Natural & Health Sciences Residential Community

Bob Harr is the director of the NHSRC and the chair of the Department of Public and Allied Health in the College of Health and Human Services at Bowling Green State University.

You can contact Bob by e-mail at rharr@bgsu.edu and by phone by calling the his office at 419-372-2833.

If no one is there leave a voice mail with your name and phone number and he will call you back. Bob sneaks around the NHSRC mostly in the mornings to get the business stuff done. Also contact him to get in touch with the Graduate Assistant’s.  These students revolve every year.

Little Bit About Bob as he was beginning in 2000;

Bob Harr, health sciences, was "recruited" by his dean, Clyde Willis, health and human services, to create a residence hall environment specifically for health science majors, many of whom were freshmen. Harr had worked primarily with juniors and seniors in the past, and he hadn't been in a residence hall himself for 20 years. As a result, he had legitimate concerns about whether he could effectively communicate with the first-year population. For example, he quickly discovered that students "biorhythms" were very different than his own, as they were usually sleeping during his own most productive work hours.

He changed his schedule to be available to students in the Health Science Residential Community at 9 or 10 p.m., when students were most accessible. He also began to realize that his own fears about trying to socialize with students were unfounded. Although he thought they wouldn't want a faculty member hanging around, he soon realized that this was his own perception, and certainly not the perception of the students.

Harr understands that working with freshmen requires patience, empathy, and communication, without enabling unhealthy or unproductive behaviors. He has found ways to support his students through a role that is not teacher, adviser, or friend.

One of Bob's Favorite Quotes:

"Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature.  They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate technique of inquiry." -John Dewey