Spring 1999

Promoting Intellectual Community
Margaret Gardiner, Graduate Student Associate, TRC and Department of English

In response to the Faculty Senate's recent interest in the topic, we convened eight undergraduates and one law student to define their idea of "intellectual community." The essential characteristics of intellectual community, according to our group, included mutual respect between instructors and students, a shared interest in academia, and an environment where living and learning are not separate activities. The key to achieving intellectual community, the students said, is everyone's involvement-from undergraduates to TAs to professors and deans. Our focus group isolated two distinct areas for improvement: student initiative and faculty availability.

The group generally agreed that it was up to students to take the initiative in creating intellectual community. Students need to introduce themselves to their professors, visit their office hours, learn about their research, and establish relationships with professors who share their intellectual interests. Even though U.Va. is a large research university, said one student, most professors are receptive to such overtures, and students are fortunate to have such high-caliber faculty available. However, our respondents perceive that many students do not care enough about their studies to take this initiative or fail to take advantage of opportunities for intellectual community already available to them.

Although the group felt that it was their responsibility to take the initiative, they also stressed the importance of faculty availability and approachability, in and outside of office hours. Availability included scheduling office hours at various times to reduce the possibility of class conflicts for students. Although students knew that most professors were available by appointment, they emphasized that they felt uncomfortable making an appointment just to converse with a professor; if they do not have a specific academic question, they may never have an opportunity to interact with a professor who holds office hours once a week, or at the same time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Even when professors are available in office hours, students may be reluctant to approach them. Many students, especially first-years, reported feeling intimidated by the "office environment" or the status of their professors. Students were more likely to approach professors who learned names, who showed an individual interest in students, and who taught smaller classes. Our respondents viewed class size as a significant factor in fostering intellectual community generally and noted that advisors should encourage students to take small classes. Students were also more likely to approach professors they saw outside of class, whether walking on the Lawn, working out in University gyms, or eating in the dining halls.

One powerful tool to promote this kind of student-professor interaction is the   "take-a-professor-to lunch" program. The College Association Deans, the Student Bar Association, and Phi Alpha Theta, for example, sponsor programs which allow students to meet with their instructors over lunch, often paying for both lunches. Many undergraduates remain unaware that these programs exist, and those who are aware may not feel comfortable asking a professor who has not given some assurance that the invitation is welcome. By advertising these programs to their classes, faculty can indicate a willingness to engage in social interaction with their students. Besides free lunches, other programs that students said foster intellectual community included movie night at Brown College, the University Seminars, and academic lectures followed by receptions with the speaker.

The group recognized that forging intellectual community would require a time investment on the part of students as well as faculty. As one student put it, "We both have to want it."