By:Kristin Whitman

VSU Residence Life changed up the traditional meaning of a commonly known phrase with its “House Calls” program Sept. 29 and 30.

If you’re familiar with the term “house call,” you know it involves a doctor coming to check up on you if you’re sick. However, for this “House Calls” program, VSU Residence Life invited not doctors but faculty and staff to meet with first-year students living in the residence halls.

This is the fourth year this program has taken place, and this year there were over 30 faculty and staff members answering frequently asked questions of incoming freshmen.

Not only did students ask questions but they answered them as well.

Students who participated in the program gave mixed reviews about whether the program helped them. According to sophomore psychology major Brooke Robinson, she had a great time talking to the staff at VSU but she thought it was a little late to be bothered in her dorm.

“I was busy studying when they came to my door,”Robinson said, “[but] I thought the tips and answers they gave me were helpful and I got to talk about my experiences so far.”

According to Mark McNalley, assistant director of residence education, this was a learning experience for students and staff. The students were very responsive, discussing their move-in experiences as well as their excitement for Homecoming.

“Involving knowledgeable faculty and staff, we can not only help our students thrive intellectually during their time at Valdosta State University, [but] we can also help them understand the value of life-long learning outside the classroom,”McNalley said.

Residence Life realizes that living in a residence hall is not enough to foster academic success; however, with the events it hosts, it wishes to encourage students to achieve their goals by creating an academically supportive environment.

Even with the mixed reviews on the “House Calls”program, McNalley is positive about the impact this program has made on students, faculty and staff and wishes to continue to make it a yearly program among freshmen residence halls.