What is the purpose of the Faculty Student Interaction Dinner (FSID) Program?
The Faculty Student Interaction Dinner (FSID) Program was established by a gift.
Its purpose is to enable faculty and students to interact on a more intimate basis outside of the classroom, during the semester, as a way to personalize and enlarge the faculty-student relationship within the context of a given class. Furthermore, the program intends to foster informal communication between students and faculty so that students feel comfortable approaching faculty members during the semester. Our program is not meant to be used for review sessions, as a reward for good class performance or as an end of the semester celebration.
What is the criteria for eligibility in this program?
The first of the criteria for eligibility for the program is that the faculty member teaching the course must have a full-time appointment in the Arts and Sciences at the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, or Lecturer in Language. If the faculty member holds that appointment, then they can request a meal; the class will qualify as long as the majority of students (*15 maximum) attending the dinner are undergraduates. *Except for Faculty House their maximin 12 people.
What are the parameters of the FSID program?
A faculty member can arrange through this office a dinner for up to 15 students at a time for his/her class(es). In order to foster an informal relationship we believe the maximum size of the group should not exceed fifteen (15) students. If your class has more than fifteen (15) students you will need to break the class into two or more separate groups and host separate dinners. We have found that when the dinners are larger, then the basic idea of the program—informal communication in a small group between faculty and students--is lost.
Do I order from the restaurant myself, and pay for it, and bring you the bill together with a list of names of participating students, or what?
No. Please do the following:
1. Select a date convenient for you and your students.
2. Complete the Fall 2024 Faculty Student Interaction Dinner Request Form . The most current link can be found on our website
3. Direct any queries to our dedicated email [email protected].
4. Once submitted, we process your request based on the chosen restaurant.
5. If Faculty House is selected, you need to make a tentative reservation pending our approval. Please enter your reservation number on the FSID Request form.
6. For other restaurants, we handle placing the order through our business accounts and provide you with vouchers to give to the delivery person for payment.
7. Please ensure the form is submitted by 5:00 p.m. at least 5 business days prior to the event.
8. Expect an email from Qamar Said within 2-3 days regarding your request's status.
9. Complete forms accurately to avoid processing delays.
10. Upon approval, you'll receive a voucher covering food costs plus a 15% tip.
11. Avoid cash or credit transactions with participating restaurants.
You need to select a date that you and most of your students are available to have shared meal together. You also need to fill out our Faculty Student Interaction Dinner Request Form and submit it to Qamar Said via Google Forms. The most current link can be found on our website.
Fall 2024 Faculty Student Interaction Dinner Request form link: https://forms.gle/bkDJe6pLZT5Tnxd26
If you have any questions please submit them via our dedicated Faculty Student Interaction Dinner program email address [email protected]
What happens after I submit my FSID Form?
Once we receive your Faculty Student Interaction Dinner Request form we process it based on the restaurant selected. If Faculty House was selected you need to make a tentative reservation for Faculty House pending our office approval. Please enter your reservation number on the FSID Request form. If the restaurant is other than Faculty House, then we place the order at the participating restaurant indicated on the FSID Request Form.
EVP Arts & Sciences has business accounts with each restaurant and we use a voucher payment system. Once your FSID request is approved, then we create a voucher for payment and email it to you (or whomever submitted your form) prior to the scheduled dinner. The faculty member must present it to the delivery person upon receipt of food.
Faculty should not have to pay cash or credit because the voucher covers everything.
Please note: The FSID Request Form(s) must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. at least 5 business days in advance, for most of the semester. Any forms received after 5:00 p.m. will be considered received for the next business day. University holidays do not count as business days.
Also, please fill out the forms completely. Incomplete forms will not be processed. The event can be either lunch or dinner. If you do not want to use Faculty House, there are several restaurants from which we will order food for delivery to an on-campus location that you secure.
Qamar will send you an email to let you know that she processing your FSID request. Within
2-3 days you should receive another email from Qamar Said either requesting additional information, confirming, or denying your FSID request(s). The denying email will explain why we were unable to approve your FSID request(s).
The confirmation email will include your voucher for payment of your FSID. The voucher covers the cost of food plus 15% tip. Money transactions
should not take place between faculty and staff from our participating restaurants.
Do I need to make a reservation at the Faculty House?
YES, you need to make a tentative reservation (pending our office approval) by clicking this
link before you submit the FSID Request Form. In the "Select an Occasion" drop down on the reservation confirmation page, please select "Business Meal" and in the "Add Special Request" box, please enter FSID and enter your confirmation number on the FSID Request Form.
