Kelly Bailey doesn't make phone calls or wait in line to speak to her academic adviser. After all, they're friends - on Facebook.
Bailey, a UF history senior, is part of a growing trend of students and faculty extending their relationships to the popular social networking site.
"It's absolutely easier than calling him at the office," Bailey said.
But it's not all business.
Steven Noll, a UF history professor, said he likes sending happy birthday wall posts to his students.
Noll said while some teachers won't befriend their students, he doesn't have a problem with the upgraded student-teacher relationships.
Getting to know students is an important part of his job, he said, and Facebook has made it easier.
"Looking at pictures and quotes just gives an idea of who people are," Noll said. "It's not just that kid who sat in row four in that class."
He said it's also more personal than communicating through e-mail.
By staying linked to students through Facebook, he said he keeps in touch with people he otherwise wouldn't.
"You're not friends with these people like with colleagues and friends," he said. "You're friends in a different way."
However, Noll's got some ground rules. He said he doesn't accept friend requests from students in his classes.
"At some level students assume if they're your friend during that semester maybe you'll cut them a break," Noll said.
He said he doesn't think his 280 Facebook friends in the UF network expect special privileges.
However, he said sometimes Facebook offers more information about students than he'd like to know.
"What's interesting to me is you get a lot of people, particularly young women, whose political views are conservative and 'I walk with Jesus,' all this kind of stuff, and their picture kind of belies that," Noll said.
Megha Nagpal, a UF graduate student, said she thinks there's no problem with virtual student-teacher friendships.
Nagpal said she's never befriended a professor on Facebook, but she looks at their profiles out of curiosity.
"It seems a little awkward to me," she said.
Mike Foley, a UF journalism professor, said he can't remember why he joined Facebook a couple years ago, but he's glad he did.
"I'm old so I try to keep up with you young people," Foley said. "This is one way that doesn't require any physical exertion."
He has 243 friends in the UF network so far. Browsing through the preferences and activities on students' profiles helps him keep in touch with this generation, he said.
He said he doesn't have a rule about accepting friend requests from current students, and hasn't run into any problems because of it.
"There are too many policies in the world," Foley said. "I try to keep mine to a minimum."
He said the only thing he doesn't like about Facebook is receiving friend requests from people he doesn't know.
He prefers to use the Web site to stay in touch with alumni, he said.
Some students' posts surprise him, but he said he doesn't take Facebook too seriously - it's just for fun.
"Sometimes I'm amazed at some of the pictures," Foley said. "Not sure I would've done that. But, again, they're young and having a good time and that's OK."
