A new program promotes student and faculty interaction beyond the FLUNCH program.
FINvite—which officially launched Sept. 8—unites students in residential houses on West and Central campuses with faculty who are interested in similar community events—such as a philanthropic activity or engaging in debate. FINvite was founded by the Office of Undergraduate Education, and the individual events are organized by house councils.
“Second year into the new house system, the University is trying out FINvite as a new mechanism to help students interact with faculty, as well as to develop a sense of community,” said Stephen Nowicki, the dean and vice provost for undergraduate education.
Faculty who wish to participate are matched with houses based on common event interests.
Events are planned through an Internet application that is controlled by faculty and house council officers. Any students who wish to pitch an idea should contact their dorm representatives, said Deb Johnson, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education.
Unlike freshmen who have the experience of living with an in-house faculty member, Nowicki noted sophomores and juniors were previously lacking that connection.
"The FINvite program is designed to explicitly enhance the housing system for sophomores and juniors," Nowicki said.
He added that the program is still in an experimental phase.
“What I’m looking for right now is to see the whole range of ideas students come up with, and by the end of this semester we will see that some will work, and some won’t," Nowicki said. "We could then learn from them and pass them along."
One goal of the FINvite program is to be as accessible to students as its predecessor—the FLUNCH program, Nowicki added.
The FLUNCH program—originally proposed by former Duke Student Government President Paul Slattery, Trinity '08—is considered to be a big success, with a total number of 1,437 FLUNCH requests during the 2012-13 academic year, Johnson said.
“FLUNCH is easy and straightforward," Nowicki said. "All you have to do is to fill out a request form online, and they are easily approved. Now, people take FLUNCH for granted."
He added that FINvite has the potential to become as deeply ingrained in student culture as the FLUNCH program.
Johnson noted that a major factor in the success of the FLUNCH program is that every meeting is student-initiated.
“We want students to be creative and think out of the box," Johnson said. "We also realize that we couldn’t just force, couldn’t just assign faculty to houses. It has to come from the students."
While FINvite was still in its planning phases, Nowicki said he was glad to see that dozens of faculty members were interested in participating. He added that prompting faculty and student interaction is an ongoing goal in the Office of Undergraduate Education.
“We currently have 70 faculty who have agreed to do this, for no reason other than wanting to be engaged with students,” Johnson said. “We also have faculty that we had no idea that they had desire to get involved in student affairs.”
One of the first requests made after FINvite officially launched was a trip to the Durham Performing Arts Center followed by a discussion on social justice with a professor.
“So far, we have five requests since we launched this program Monday,” Johnson said.
Junior Gregory Canal, president of Meridian House, an independent section on West Campus, said that several students have already pitched ideas including a game day barbecue and poker night with a faculty member.
“Some faculty have expressed interest in having a poker game night with students," Canal said. "If that could happen, I expect a lot of people to come out and be a part of that.”
Nowicki noted that funding for FINvite will come from the the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Housing, Dining and Residence Life. If the program is successful, however, additional resources might be necessary—a situation that occurred when FLUNCH became popular.
“When everybody started knowing about [FLUNCH], we ran out of money," Nowicki said. "The same thing might happen with FINvite.”
He noted, however, that when people have great ideas, it is his job to find the money to make it happen.
Nowicki said that he is very optimistic about the ultimate turnout of this program.
“Duke students tend to be very clever and creative,” he said.
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