Most people living in Warren Towers pay for both housing and a meal plan. They live in cement-block rooms with the same drab, flesh-colored curtains and immobile furniture – a chest of drawers, a desk, a set of shelves and a curtain-covered closet.
Bryan Stone’s room is a bit different. From the large television to the multiple plush couches – not to mention his free room and board – it’s clear he’s not a regular building resident.
Bryan Stone is also a professor.
One of many professors, in fact, who takes part in Boston University’s Professor in Residence program and live in the same places students call home. Stone, who teaches in the School of Theology, has been at BU for six years and lived in Warren Towers with his wife Cheryl for the past three.
For almost 30 years, the Professors in Residence program has provided a way for students and faculty members to learn from each other by living under the same roof.
According to Associate Dean of Students Jack Weldon – who was also the former director of the Office of Residence Life – the program was founded around 1976 under then-President John Silber.
Although the residency positions are competitive today, Weldon said the program’s beginnings were inauspicious.
“When I arrived at Boston University in the early 80s, it was a bit of a challenge to find professors [to fill the positions],” he said.
Weldon credits the development of the program to “the fact that the residence halls are civil – 20 years ago that was not necessarily the case,” he said.
Current Residence Life Director David Zamojski said he feels the Professors in Residence program allows both sides to grow.
“[It’s] an opportunity for students and professors to see each other in a new light,” he said. “I’ve heard many professors say that [they are] better professors for knowing what student life is truly like.”
Stone said the professors are seen to students as “an adult with whom they can relate.” Those who participate must “love students first of all,” he said.
Professors are compensated for living in the dorms, Stone said, which includes free housing, utilities and seven meals per week at the dining hall.
Residences available to professors are scarce on campus, he said.
“The only reason the previous occupants left was that they had a baby, and I guess they did not want to raise a baby in a dorm,” he said.
Weldon said to become a Professor in Residence, faculty members must have the title of assistant professor or higher and have been teaching at BU for at least three years before moving into a residence hall.
Stone recalled the rigorous application process for the position, saying that he had gone “through three or four interviews at the Office of Residence Life.”
“They were probably making sure that we weren’t in it for the free housing,” he said.
Professors in Residence do have several advantages over students in the standard dorm rooms in Warren Towers. Professors have their own bathroom and kitchen, and the living space is considerably larger than the average student’s.
But Stone said professors do give back to the student community. They are required to hold open-door hours at least once a week and provide some sort of service for students once a semester, details of which are largely left up to the professors’ discretion.
“We take chocolate chip cookies to every floor in [Shields] Tower,” Stone said.
During the winter sports season, they also make use of their large television, inviting all who want to watch Monday Night Football, Stone said.
CAS freshman Christopher Snyder, who lives on Stone’s floor, said “it’s like they are just another [couple of] students.”
“Any time you see them in the hall, they know your name,” he said.