Imagine yourself walking down to the showers in your residence hall in the early hours of the morning. As you turn the corner to enter the bathroom, you notice that the 1010 biology professor sweeps past you with drenched hair and a scent of Irish Spring lingering behind them.   That same afternoon, you notice your calculus professor sitting at Palms Dining Hall; clearly other students have recognized him also because he is now being swarmed like a hive. On your way back to your dorm, you happen to pass two English professors in the lobby of your residence hall. They are appearing everywhere at an alarming rate. Watching this causes a realization to form: the professors are living on campus.

 According to InsideHigherEd.com, colleges such as the University of California at Berkeley and Appalachian State University have adopted a program in which some faculty members live alongside the students in the residence halls.  

 Some colleges see this as an incredible learning opportunity for both professors and students. Groups of students of all different majors and achievements would be able to experience a professor outside of the classroom by having them live in either the same residence hall or Residential Common, which is one of the variety of names given to the program.  Some colleges believe that this will benefit to the actual behavior of students also. Having a faculty member in your living area will possibly reduce the amount of misconduct. It would also allow the faculty members to learn a lot more about the students in general.

 In my opinion, I oppose this plan of action. While having an instructor closer to the students may be more convenient in educational terms, I feel as though the relationship between the two would become a greater issue. The point of college is to earn a degree, but it is also to learn independence. Having an instructor next door is seemingly saying you have one at your “disposal.” The instructors are only here to teach the students. Forming a friendship is just a plus. Let us all be honest. It is a bit hard to take an instructor serious when you have witnessed them smoke right next to you, argue with their spouse, or reveal personal issues whether by choice or mistake. I honestly believe that the “instructor to student” relationship would slowly become “instructor to friend”.  

 This is bound to cause certain awkwardness in the classroom. Once you have witnessed a certain aspect of someone’s character, it is difficult to overlook it.

  I will simply say, there are way too many factors that can cause issues within this program. College already has a tutoring staff and instructors have office hours for a reason. I’m quite sure they would not want students constantly knocking on their room door with questions irrelevant to what they are paid to teach.