October 5, 2022
Next up in our 鈥淎ccording to Faculty鈥� series is Dr. Uchechukwu Jarrett of the College of Business. Dr. Jarrett shares his thoughts on finding common ground with students, the real-world applications of coursework and Star Trek.
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 Uchechukwu Jarrett of the College of Business. This semester Dr. Jarrett is teaching ECON 215 (Statistics), ECON 321 (Introduction to International Economics) and ECON 423 (Economics of Less Developed Countries). Read on for his insights into connecting with faculty through shared love of popular culture, talking about your backgrounds, and using Star Trek to give career advice.
On building connections through shared interests (that don鈥檛 have to do with school)
鈥淚 typically try to connect with students by sharing my background as someone who was born and grew up outside of the United States. I also love to talk about my pop-culture interests鈥娾�斺�妔pecifically all things sci-fi, all things Marvel, my love of the original Matrix movie and complete disdain for the other Matrix movies. Students often find common ground with me and other faculty through shared interests, or by trying to understand my affinity for things with which they have no familiarity!鈥�
A conversation about Star Trek could change your life
鈥淢y greatest accomplishment as a teacher (yes鈥娾�斺�奍 stand by that) was inspiring a student to watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and asking them to come discuss it with me in the office. Our discussion鈥娾�斺�妛hich was intended to just be about Star Trek鈥娾�斺�妉ed to others regarding future courses they might like. I was even able to offer them some career advice stemming from our conversation.
鈥淚 find my openness about the things I enjoy allows students the freedom to discuss whatever is on their minds, and this can lead us to connect on different levels that can ultimately help me better understand and support students.鈥�
If you鈥檙e interested in what a faculty member is teaching, let them know!
鈥淎part from discussing movies and pop culture, I have often had students reach out to me to ask deeper questions about the real-world applications of what they learn in class. I have always found this to be a great way to form a relationship with faculty as we want to help students succeed both within and beyond the classroom.鈥�
Keep an eye out for more insights and advice from our 鈥淎ccording to Faculty鈥� series!