Grow It Forward

What am I going to do my final semester as the Faculty Resident at NDSU? I am going to Grow It Forward!

Like the previous three semesters I have been involved with the FIRE program we started off this spring semester with a staff meeting that included the LLC Hall Director and RAs. The purpose of this meeting was to talk about our semester goals and to brainstorm about the programs we wanted to implement. These have come to be my favorite meetings because it gives me an opportunity to hear what the RAs are interested in and how I might be able to work with some of their interests to design programs that meets some of the learning and developmental objectives that I hope to achieve.

There were three things discussed during this meeting that stuck with me, the desire to: grow plants, volunteer, and increase our efforts in community development. Being an academic, it should be of no surprise that I couldn’t turn my brain off so I continued brainstorming about programs that could incorporate the three things mentioned above and more. Then it came to me, and I couldn’t wait to share this idea with the LLC staff and students.

Each year Fargo accepts up to 400 refugees from countries where those individuals are fleeing from fear of prosecution from a variety of things. I have always been intrigued with the fact that Fargo is a refuge location (given its harsh climate that is often so different from where refugees are coming from). In addition, I greatly appreciate the ethnic and cultural diversity these new American’s have brought to Fargo.

There are many great programs put in place to assist refugees as they transition into the Fargo community as new Americans. One of the programs that has been of particular interest to me are community gardens where these families participate in growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs along with other members of the Fargo community. That is all it took for me to connect the dots!

The Grow it Forward program involves NDSU students, staff, and faculty members working with members of the Fargo community to assist with the Nativity Community Garden (one of 8 community gardens in Fargo). The NDSU group is growing seedlings and purchasing seeds for direct sowing as a donation to this effort. In addition, this group has offered to assist with other projects to help the community garden including setting up a rain water collection system and construction of raised beds.

Our project objectives include:
•Community building (within the NDSU Living Learning Community and the Fargo Community)
•Service (donating seedlings and seeds, labor, and expertise for a worthy cause)
•Education (exposing students to the concept of community gardens and refugees who also participate with the gardening effort; our goal is to promote cultural exchange as much as possible).

This program is rapidly “growing” so please stay tuned to see the great work NDSU students and staff are doing in the Fargo community!

The many hats I wear.

Photo inset: LLC Hall Director Tim McCue "scolding" LLC resident Dr. G. for the recent increase in fire alarms, a topic of a future post!

Today a fellow faculty mentor on campus participating in the Faculty In Residence Education program asked me if I was "still living on campus doing the Hall Director thing". Since this is not the first time I have been asked if I was "like a hall director" I thought I should explain a little more about my role because it can be a bit confusing.

In my academic and residence life at NDSU I get a chance to wear many hats, most of which I really enjoy. My hat collection includes: geeky scientist researcher, energetic teacher, inspiring advisor, mentor, resident, and fire boss. One hat that definitely is not in my wardrobe is that of a hall director. Tim, the LLC Hall Director is like Superman. His role includes supervising staff, managing building maintenance and custodial concerns, and developing/implementing curriculum. He also oversees the student judicial processes, intervenes with students in crisis, and in general promotes a sense of community within our two buildings. Whew… I am tired just thinking about all of that.

It is true that I live on campus in a residence hall, BUT at the end of the day I do not have any more disciplinary responsibility than any other faculty or staff member on campus. In the Living and Learning Center I am first and foremost a resident, who happens to be a faculty member. Some may see me a just that, others may see me as role model, mentor, friend, problem solver, or believe it or not as a student (I still look pretty young). I do not have any type of appointment with NDSU Residence Life. In exchange for my participation as a faculty resident I am given a wonderful two-bedroom apartment to live in and I am given a couple of meals a week to eat with residents in the dining halls.

It is true that I have witnessed a few incidents on campus that required disciplinary action and the way I handled those situations was no different than any responsible citizen would have. When it involved the safety of other individuals I simply reminded the student that it was illegal to do that activity on campus. In another instance, I came across a student who appeared to be injured and required help so I called the campus police who took care of it. Being a faculty resident translates to being on campus many more hours than the average faculty member so the probability that I may witness an event that would require me to step up and do something is higher than the average faculty member. The nice thing is that I don't wear the type of hat that requires me to fill out copious amounts of paperwork documenting these events.

So Tim my friend, I want to reduce the piles of paperwork on your desk so I will continue to work with our residents and staff on reducing the number of Fire Alarms we have this year. Our 24 day streak of zero fire alarms was a blessing, but 5 alarms in 6 days is an awful trend.

I went to boot camp and I liked it!

