Next semester, Binghamton University will implement the Faculty-in-Residence program as administrations look to connect professors and staff to student life outside the Brain.

Though the five living communities on campus have thousands of students, each has only one faculty master. Donald Loewen, vice provost for Undergraduate Education, said students could benefit from more interaction.

“Faculty masters are all incredibly dedicated to students and the whole living and learning environment, but there’re only one person,” Loewen said.

Through field trips and academic presentations, Loewen said that participants will bring their expertise to housing communities in an effort to engage with more students than in the past.

“A lot of faculty can be here for years and years and never cross the street to go into the residential communities,” Loewen said.

Loewen said he hopes to have at least one faculty-in-residence in every residential community each semester, or more if enough apply. Interested professors will be matched with the community that best fits their personality and interests.

Within the program, faculty-in-residence will be expected to take an active role in the residential lives of students. They will do so by attending hall government meetings, participating in RA training over the summer and being readily available to advise students.

“It’s beneficial for the students to have interactions with the faculty,” said Kendall Pipitone, a senior majoring in neuroscience. “It would help them understand students a little better and help them get a well-rounded view of what students are like.”

According to Alvin Vos, Hinman College faculty master, five undisclosed faculty members have already agreed to participate in the program for next semester. They will receive a stipend of $750 to $3,000, depending on the length of their involvement, which can vary from one month to one semester.

According to Kevin Wright, Mountainview College faculty master and a human development professor, faculty must do more to make living on campus worthwhile. He said that although students spend about 16 hours a week in class, they spend a majority of their time on extracurriculars such as clubs, sports and dorm life that professors are not involved in.

“Students are getting cheated,” Wright said. “[Professors] better start doing a lot more to provide [students] with an educational product that’s of value.”

However, Benjamin Malecki, a senior majoring in computer science, said it is not a professor’s job to spend an extended period of time with students.

“They’re here to teach us and do research, so they should concentrate on that,” Malecki said.

Vos said that he hopes students will encourage their favorite faculty to apply. Each year, the Hinman Community hosts Whispers Night, where students anonymously name the people they would like to see in the community government. He said that he would like to see something similar with the Faculty-in-Residence program.

“It’s like whispering in their ear, ‘You can do it, you can do it,’” Vos said. “I would love if students would whisper into their favorite faculty’s ear, ‘You should do it.’”