ThinkBig is a program of Living Learning Communities, which are a unique avenue to enrich the lives of GT students. These communities are faculty-led on a specific topic of interest (see topics for 2013-2014). Each community has between 20-40 students. Students will apply for a specific Living Learning Community when they sign up for housing for the following year. If you are interested in running your own community, please see the faculty expectations and proposal form below.
Living learning communities in the ThinkBig program are communities where students with a common interest live together and through intentional programming as well as informal interactions with faculty can truly engage in inquiry based discourse. Our goal is to have enough of these programs to allow up to 1000 students to participate. Please explore our website to find out more about these programs!
Faculty Expectations
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Coordinate & Attend |
Details |
Discussion |
| 1) Retreat before classes begin for both Fall and Spring | This is for orientation and to establish cohort connections Friday or Sunday or overnight | Ice-breaking helps establish the community between all the students and with the faculty. Housing can help with the ice-breaking activities, and retreat coordination. |
| 2) One programmatic "event" every other week | The event should be related to the LLC subject, designed in advance to give an overall picture of the topic, and coordinated with Housing | This component is to accentuate the "learning" component. Some of these should be within the living quarters, but others can be elsewhere. There will also be a student advisory council with each LLC. They will be charged with developing other "events". Faculty should plan to attend at least one "event" a week. |
| 3) A coffee/tea hour once a week | Same time and place each week. Time and place are based on what is convenient for the faculty and the students | This is to keep a continuous casual community relationship between the faculty and the students. Suggested place: Living space; Suggested time: between 4-6pm. |
| 4) One special program/dinner at the end of each term | Support from Housing and from the Student Advisory committee | This serves as a celebration of the group as a whole, their involvement together, and their connection with their common interest in this LLC. This also helps to tie everyone together at the end of a term, so the next one starts smoothly. |
| 5) Participation in Assessment | Completing Assessment Instruments | The ThinkBig Coordinator in Housing will send periodic assessments for the faculty to complete by certain dates. |
Faculty Proposal Form
Faculty members are invited to submit proposals to develop Living Learning Communities for ThinkBig at Tech. Faculty leading one of these programs will receive up to one month summer salary. The programs are to span the academic year, both fall and spring semesters. Please review the expectations above before you submit your proposal.