If your request is not approved, we will ask you to cancel your reservation. The reservation maximum amount of people in a party is twelve (12). The minimum amount of people in a party is three (3). Your reservation(s) is/are for dining in the Ivy Lounge located on the 1st Floor. Faculty House is only available for lunch from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. and is the ONLY location that you can dine in . If you need to cancel your reservation please provide Faculty House with 24-hours notice and let us know that you cancelled.
Faculty House generally will not consider a reservation to be part of our FSID program unless follow the above referenced instructions. Otherwise Faculty House would not know whether or not this is an Arts & Sciences sponsored event.
Why can’t the FSID take place at a restaurant?
The Faculty Student Interaction Dinner Program does not pay for meals consumed at any restaurant location other than the Faculty House. If Faculty House is not chosen, a meal can be ordered by us from one of our other participating restaurants and delivered to an on-campus location secured by the faculty member.
The University does not pay for meals that are held at restaurants off campus. There are catering restrictions involved, so the food must be delivered to an on-campus site, or the faculty member needs to make lunch reservations at Faculty House.
Can I take my Teaching Assistant(s)?
Yes.
What does the Chosen Restaurant voucher cover?
The voucher covers payment for the food within your FSID budget that is based upon the information you included on your FSID Request Form and 15% tip. Because this is a program aimed at undergraduates, no charges for alcoholic beverages will be covered by the vouchers. Any excess costs will be the responsibility of the faculty member to cover.
What does the Faculty House voucher cover?
The voucher covers payment only for the number of attendees that you included on your FSID Request Form and 15% tip. Because this is a program aimed at undergraduates, no charges for alcoholic beverages will be covered by the vouchers. Any excess costs will be the responsibility of the faculty member to cover; the cashier will ask for a credit card or cash to cover payment.
Can alcohol be consumed during the dinner?
This program is geared toward undergraduates, the majority of whom are not of legal drinking age, we cannot cover charges for alcoholic beverages.
How will I know if my Faculty House reservations are confirmed?
We will confirm or deny your FSID request after reviewing your FSID Request Form and confirming that the information you provided meets the parameters of our FSID program.
Can I host the meal during class time (my students are busy at night)?
Eating during the regular class time does not fit in with the intent of our Faculty Student Interaction Dinner program. The meal really should be outside of the regular classroom setting in order for there to be conversation - -not teaching. The idea is to make students comfortable with faculty and to foster informal communication. Some faculty members have hosted meals during the week-end.
Can I take my spouse and child to Faculty House?
Our program provides funding for the faculty member and students only. If a faculty member wishes to bring their spouse and child, they will be responsible for covering the cost. We would like to be more accommodating, but our financial resources simply don't permit us to include the cost for family members meals.
Can I purchase food and be reimbursed?
No. The parameters of the FSID program does not allow this.
How do I know what my budget is?
You multiply $22.00 per person. The budget is for food and beverages. There are no taxes. We tack on an additional 15% for tip that our office covers. Menu selections should be made so that the cost does not exceed $22 per person.
Can I be reimbursed if I arrange and take my students to a non-participating restaurant?
No. The Faculty House is the only restaurant where you can take your class. The other restaurants on the program are for delivery only to an on-campus location secured by the faculty member. Most faculty will host the FSID in a lounge within their department.
Moreover, our program does not include or cover meals that are not arranged by our office, or use one of our participating restaurants. We would have to make the arrangements. We have a direct billing arrangement with our restaurants. We do not reimburse faculty members for meals they have paid for.
Why can’t I take more than 15 students at one time?
The purpose of our FSID program is to foster informal communication between students and faculty through a meal in a social setting so that students feel comfortable approaching faculty members during the semester. The parameters of the program have determined that
the maximum size of the group should not exceed fifteen (15) students; if a class is larger, we would ask that faculty break the class into smaller groups to get to that size. For a class with more than 15 students, we would fund at least two (2) meals (approximately 1/2 the class at a time), with the idea being that each student gets to eat at one of those meals.
When does the Faculty Student Dinner Program (FSID) program begin?
The Faculty Student Dinner Program does not begin until the third week of classes.
How is the deadline determined?
Due to the parameters set up by the donation that established this program, meals cannot be held during the final week of classes, the reading period, or finals week. The purpose of the program is to foster informal communication between undergraduate students and full-time faculty in the Arts and Sciences. This is the reason that meals are to be held during the semester rather than at the end. The program is not set up to fund what are essentially end of semester parties or rewards for good class performance.
Can I host an FSID during the last week of class?
We cannot schedule dinners during the last week of classes or beyond. The purpose of the program is to foster informal communication so that undergraduates feel comfortable approaching their instructors during the semester.
Why can’t I host an FSID during the last week of class?
