Faculty Fellows build community and connection in University Residences

One of the core tenets of University Residences’ commitment to students is the idea that Boilermakers should be able to learn and find mentors in their residence hall community.  

The Faculty Fellows program represents this commitment by sparking informal interactions between students living in University Residences and faculty and staff. Faculty Fellows volunteer their time to engage students who live on a specific floor of a residence hall. Faculty Fellows come from various disciplines across the Purdue community and include university vice presidents, deans, department heads, administrators, faculty and staff. 

Many Faculty Fellows — including Trevor Peters, assistant director, issues and reputation management for Purdue Brand Studio — participate in the program because they’re looking for greater connections with students. Peters (BA mass communication ’17, MBA Purdue Global ’25) knew of the program through his experiences in Purdue Musical Organizations and living in Owen Hall as a student. He now serves as the Faculty Fellow for the third floor of Cary West.  

“Jeff Vallier, the director of Purduettes, was a Faculty Fellow, so I was familiar with the program,” Peters says. “When I came back to campus after working in media, I was looking for opportunities to get more plugged in with students. Getting out and being able to be amongst student life was important to me.” 

Andy Hudmon, associate professor in the Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in the College of Pharmacy, also sought a greater connection with students. His introduction to the program came through a colleague shortly after he arrived at Purdue. He now serves as the Senior Faculty Fellow in Hawkins Hall and was selected by students as the Frederick L. Hovde Faculty Fellow of the Year in 2024-25.  

“I run a lab and I’m an instructor, but I don’t really get a chance to interact with students outside of those activities,” Hudmon says. “I think what I enjoy most is learning new things about the students and my colleagues that I work with as a Faculty Fellow.” 

A catalyst for conversation 

Interactions between Faculty Fellows and students are as unique as each fellow and range from weekly lunches to hallwide events. Whether they’re coordinating an Olympics watch party, Glover’s ice cream social or trivia night, Faculty Fellows rely heavily on building relationships with resident assistants (RAs) and residence education coordinators to help schedule events and engage with students who live on their floor.  

An enthusiastic RA, such as Joe Wall, can make a big difference. Wall serves as the RA for the third floor of Cary West and has embraced the opportunity to work with Peters. The two coordinate weekly lunches that any resident of the floor can choose to attend.  

“At the beginning of the year, I specifically asked if I could be one of the RAs who has a Faculty Fellow because I was intrigued by the program and excited about the possibilities and different ideas they bring,” Wall says. “We talk about things going on in our lives and college life, but we also discuss the bigger things going on at Purdue because he (Peters) has an understanding of what’s going on. We enjoy hearing what he has to say about different things, and he brings a perspective we might not have thought of.” 

These types of conversations, no matter the event or context, can become a melting pot of students and faculty of varied perspectives and backgrounds.  

“These students are studying engineering or computer science or veterinary medicine, for example, and I would never interact with them in my work, and they would never interact with me,” Peters says. “This opens up another door and another corner of Purdue for them to explore while they’re here, which is why I think the Faculty Fellows program is so successful. I remember when I was a student, my Faculty Fellow was a professor in chemistry, and I was in liberal arts. I had no connection to chemistry, but it was cool to get the perspective of someone else.” 

Formal and informal learning opportunities 

Beyond serving as a connection point for students and faculty, Faculty Fellows can catalyze learning in the residence hall community and beyond.  

While it isn’t always easy to find a venue for an immersive science lesson, sometimes Faculty Fellows can work outside of the classroom to impact student learning and community. Last year, Hudmon coordinated with Faculty Fellows and residents of Hawkins Hall to plant a rain garden in McCaw Park in Lafayette. The work was done in conjunction with a Hawkins RA who was collaborating with her mentor in engineering. The project offered opportunities to learn about ecosystems while engaging in community service.  

Events in the hall, like giving students an opportunity to plant clippings of a pothos, can also serve as a teaching moment.  

“I can talk to them a little about plants, but I can also talk to them about something science-related,” Hudmon says. “In this case, I could talk about how every time I cut the stem off that plant, there is a calcium signaling messenger that radiates through the whole plant, much like calcium signaling in the cells of our bodies.” 

While Hudmon enjoys sharing science lessons, Faculty Fellows can also impart important life lessons with students through simple conversation at social events.  

“You can sit down at a table while students are painting and start talking to them,” Hudmon says. “Then you may find out that the person you’re talking to is an engineer, but they enjoy painting because it’s relaxing. Then you start talking about what you like to do to remove stress. Suddenly you get to have a conversation that is both a learning experience for you and the student and can also be instructive in terms of a mentor-type person relating what they do to relieve stress.” 

Connecting to the university community 

Faculty Fellows routinely connect students to the larger university community through professional and campus networks. Hudmon, for example, engaged the help of a colleague in the Mitch Daniels School of Business to deliver an introduction to personal finance that sparked thoughtful dialogue and inquiry among participants. Lunches coordinated by Peters and Wall have also featured guests from across the university.   

“I think that embodies the idea of the Faculty Fellows program, bridging that gap between students and professors or administrators,” Wall says. “It’s cool how clear it is that both sides get the valuable perspective from the other side — and it’s been enjoyable, too!” 

Peters sees these types of connections as a way to make the university feel more accessible to students.  

“Purdue’s a big place,” Peters says. “How are students getting their information from authority figures? It’s usually through their RA or their professors — and that might be it. That’s just one corner of Purdue. I think we can open up a different corner of Purdue that they probably didn’t even know existed.” 

Through connections and events like these, Faculty Fellows help make University Residences a place for learning, mentorship and community.