Faculty (CUL) Meals with Students Program

(formerly The CUL meals program)

In order to encourage faculty members to meet with students outside of the classroom, the former Committee on Undergraduate Life (CUL) developed this meal program which allows for faculty members to share meals with students in the dining halls free of charge.

This program is exclusively for the purpose of encouraging occasional out-of-classroom interactions between faculty members and students. It may not be used to provide free meals for individuals, unit meetings, or for other groups of faculty members. The success of these programs relies on the integrity of individuals within the campus community to respect each program’s intent and to use them accordingly.

The level of food expenses covered varies based on the location of the meal within the following parameters:

Driscoll, Mission, & Whitmans’

• In these dining halls, the faculty member should be accompanied by the student(s), or be meeting students in the dining area.
• Students must use their own meal plan if possible (if a student does not have a meal plan, their meal may be charged to the Faculty Meals with Students program).
• Be sure to bring your Williams College ID with you to charge the Faculty/Student Meals Program, as you will simply swipe your ID card to pay for your meal with the student(s). Using this program is a no-cash transaction, and reimbursements are not possible.

Lee Snack Bar, EcoCafe, and Goodrich Coffee Bar

• Once again, a faculty member must be accompanied by the student(s) when ordering – and please note that the Dining Staff is asked to ensure that the student is present with the faculty member, so please consider this before you order.
• At these cafe locations, a faculty member is welcome to bring up to 5 students at one time.
• There is no monetary value associated with the snack/cafe program. One swipe for each student or faculty member will allow them to choose from the available “carry-out” menu available, depending on the time of day.
• The snacks/cafe portion of this program cannot be used for á la carte retail items that are not part of the “carry-out” menu.
• This plan cannot be used as part of the GET app.

Additional funding opportunities to support student interactions with faculty and staff members:

Faculty/Student Entertainment Funds. These funds are designated to help faculty share meals with their students. Full-time faculty can use funds as follows each semester:

• If you have 1-10 students, you can spend up to $75.00.
• If you have 11-20 students, you can spend up to $150.00.
• If you have 21-40 students, you can spend up to $200.00
• If you have 41 or more students, you can spend up to $250.00

Those wishing to use the funds should complete this form. Please wait for confirmation from the Dean of the College’s office before you spend any funds.

It is possible that the funds available may be used up before the end of the academic year. Should that be the case, communication will be provided to let you know that further requests will not be accepted.

Unit Budgets. Each Unit may devote a small budget to provide funds for faculty members wishing to entertain students. The unit Chair controls the disbursement of these funds.

Student-Staff Dining Program (this is the staff version of the Faculty Program). In this case, the charges are sent back to the unit, so approval lies in the hands of the unit budget manager, usually the faculty member Chair. Again, this is not typically allowed for ongoing lunches for groups, etc.

Committee on Student Life. The budget for the Committee on Student Life is a part of the Dean of the College’s budget and can be used to support campus programs at the discretion of the Chair and the Committee.