The parameters of the Faculty Student Interaction Dinner program does not allow events to be held during the last week of classes nor during the reading or finals period. The program was established by a gift. Its purpose is to enable faculty and students to interact on a more intimate basis outside of the classroom, during the semester, as a way to personalize and enlarge the faculty-student relationship within the context of a given class. Holding a dinner at the end of the course does not support the purpose for which the program was developed. Because of these program requirements we must hold to the deadline date.
Could I have a second dinner with the same class at a later date before the deadline?
The program is limited to once per semester for the class -- we only schedule multiple dinners for the class if it necessary to break them up because of the class size. But even in that case students should attend only one meal for that class.
Do I have to go to the restaurant to pick up the food?
No. You do not have to go pick up the food. You would have to secure an on-campus location to host your FSID. then provide our office with the complete on-campus address so that we can arrange for delivery to the on-campus location that you secured.
I am a Barnard Faculty Member with Columbia College students, can I participate?
Our program is restricted to full-time faculty in the Arts and Sciences so a Barnard faculty member would not be eligible to participate.
Can Lecturers participate in the FSID Program?
The only lecturers that can participate in the FSID Program are Lecturers in the Languages.
My students are from different colleges at the University, can I participate?
The majority of the attendees at the dinner must be undergraduates. It does not matter if they are from Columbia College, General Studies, or Barnard, as long as the majority are not graduate students.
I have a 6000-level class that contains a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students. May I host a dinner?
As long as the majority of the group is undergraduate then you can host a dinner for this class. Also remember there is a *15 students per event maximum. *Except for Faculty House. Their cap is 12 people max, due to their relocation to a smaller space. Faculty House is the ONLY location that you can dine in. Food from external vendors need to be catered in to an on campus location secured by the faculty member.
My class has voted to have their dinner on a Saturday. Is that possible at Faculty House?
Faculty House is not open on week-ends so you would not be able to have the dinner there. In addition, Faculty House no longer offers dinner reservations. Their fourth (4th) Floor Skyline Dining room is only open for private functions for dinner.
I am teaching a language and want my students to experience the real language in that language’s environment. Do I qualify to participate?
We understand the value of immersing students in a particular language or culture, but that is not the purpose of the FSID program. Our program is funded to foster informal communication between undergraduate students and Arts & Sciences faculty.
Can I add a new restaurant (could my neighborhood standby be included)?
Once the semester starts we cannot add new restaurants mid-semester, so the ones on the list are the ones to stick to. If you provide us with contact information we will contact the restaurant and see if they would be interested in participating in our program starting the next semester. In addition, the restaurant would have to be willing to deliver the meal to an on campus location.
I don’t know the school affiliation and class year of my students. Do I really need to provide this information?
In order to stay within the parameters of this program we do track student status. Therefore, we do need accurate information on the students scheduled to attend each dinner.
Would it be possible to combine my class outing with my undergraduate seminar with the
Faculty Student Interaction program?
The parameters of the program restrict us to these meals taking place at an on-campus location. The only restaurant at which meals can take place is Faculty House. You would not
be able to combine it with the faculty student interaction program. We do not have funding to cover meals that take place in any other context, such as a seminar series, class field trip, etc.
If it has to be held at an on-campus site, where would you suggest having it (and how would I arrange securing the location)?
As a suggestion for an on-campus site location, you should check with your academic departmental administrator and see if maybe a faculty and/or a student lounge in your department is available, in order to host the dinner on campus.
Is it possible to organize a breakfast or lunch instead of a dinner?
Yes. It is possible to organize a breakfast, but you would only be able to order from West Side Market (they are the only participating restaurant that has breakfast foods like bagels, and muffins, etc.) You most certainly can do lunch (all of the participating restaurants serve lunch).
Do you accommodate dietary restrictions?
Yes. Faculty House offers Halal, Kosher, Gluten Free and Vegetarian food. These requests must be indicated on your FSID Request Form. If you select a participating restaurant other than Faculty House, we can only accommodate kosher food. Unfortunately, at the present time we cannot accommodate halal food unless the FSID takes place at Faculty House.
I am a retired faculty member, but I am teaching a course, can I participate?
If the faculty member is teaching a class (in the Core, for example), then that faculty member would be eligible.
I’m a student trying to organize a faculty student interaction in context of recent issues in the world. Can I participate in the FSID Program?
Our dinners are organized based on requests from faculty, not students, and they are based on courses, not on issues.
Can I make reservations during class time?
Eating during the regular class does not fit in with the intent of our Faculty Student Interaction Dinner program. The meal really should be outside of the regular classroom setting in order for there to be conversation - -not teaching. The idea is to make students comfortable with faculty and to foster informal communication. Some faculty members have hosted meals during the week-end.