Franklin College Thrives at the University of Georgia
Posted by R. J. O’Hara for the Collegiate Way
29 August 2004 (collegiateway.org) — The University of Georgia’s first residential college, Franklin College, opened in 2001 and has gone from strength to strength. In a recent issue of The Red and Black, Joey Piergrossi writes:
“It provides something that is really needed—a connection between students and professors,” said Michelle Garfield, a Franklin associate dean who helped design the FRC….
“Ordinarily, we talk about anything that would be talked about among friends,” said Joe Crim, FRC fellow and department head of cellular biology.
After joining the FRC fellowship, Crim co-wrote a grant for a film library for residents.
Another FRC fellow, plant biology professor Barry Palevitz, placed emphasis on the relationships enhanced by the college.
“I love to interact with the students,” Palevitz said. “So much of those interactions should happen outside the classroom.”
Many of the FRC fellows had lived in residential colleges during their undergraduate years.
Evolutionary genetics assistant professor Rodney Mauricio graduated from Harvard, where living at residential colleges is mandatory.
“Most undergrads have no idea what faculty do, and this allows a window into our world,” he said….
“We hope to expand the academic interests of the community,” [associate dean Michelle Garfield] said. “But in the end, I see ‘cocktail party’ skills being developed here, and I see how important that really can be.”
