The Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) program at Cal State San Bernardino — where faculty and their families live in a residential community on campus with students — welcomes seven faculty members for the 2018-19 academic year.The program, which began in the 2016-17 academic year, was created to build a stronger community between faculty and students.“The Faculty-in-Residence program at CSUSB was implemented with the goals of creating more opportunities for increased interactions between students living on campus and faculty,” saidTimothy Bethune, academic initiatives and student success coordinator for the Department of Housing and Residential Education (DHRE). “These interactions provide students with increased opportunities to better relate to faculty members on a personal level, enhance their confidence and ability to interact with faculty members, and increase and facilitate academic involvement, mentoring and student learning.”This year’s seven faculty members in the FIR program are:

  • Richard Addante, assistant professor of psychology and director of the Cal State Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory;
  • Manijeh Badiee, assistant professor of psychology;
  • Edwin Hernandez, assistant professor of counseling and guidance;
  • Angela Horner, associate professor of biology;
  • David Marshall, professor of English;
  • Jordan Perez-Fullam, assistant professor of Teacher Education and Foundations; and
  • Susie Pryor, associate professor of entrepreneurship and associate director of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship.

Addante is entering the FIR program for the first time and will be residing in Arrowhead Village with his wife, Erica, and their greyhound, Juno.“I wanted to be a part of the Faculty-in-Residence program because it’s a great way to become better assimilated into the campus community and culture,” he said. “I really want to immerse in any job I do; as a professor, for me, that means immersing also in the campus culture and community so that we can better serve the students with whom we are dedicated to working with.”Addante is also happy to be part of a university that strongly supports students who share a similar background as him.“I was a first-generation college student when I started college, so I really love that our CSUSB community brings other first-generation students together in pursuing their dreams for the future,” he said.While living at Arrowhead Village, Addante looks forward to enjoying the scenic campus, hosting events related to science, sharing “the joys of aviation” (he is also a pilot), and introducing his greyhound to students.Badiee is returning to the FIR program and will be living in the new Coyote Village, along with her partner, Sina, and their dog, Bear.As a faculty in residence, Badiee says her goals are to “build connections with residents, help make CSUSB home, support them in succeeding academically, professionally and personally, and make their campus life memorable, enjoyable and enriching.”She particularly looks forward to sharing similar experiences with students. Badiee was a first-generation immigrant who left a close-knit family to live on campus during her undergraduate studies. Because of this, Badiee “understands the difficulty as well as the importance of finding support networks in college.”Hernandez is not only entering the FIR program for the first time, but is also joining CSUSB as a first-year faculty member.“As an incoming faculty, I want to establish my long-term roots at CSUSB and being a part of the FIR program will contribute to my transition and being integrated and connected to the campus community,” said Hernandez, who will be residing in Serrano Village.Hernandez is excited to know the students better, and says he looks forward to serving as a role model, mentor, adviser and leader.“As a faculty in the FIR program, I plan to utilize my personal and professional experiences, including my research, to best support students at CSUSB,” Hernandez said. “For example, some of my research examines student-faculty interactions on college campuses, and the interactions that happen outside of the classroom are as equally as important. Therefore, as a faculty of color, my contribution as a validating agent is to be present, connect with students, and utilize my agency to share resources with students.”Horner, a newly tenured associate professor of biology, is also eager to support students during her time in the FIR program.“I’m excited to start as a faculty in residence so I can help students feel more at home here at CSUSB,” she said.Growing up, Horner and her family moved around a lot since her father was in the Air Force. She eventually attended a small liberal arts college where she did not know anyone, but living on campus gave her the opportunity to build many meaningful relationships. “Living on campus connected to me a new kind of ‘family’ that I’m still very close to years later,” she said, “and I hope our new residents will get to share in that same experience.”Horner will be residing in Serrano Village with her husband, Peter, and son, Calvin, and she looks forward to exploring some of the environmental areas near campus with students.“I’m eager to share with our resident students some of the ecological wonders we have in our own backyard,” she said. “The San Bernardino mountains are one of the most ecologically rich zones in the U.S.!”Marshall, who will be living in Coyote Village, is participating in the FIR program for the second time.“I chose to return because I’m eager to get to know our students in a more relaxed setting,” Marshall said. “I meet lots of students in classrooms and in my office, but in the FIR program I get to know students for the people they are — and they get to know me in the same way. It’s fun to be a part of that kind of a community.”As the director of the Honors Program on campus, Marshall looks forward to the new Honors Living Learning Community. He also looks forward to baking in the community kitchen with students.“I hope the FIR program helps students see that faculty are people, too. Those of us participating in the program are no different from our colleagues across the campus,” he said. “Faculty are eager to get to know students. The FIRs just have a more direct way to do that.”Perez-Fullam, who has been part of the FIR program since its inception, will be living in University Village with his wife, Tiana.“I believe that building a strong sense of community and solidarity among our students in the residence halls is among the most important work we do here at CSUSB,” said Perez-Fullam. “This is what I think of as the real work of teaching — building relationships, making connections across differences and learning to live harmoniously together. The FIR program allows me to undertake this work in a way that would not be possible if teaching was limited to the four walls of the classroom.”Over the last two years, to share their love of music, Perez-Fullam and his wife have held weekly “jam sessions,” where students come by their home to play music and socialize.“We also enjoy discussing current events, politics, art, relationships, education, wellness and other topics over good tea and coffee; and we host a monthly ‘Socrates Café’ when we welcome students into our home for informal dialogue and community-building,” Perez-Fullam said.“Living on campus the past two years, I have found that residential students here at CSUSB are friendly, caring and supportive, and are great to have as friends and neighbors,” he said. “Tiana and I appreciate the opportunity the FIR program and the DHRE provides us to work closely with students and staff in the residential community.”Pryor decided to join the program this year due to her own college experience. She left a small town to attend a large state university, a place where she never developed connections with faculty and struggled with homesickness.“I want to be able to provide our students with an important mentoring relationship and someone to turn to when their family isn’t immediately available,” she said.Pryor, who will be living in Arrowhead Village, is looking forward to cooking, watching movies, hiking and walking with students. Her goal is to help students develop a holistic, healthy approach to starting adulthood. “As an entrepreneurship professor, I am really interested in helping students find their own, unique path,” she said. “I embrace the idea that our lives should be reflections of ourselves, not shadows of our employers, our parents or our friends. I hope I get to give students permissions to follow their own dreams.”To learn more about on-campus student housing, visit the Department of Housing and Residential Education website.