Cal State San Bernardino has created the university’s first Faculty-In-Residence (F-I-R) program, in which four new faculty members and their families will live in a residential community on campus with students, providing both students and professors a chance to get to know and learn about each other on a personal level.

John Yaun, executive director of the university’s Housing and Residential Education, said the program will help students succeed academically through interaction with the faculty.

“Our goal is student success, that’s why we’re really here,” Yaun said. “The F-I-R program is a byproduct of the CSUSB Strategic Plan, providing opportunities for students and faculty to interact and get to know each other outside of the classroom through co-curricular opportunities, creating an environment conducive to student learning and academic success.”

The F-I-R program, which was developed in partnership with CSUSB’S divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, will work closely with the Department of Housing and Residential Education to enhance the intellectual environment, support academic excellence and provide opportunities for faculty to interact with students.

“The Division of Student Affairs is thrilled to have the new Faculty-In-Residence Program as this high impact practice is consistent with our strategic plan,” said Brian Haynes, vice president for CSUSB Student Affairs. “Just as important, our students grow tremendously when they connect with faculty outside of the classroom and our faculty appreciate the unique opportunities to mentor and teach our students in such creative ways, such as this program.”

The four faculty members were chosen after an exhaustive recruitment during the spring of 2016 by the housing department. The F-I-R faculty members for 2016-17 are:

  • Dionisio Amodeo, an assistant professor in the psychology department in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He worked at the University of California San Diego prior to joining CSUSB. Amodeo who is a CSUSB alumnus, is joined by his wife, Leslie, and their two daughters.
  • Justine D'Arrigo-Patrick of Idylwild, an assistant professor in the counseling and guidance program in the College of Education. D’Arrigo-Patrick is a native of Southern California. She and her wife, Beth, returned to California from living on the east coast for the past two years, where they taught at Antioch University in New England. Joining them on campus are their two pet miniature Australian shepherds.
  • Isabel Huacuja Alonso, an assistant professor in the history department of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She was born in Mexico City and grew up along the Texas-Mexico border in the sister cities of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Laredo. Alonso, who teaches courses on the history of the Indian subcontinent, world history and sound studies, is joined by her partner, Timsal Masud, a scholar of Urdu and Hindi literature, and their daughter.
  • Jordan Fullam, an assistant professor of teacher education in the College of Education. Prior to CSUSB, Fullam taught English and philosophy at a public high school in Brooklyn and worked for several years at New York University on projects to transform schools and address issue of equity and social justice in public education. Joining him is his wife, Tiana Perez.

Each of the faculty members will make their new home in designated apartments in both Arrowhead and University Villages.

“The F-I-R program is exciting for me because it will allow me to take an active role in shaping the student experience outside of the classroom here at CSUSB,” Fullam said. “Living among our students here at CSUSB is an honor and a privilege, and I cannot think of a more important work for our campus than building a strong sense of community and solidarity among our students in the residence halls.”

Amodeo said that along with his working with students, he wants his daughters to experience living on a college campus. “I want my two girls to see the students here,” Amodea said. “I want them to be part of the life here.”

D’Arrigo-Patrick said being in the program is a great way as a faculty member to get back into student life. “I’m very excited to be here,” D’Arrigo-Patrick said. “When I was a student, mentorship was one of the richest pluses of my education.”

Along with interacting with students, Huacuja Alonso said living on campus would give her a better experience of Cal State San Bernardino. “I get the opportunity to see the university a little closer than if I was commuting,” Huacuja Alonso said.

“As a teacher you want to get know students, building relationships with students. As an educator teaching is rooted in relationships. That’s really important,” Fullam said. “My core goal is to be a good teacher, and really identify with the students.”

Faculty-in-Residence programs exist at universities across the United States, including California State University campuses at Chico, Eastbay, Long Beach, San Jose, and San Diego, and other universities such as the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Florida, Oregon State University, New York University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Visit the CSUSB Faculty-in-Residence Program website for more information.

About California State University, San Bernardino

California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. Opened in 1965 and set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, the university serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.

CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region and has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire, and it has the second highest African American and Hispanic enrollments of all public universities in California. More than 80 percent of those who graduate are the first in their families to do so.

For more information, contact the CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.