d
Professors share
residence hails with
students
Lucia Jervis
Contributor
@elonnewsnetwork
After a day filled with lec
turing, attending meetings and
chatting with students, some pro
fessors — just like students — go
back to their residential neigh
borhoods and wind down in
what they consider their homes.
Scattered throughout the
Danieley, Colonnades, Global,
Historic and Oaks Neighbor
hoods, professors
Every residential have chosen to live
neighborhood ^“^8 students,
has a faculty
director who fi^e-minute corn-
lives on campus mute to classes,
and mentors Each residential
student leaders, neighborhood has
The close di-
. . rector. According
proximity IS ^ Jennifer Zin-
convenient for chuk, assistant pro-
students who fessor of English
seek advice, “"d faculty direc
tor for the Global
Neighborhood,
their job is to act as mentors for
student leaders in each neighbor-
'i? hood.
“It kind of reminds students
that, rather than having to go
find me in the directory or write
me an email, my job makes me
be around all the time,” Zinchuk
said. “So they get to know me not
as a professor, but as a human
being.”
Though it may seem strange
living next to a professor, she
and Terry Tomasek, associate
professor of education, director
of the Elon Academy and facul
ty directory for the Colonnades
Neighborhood, believe living in
residential neighborhoods has
had a positive impact on them as
professors and on students they
have lived with.
“Seeing the students in my
neighborhood and in my home,
I feel like it is my job to welcome
them and always talk to them,”
Zinchuk said. “This made me
more outgoing when I am out
side of my classes.”
Rather than the typical stu
dent-professor relationship, a
new level of respect is formed
with students living near the
faculty directors. These profes
sors become neighbors — even
friends — whom the students
can refer to for constant life ad
vice and help.
“The opportunity to live in a
neighborhood with students al
lows me to expand that advising,
mentoring and teaching role in
ways that 1 cannot necessarily do
in the classroom,” Tomasek said.
“It is an opportunity to grow as a
teacher and a mentor in working
with students.”
DIEGO PINEDA 1 Photo Editor
Though she lives among college students, Zinchuk has a funished apartment as opposed to a dorm room or a suite.
Maintaining life at school
Almost two months have
passed since classes began, and
neither Zinchuk nor Tomasek
have experienced any issues in
their residential neighborhoods
or felt uncomfortable living
among students.
“I expected that I would hear
people, and its probably quieter
than any other apartment I have
ever lived in,” Zinchuk said. “Em
never bothered, and so far, its
been six weeks of the school year,
so I’m sure that over time there
will be problems. But the mo
ment that I enter the apartment.
I’m no longer in the university —
I’m in my own little world.”
Tomasek was also surprised
by the lack of noise coming from
the students. Similarly, she orig
inally expected it to be louder
than it normally is.
Despite the typical pod or
suite found in Global and Col
onnades, the professors live in a
two bedroom apartment. Each
is complete with two bedrooms,
one bathroom, one kitchen and
one living room, giving it an
apartment feel.
The apartments are small,
but Tomasek and Zinchuk have
made it comfortable. Tomasek
has added a piano and a harp in
the living room and only needs
one bedroom and transformed
the second into a lounge
Though Zinchuk and To
masek live on campus as profes
sors, they still have roommates.
Tomasek lives with her hus
band in Colonnades. They have
been married more for than 30
years and have a 28-year-old son.
Zinchuk lives in her apart
ment with her five-year-old son
who spends most of his time
running around Elon and plays
with the children of other faculty
directors or professors that live
on campus.
Staying on campus
Tomasek wanted to apply
for the faculty director position
when she first heard about it. She
believed that being close to stu
dents on a personal and physical
level could allow her to expand
her teaching and mentoring
skills.
She talked to her husband and
thought about it before deciding
to commit.
Tomasek and her husband
sold their house and got rid of
a lot of material things they had
kept for more than 30 years so
that they could move into the
much-smaller Harper Hall in
Colonnades.
“We knew that it would be a
big change for us, but we kind
of jumped in with both feet,”
Tomasek said. “In that respect,
I hope that speaks to my com
mitment to this opportunity —
the fact that we didn’t keep our
house in case we didn’t want to
be on campus. We don’t have any
other place to go except Harper.
This is the only home we have
right now.”
Tomasek has invited the stu
dents that live with her in the
building over for ice cream sun
daes and a nice chat.
She also has “tea time” in
Colonnades every Tuesday and
Thursday afternoon. Students
walking down the hall will see
a big sign on the wall that reads
“Tea Time,” with an arrow di
recting students to where the it’s
being held.
“Those are really fun oppor
tunities that I have to interact
with the students, check in and
see how they are doing,” Tomasek
said.
Zinchuk has wanted to live at
Elon since her first year at Elon.
As a single mother, she felt that
living on campus would allow
her to create a greater sense of
community and increase stu
dent-professor interactions.
“I knew that if I lived at the
university, I would develop a
community with the other fac
ulty, staff and students, so that
would kind of create a family^
Zinchuk said. “I would have
students help with child-care, I
would make friends and I would
get to know Elon, Burlington,
and North Carolina better.”
Zinchuk enjoys walking
around campus and seeing the
faces of the students that live in
her hall. She has discovered the
persona of each student beyond
that ofjust a student in ENG 110,
the class she teaches the most.
“I think that is really valu
able to see that a professor is not
a robot or this person that just
grades,” Zinchuk said. “We’re real
people that have real lives and in
terests and problems and goals,
just like students do.”