91茄子

Next in our 鈥淎ccording to Faculty鈥� series is BIOS 101 instructor Marianna Burks. Marianna weighs in on helping your instructor understand your needs, finding ways to be flexible with students, and creating communities in classes.

Building connections with faculty members can be an incredibly valuable part of your college experience. Yes, they鈥檙e experts in their fields, but they鈥檙e also endlessly great resources for real-world connections, internships, mentoring, and so much more.

And at 91茄子, we have some of the best.

We鈥檝e spoken to a handful of 91茄子 faculty members about best practices for building student-faculty relationships and why you should seek them out鈥娾�斺�奺ven if their class isn鈥檛 your favorite.

Next in our ongoing According to Faculty series is Marianna Burks of the College of Arts and Sciences. Marianna is teaching both lecture and lab sections of BIOS 101 this fall. She spoke to us about how connecting with faculty members helps students be successful, the importance of being upfront with your needs, and so much more!

On why students should seek relationships with their faculty: help them help you

鈥淏uilding relationships with faculty is important because it allows the instructor to know what the student鈥檚 needs are,鈥� says Marianna.

鈥淭hey feel more relaxed, and when they鈥檙e relaxed, they鈥檙e willing to communicate what鈥檚 going on in their lives and their schedules. I can be more flexible with students by understanding where students are in life and what they might need鈥娾�斺�妕he more we know students, the more we as faculty can be accommodating and help students be successful.鈥�

Life happens鈥娾�斺�奻aculty can be flexible if you communicate your needs

鈥淵es, you鈥檒l have deadlines. But, if a student says, Mrs. Burks, I have to go back home to harvest,鈥� that鈥檚 important to that student, and I want to make sure I can meet the needs of their life and their families. I want students to feel like there鈥檚 room to get done what they need to get done both inside and outside of class.鈥�

A simple email can go a long way

鈥淎 lot of students will communicate with me through email, at first. When we make that initial contact, I find that those students are more willing to come in for office hours. This is because I can say, 鈥楬ey, there鈥檚 a quiet, inviting space here in my office for you to work on your assignments and ask me or TAs questions.鈥� By the end of the semester, I鈥檒l have groups of students sitting at the table in my office and working on their assignments together, with myself and TAs right there as a resource.鈥�

College is hard鈥娾�斺�奻aculty want to make sure you鈥檙e taking care of yourself

鈥淚 do reflections with my students. I have a little in class activity where I sit them down and we鈥檒l say, 鈥業鈥檓 tired,鈥� 鈥業鈥檓 sleepy,鈥� 鈥業鈥檓 exhausted,鈥� 鈥業鈥檓 excited,鈥� 鈥業鈥檓 just trying to get through the week鈥欌�娾�斺�奿t鈥檚 been a really good exercise for students to balance their wellbeing with academia. It doesn鈥檛 always have to be so heavy on the content when we鈥檙e meeting or having class鈥娾�斺�妛e can focus on other things that help students be successful, too.鈥�

Keep an eye out for more insights and advice from our 鈥淎ccording to Faculty鈥� series!