If you already have a faculty adviser and want to deepen your relationship, it’s helpful to bear in mind the three kinds of obligations that the professor is already juggling on campus (teaching, research and campus service). Advisers need to perceive that they are welcome and that their presence makes a difference.

Five ways to make a faculty adviser feel welcome

1. Find out who your faculty adviser is, and show a personal interest in that professor and in his or her work and family. Every time you ask about the kids by name, or offer to pray for his or her spouse, you communicate that you care on a personal level and want to develop a meaningful relationship.

2. When “stuff” happens, ask your adviser to pray. Faculty who are praying about chapter outreach events, personal struggles students face and other things that are weighing heavily on the leaders are more likely to want to know how these things turn out. Even a written note with the requests on it will communicate that you value your partnership in ministry with your adviser.

3. Offer a blanket invitation to the adviser for all your events and provide a printed calendar indicating dates, times and locations. But rather than saying, “We want you to come to everything,” highlight one or two events in a semester that would be particularly interesting or helpful to the chapter to attend. If you are planning picnics or other events where children wouldn’t be in the way, invite the whole family. Little kids go over great with a chapter at a fun event, and students can connect at a completely different level with the adviser. It also provides a fun activity for the family rather than a night away from the family.

4. Invite your faculty adviser to lunch, or, if you have a relationship built up, have your staffer ask the adviser whether he or she might be interested in having the exec team over for dinner or in taking them to lunch on campus.

5. To really send the kind of relational signal that Jesus sent, think about how your chapter can reflect Christ’s love to the adviser. Nothing opens doors faster than acts of unconditional love. If your faculty adviser has young children, tell him or her that the students would like to baby-sit (without pay) so your adviser and spouse can go out for some time together.

Five ways to chase away a faculty adviser

1. Be careful not to inform your adviser of events, activities, goals or prayer requests. They might show up, or take an interest in how things turn out!

2. Ignore your adviser if he or she comes to a meeting. Don’t speak to faculty members who stop by, and above all, forget to introduce them to the chapter! A student might actually decide to take their class or talk to them about a situation they face, and that might accidentally get a faculty member involved!

3. The corollary to item 2: if you go to your chapter adviser’s office to get forms signed and he or she asks you how things are going, just respond, “Fine.” Then wait silently until they hand the form back to you. In the most effective variation of this technique, you can skip “Thank you” and go directly to “See you next year.” This packs the best punch, because it clearly indicates you have no interest in seeing them in the interim.

4. If a chapter member asks about Christian faculty or your faculty adviser, be sure to use phrases to minimize any role they might play, like “Oh, her. We just needed someone to sign the paperwork.”

5. If your faculty adviser doesn’t take the initiative to contact you, let sleeping dogs lie. Why stir up a relationship when you can ignore a person? On the other hand, if your faculty adviser reaches out to you, displays an interest in the chapter, or makes an invitation or offer, just say “no.” Better yet, leave it to your staff worker to respond on behalf of the exec team. That way, you can make two people feel awkward!

—Dr. Kevin Hula says he has never been the recipient of the behaviors listed above to chase advisers away, and insists that he is neither hinting nor begging by creating the list of ways to make advisers feel welcome.