Faculty Week depends on our partnership with our student leaders. Here’s a guide to help them catch the week’s vision and get excited for their role in it!
Reflecting on Faculty
Have your students sit in silence for a couple of minutes and think about these questions:
- What is a time that a professor made a positive impact on you?
- How did your professor demonstrate that they cared for you?
After giving them time to think, invite students to share. Then, ask them this question: Have you ever told your professor about their impact? If you did, how did it impact them? If not, how do you think it would?
Blessing Those Who Have Blessed Us
We’ve shared just a few stories about ways faculty have impacted us. Imagine how much faculty do for students across the campus! Not only do they help individual students, but they advise student groups like ours – without them, we couldn’t be on campus! Yet, we often don’t tell them how much they have impacted us.
What if we took a week to show our appreciation for them? What if we took time to pray for them, and even prayed with them? How might one week of showing our gratitude impact the lives of faculty members? How might praying over them change our campus? What if every InterVarsity chapter in our movement did the same thing?
Faculty Week
Faculty Week is simple but can go a long way. We’re essentially going to do two things: gather to pray over faculty [and with faculty, if any agree to come] and write letters of appreciation to faculty. But these two things have the potential to make faculty feel seen and appreciated. Imagine how you would feel after teaching and helping students through all the challenges of the pandemic and received notes of encouragement!
Bonus: Ask for Student Insight
Students may have some great ideas for the week. Ask them if they can think of other ways to show appreciation to faculty. Also see what Christian faculty they know. You may find some new potential chapter advisors way!