A week and half ago we put on our first program for residents in the Living Learning Center. The program was similar to traditional opening residence hall programs, that is, a social welcome back BBQ. The difference is that the Living Learning Center RA’s, Hall Director, and I decided to take this program to the next level by adding an educational component. To achieve our objective we teamed with some very talented NDSU Animal Scientists to obtain local carnivore specialties from the NDSU meat shop operated by the meat science program and to educate LLC residents about agriculture, animal science, and food preparation. The educational program was a spin off of a wonderful NDSU extension program called the BBQ bootcamp (http://www.ndsu.edu/bbqbootcamp).

Our goals for this program were to provide a fun social event, support NDSU ‘local’ products, educate people about the art and science of food preparation, and provide opportunities for NDSU faculty members, staff, and students to interact. The menu included hamburgers, lamb bratwurst, veggie and fruit kabobs, Dr. G’s famous pickles, and assorted chips. The weather didn’t cooperate, however that didn’t thwart our ability to put on a successful program. With the assistance of the BBQ boot camp mega grill and a bit of instruction we were able to cook over 300 burgers, 11 lbs. of lamb bratwurst, and several hundred kabobs.

The program started with a short presentation by an NDSU Faculty member and several graduate students associated with the BBQ boot camp. They reminded us that everyone who eats is involved with agriculture and that food quality extends from the farm to the plate, something that many people don’t think about. They also informed us that the meat industry is the 3rd largest industry in the United States (behind automobiles and oil). From a food preparation standpoint they discussed the importance of searing meats and how that could be done without a grill and suggested that the best way to order pork chops in a restaurant is medium rare!

The program was very well attended by LLC residents and several faculty members/staff also attended (estimated attendance over the 1.5 hour program was around 225). What made this program successful was the fact that the entire LLC crew stepped up with different aspects of this program that included planning, advertising, shopping, pre-event food preparation, set-up, cooking the food, serving, and cleaning up. Everyone stepped up with ideas, time, and enthusiasm to get this done and to accomplish our objectives. It made me very proud to be part of this program and to work with the LLC crew and my colleagues from the College of Agriculture on this event.

PS-my pickles were a hit. I made two different types from my home grown organic cucumbers (I love to garden). Perhaps my next program will be about making pickles, part of a “chef on a shoestring series”.

My New Year resolutions for the 2011-2012 academic year

As I start my second year as the NDSU Faculty Resident and my third year as an Assistant Professor, it is time to reflect on my resolutions for the coming academic year. Rather than focus on the tangible things that are clearly required for the positions that I serve (e.g., copious publications and grant dollars or the number of residence life programs I put on and the number of hours I will spend participating in residence life activities) my focus will be on more intangible items. In academia, we like to count beans and often use that to judge the performance of others. As a new faculty member it is easy to get caught up in the proverbial numbers game and lose sight of the more intangible things like impact, importance, and relevance. Undoubtedly both tangible and intangible aspects of achievement are required for success in academia and residence life, the challenge is keeping them in balance.

As a faculty resident mentor I try to focus on developing meaningful programming and having interpersonal interactions that will assist students in the development of life skills and their success after they are done with their academic experience. In efforts to blend my aspirations towards tangible and intangible forms of success in academia and residence life, I resolve to:

- Be present in mind, body, and spirit

- Be patient with others and myself on a regular basis

- Take more time to enjoy the moment

- Grow from my successes as well as my failures

- Continue to have fun!

You live in a dorm?

This is the most common question I receive when I tell people I am one of two faculty members that resides on NDSU’s campus. Yes, it must be hard to believe that a well compensated junior faculty member would choose to do such a thing. The truth is I even competed for the honor to be NDSU’s only faculty resident, as part of the NDSU Faculty In Residence Education Program (FIRE), which also includes Faculty Fellows, Mentors, and Greeters.

Advertizing works! I was drawn to apply for this program because I was given a beautiful brochure that highlighted this as the “FIRE” program and those who know me are very familiar about my obsession with the process of combustion (I conduct research on fire behavior and fire ecology)! I was also drawn to the program because I thought it would be a wonderful way for me to feel more connected to NDSU students and the NDSU community as a whole

At the end of the day I can maintain some level of street credibility because I don’t actually live in a “dorm”. I live in a beautiful apartment within the Living Learning Residence Hall, which is a well constructed, apartment style residence hall that houses students 20 and older. Cinder blocks do not exist in this residence hall and it is the quietest place I have lived.

In my faculty resident position I work with students and staff affiliated with NDSU Residence Life to provide an atmosphere and opportunities for students to develop professionally and personally while living on campus. Additional benefits I enjoy include having one of the shortest work commutes, free laundry, and I don’t have to shovel snow during our long Fargo winters! Oh yeah, the only other faculty member who lives on campus is the President.