Professors wary of student Facebook friends

While Facebook's network is continuously growing, the line between the private and the personal world is becoming, for some, slightly blurred.

"I really love working with students, and I really love my relationships with my students, but I don't want to go out with them," says Theresa Earenfight, professor of history.

Earenfight has a Facebook account, but is selective about who she adds as a friend, usually drawing the line with current students. She views the relationship between students and their professors as one that shouldn't cross into the realm of friendship.

"If you were a student in my class, and we were chatting, and going out, and having a great time and you turned in a paper that was a C-minus paper, and you came to me and wanted an appeal to friendship, I would have to draw a line there, and say 'I'm not your friend, I'm your professor'," says Earenfight.

Other professors were initially interested in Facebook specifically in order to talk with their students. Charles Tung, professor of English, started his account before a trip to Paris with some students.

"The Facebook page became a convenient way of meeting virtually before the trip, and sharing pictures after the trip," says Tung. "So I used it in sort of an official way to gather pictures as part of the record of the trip."

As Tung began to gather more friends and to communicate with old friends he hadn't seen since high school, he began to delete all of his friends that were his current students.

"As soon as my network expanded to include old friends that I hadn't seen in a while, or old roommates or family members, suddenly I realized that I wanted to keep separate my personal life and my professional life," says Tung, "I secretly un-friended some students who were still my current students."

However, while some students strive to befriend their professors online and are met with opposition, others also believe in boundaries.

"I only allow myself to add my professors the quarter after I've taken their class," says Tyler Doyle, international economic development major. "So far, it's worked out really well."

Doyle, an avid Twitter-user and Office of Information Technology employee, believes online networking could make professors more approachable to their students.

"I would probably prefer Twitter to Facebook, because it could really come in handy for professors," says Doyle. "They could have class Twitter accounts and say the homework is due tomorrow, or something they forgot or you could ask them quick questions or something."

Currently, 19 faculty members identify themselves as part of the Seattle U faculty network on Facebook.