Communicating with Students
I strive to maintain a good rapport with students and do my best to motivate them to set goals, work hard, and be the best that they can be. To best show my rapport with students, I have included a couple of examples of some of the many emails covering various topics that I exchanged with my students.
Maintaining Office Hours
I am regularly available to meet with students. I keep my required office hours, which are posted on a sign on my office door, and I spend many more hours in my office in order to be available to students outside of my mandatory office hours.
Assisting in Other Courses
I also volunteer to do “other” activities to benefit students enrolled in courses taught by other faculty when I am available. For instance, this year, I volunteered to lead guided meditation in a course that was teach taught by Charlie Roberts and Tom Davis.
Student Clubs
When I can, I try to get involved in clubs/groups with students. I am a member of the college’s Meditation Club, and am the co-chair of the Harry Potter Club.
Student Advising
I have a full load of advisees. My advisees are mostly general business students. I always reach out to all of my advisees through email and encourage them to come and meet with me. (I also started using signup.com to make it easy for them to schedule an appointment with me.) As a result, I regularly connect with these students regarding scheduling and attendance issues.
I am also a second advisor to all students enrolled in the
entrepreneurship certificate program. Needless to say, this means that I get a lot of visitors at advising time!
In addition to scheduling, I try to make sure that my advisees are aware of important information.
Professional/Career Mentoring
As mentioned in the Institutional Responsibilities: Academic Program section, I am responsible for overseeing all of the internships for the EPS program. Most times, I meet with students to discuss the “best fit” for them, and often times I try to help connect them with a business where they can complete their internship.
Reference
I also try to be of assistance to my students outside of the classroom. For instance, I am happy to be a reference, interview subject, etc. when appropriate. Below, find some emails that serve as examples of student requests.
Going Beyond the Requirements
Working as a professor at Nichols means that you get A LOT of requests to assist students with whom you have formed a relationship. From crating an individualized honors class, to recommendations and interview, a small sample of these requests are below.
