The Online Reflector

Photo by Kelbi Ervin

Students at the University of Indianapolis are a part of a tight-knit campus community. And unlike at some other universities, students develop a relationship with their professors throughout their tenure at the university.

In the emerging world of social media, college students use social networking sites such as Facebook to stay in touch with each other. With more than 500 million users on Facebook, it has become one of the primary ways for people to connect with one another. This online networking tool is not only used by students, but professors as well.

Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Terrence Harewood is one of the professors who uses Facebook to communicate with students. However, he allows students to add him as a friend on Facebook only after they have graduated.

“I assumed that we all had the same policies,” he said. “But I don’t let current students add me on Facebook. After they graduate, we can be friends.”

Last year, Harewood won the University of Indianapolis Teacher of the Year award, which, according to the UIndy website, is presented to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in classroom teaching and superior performance in individual and group interaction with students. Harewood makes the effort to let students know he has invested personal interest in their education.

Harewood enjoys keeping in contact with students after he has had them in class and is thankful that Facebook helps him to do this. He explained the reason for not being friends with current students on Facebook.

“It is important to keep a professional distance from students,” he said. “I am certainly open to conversing with my students, but the content on Facebook is very personal.”

Freshman computer science major Anthony Jackson agreed that Facebook is an effective way to communicate with his professors.

“I do not believe there is a problem with knowing your professor personally,” he said.

He has found the close relationship students have with professors at UIndy to be extremely helpful. He said that all of his professors are approachable and he appreciates that he can feel comfortable going to them with questions.

“You [students] are in college and might need help and that [Facebook] may be one of the only ways to get help sometimes, I think adding professors would actually be beneficial and we could get responses quick,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that when he was in high school, there were rules concerning teacher-student relationships on Facebook. But as a freshman in college, he has found that he has more freedom, which makes ways to contact his professors more readily available.

“In college, I don’t really think it matters as much what goes on online with students and professors,” Jackson said. “I don’t think most people use it inappropriately.”

Harewood strives to convey to students that his goal is to facilitate their learning. He said he is always eager to assist them in whatever way they need. In addition to keeping in contact with alumni via Facebook, he also has a relationship with his current students that transcends the typical student-teacher relationship. He makes himself accessible by giving students his cell phone number and office hours, so they can contact him when necessary.

“My job is to support students’ learning as much as I can, so I give them my cell phone number and they can call or email me or come to my office,” he said. “I focus on facilitating their professional growth.”