students referrals for developing study skills, time management, dealing with homesickness, etc.
- Attend activities offered by the sponsoring academic unit.
- Keep in regular contact with the sponsoring faculty/staff advisor.
- Live on the assigned floor of the Learning Community.
