Fund lets faculty feed their students for free

A little-known initiative provides up to $6 worth of free food each semester for students -- if you're in the right class, that is. The President's Fund for Student-Faculty Interaction allows faculty members to buy food for students in their classes, but few students, and even fewer professors, are aware of the enticing opportunity. The president's office established the Fund about 15 years ago with an unrestricted gift to the University. The office decided to use the money to promote student-faculty interaction, allocating $25,000 per year for that purpose. Any faculty member or teaching assistant may use the fund to be reimbursed for money they spent buying food for students, according to Fran Walker, director of Student Life Activities and Facilities and the fund's administrator. Despite the obvious benefits of the fund, several undergraduate department chairpersons are unaware of its existence. "I've never heard of this fund for professors to purchase food for their students," Mathematics Undergraduate Chairperson Ted Chinburg said. "However, I think that my predecessor, Dennis DeTurck, who currently teaches a large lecture course, would be very interested to know that he has $6 times 500 to spend on food." Political Science Undergraduate Chairperson Ian Lustick added, "No one here is aware of funds per student or per course available to faculty members for dining with students." Noting that $25,000 per year would not be enough to allow every professor to use the fund, Walker stressed that "the more the fund is publicized, the fewer the number of faculty members that will be able to use it." "It's an interesting dilemma as success breeds failure," she added. The existence of the fund is publicized very little, if at all, and mainly by word of mouth, according to Walker. "Those faculty who use it are those who have been using it for years," she said. Professors who have used the fund -- and continue to use it -- believe it fosters greater interaction with students. "I have always used this for an end-of-the-term review session with dinner," English Professor Al Filreis said. "One elaborate meal of Indian food for 70 people in my modern American poetry class created an unforgettably fun evening of eating, talking, studying and reviewing -- a reflective and fun time." Franklin Allen, a Finance and Economics professor, uses the fund to make his large lecture courses more personal. "It's a great resource but unfortunately not many faculty know about it," he said. "It's not really possible for me to have much interaction with students in my lectures the way it is in smaller classes. "The fund enables me to have lunch with students," Allen added. "I really enjoy it and I hope the students do too -- it makes teaching a lot more fun than just standing in front of 100 people talking." Walker emphasized that many professors use their own money to supplement the cost of entertaining students. "I think that [the fund is] important for a number of faculty -- particularly for the TAs who may not have the money to lay out," Walker said. "However, I don't think it's the be-all and end-all of student-faculty interaction -- it's a component, though." The fund is not without restrictions. Because of the limited amount of money, faculty can only be reimbursed for one event per semester, and the amount of funding available depends on its use. Although faculty can be reimbursed for up to $6 per student for a dinner, only $4 is allotted for lunch and $3 for non-alcoholic refreshments. No restrictions are placed on the size of the group, although the fund tends to be utilized more frequently for seminar-type classes than large lecture courses, according to Walker. Due to its large number of seminars and writing classes, the English Department has made the most use of the fund. Faculty in the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Department have also taken advantage of the money. During the 1993-94 academic year, College professors used the fund most often, followed by faculty members from the Wharton, Nursing and Law schools.