Rose Vukovic, associate professor in the special education program, recently grabbed lunch with her student, Ricky Valentin Pena, through the University of Minnesota’s “Take Your Professor to Lunch Program.” The program emphasizes the importance of connecting students with faculty members by covering the cost of the lunch.

Pena, a student in Vukovic’s EDHD 1525W section, says the lunch was very valuable as it allowed him to connect with Vukovic on a more personal level.

“Rose is an extremely passionate professor and her passion lines up closely with mine,” he explains, ” I felt like I could learn a lot from her in a casual setting since there aren’t any limits like there are in a classroom setting.”

Vukovic says she enjoyed the opportunity to get to know one of her students better.

“Ricky is one of the most beautiful writers I’ve had in 12 years of being a professor, so I enjoyed learning about his previous writing experiences and future writing projects. He has big ambitions and the talent to achieve his goals. We’re lucky that he picked CEHD to start his academic career, and I’m especially grateful to have him in my section.”

If you want to find out more about the program, or how you can take your professor out to lunch you can visit their website.