A New Year!
With fall term in full swing, we hope you’re finding your balance and at least a little bit of harmony. In our Recap for the fall you’ll learn about some software enhancements we’ve made, and a TON of new content our creators have made–specifically geared towards student staff.
Software Updates
Released just before opening, Administrators in Roompact’s software will notice a new Organization Settings option under “My Account” in the upper right or your screen. Organization Settings will give you more granular control over how Roompact’s software works for your campus. The first option we’ve added to this new feature is the ability to your staff members with a Hall Director permission level to access the Insights feature.
The default behavior of Roompact’s software only allows Administrators to access Insights, but, by enabling this new option in the Organization Settings, you can allow Hall Director-level staff to also access Insights. We expect most schools will want to turn this feature on (and many have already), although some schools give Head RAs and other staff access as Hall Directors and may not wish to allow them to use the feature. This gives you control to make that decision based on how you use Roompact’s software.
New Attendance Filters and Insights
Attendance has gained new filters and locations. We’ve also added a number of new Insight Reports related to the feature. Check them out and keep that feedback coming!
Training
At the end of September, we held a virtual training for staff members who were either new to Roompact, or for current staff who needed a refresher. This training goes over all Roompact features from beginning to end. If you missed it and would like to watch, we’ve made the video available on our support portal.
RA Door Dec Competition WINNERS!
We’re pleased to announce and showcase the winners of our annual Door Dec Competition:
- Madison – Michigan Tech
- Saribel – Rutgers New Brunswick
- Mallory – Texas State University
- Serena – Cleveland State University
- Jade – Texas A&M University Commerce
- John – University of Delaware
- EJ – University of Colorado Boulder
- Katres – University of Texas at Austin
- Destiny – University of the Pacific
- Reon – California State University Long Beach
Check out the winners (and all of the entries) below.
New RA Poster Competition
Roompact is holding its first annual RA poster contest! This contest is open to student staff (RAs, CAs, etc.) at schools who currently use Roompact’s software on their campus. The door decs must be sent by December 15th at 11:59pm local time to be considered.
The team at Roompact will judge all submissions and choose ten winners. We will publish a post announcing the winners and highlighting all of your amazing entries. Each Top 10 Winner will receive a $50 Etsy gift card.
Looking to give your student staff ideas for posters and advertising? We’re created a Roompact Topics page just for them.
Upcoming Conferences
We look forward to seeing you at these upcoming events. Stop by our booth and say hello! We might even have some new socks to give away. 😉
- NEACUHO – October 11 to 13, Springfield, MA
- MACUHO – October 18-20, College Park, MD
- Institute on the Curricular Approach – October 22-25, Long Beach, CA
- GLACUHO – November 5 to 7, Fort Wayne, IN
- UMR-ACUHO – November 8 to 10, Coralville, IA
- AIMHO – November 12-16, Colorado Springs, CO
Heading to the Institute on the Curricular Approach? Roompact is pleased to announce its fifth annual user’s conference scheduled for this fall on Wednesday, October 25th, 2023 between 12:30pm and 2:30pm at the Hilton Long Beach.
Upcoming Webinars
Roompact is partnering with ACPA’s Commission on Housing and Residence Life to bring you a series of webinars this fall. Best of all, they’re free and open to anyone! All you have to do is register beforehand to get sent the link. Dates and times are included with the registration form.
Given that faculty in residence programs facilitate students’ out-of-class engagement with faculty, it is important to understand the contexts of these faculty-student interactions, the substance of faculty-student interactions, how intentional they are, and what outcomes they create, generally and DEI-related, for faculty and students.In this session we present the findings of a national study of faculty in residence to understand these dynamics, using the Fullam and Hughes (2020) typology of faculty-student interaction in FIR programs.
In an effort to provide more accessible and equitable opportunities to all student staff applicants, the Housing and Residence Life department at the University of North Texas have implemented a lottery process to recruit, select, and place student staff. This presentation will cover the department’s reasoning, methods, and assessment of the lottery process, including the ways in which this process have combated inequitable traditional hiring practices of student staff.
Housing processes are tedious and complicated no matter how you run them and often include gender as a primary marker. As more students arrive on our campuses who identify outside of the gender binary…our processes need to shift. In this presentation we will discuss how one campus has eliminated gender to enhance the housing process and give autonomy to all students.
Student employment is a growing trend with over half of college students working while attending school. Recognizing that Resident Assistant (RA) roles are campus employment opportunities with attractive compensation, these positions often draw in students who come from historically underrepresented racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. While some studies highlight the benefits of the RA role, this session will explore nuances of Black RAs experience regarding expectations and work functions. This session will provide actionable recommendations to housing departments and campus leaders.
Labor movements are seeing a new burst of unions following COVID-19 impacts on working conditions. This session will work to demystify the world of unions by discussing the history and impacts of the United State’s first Resident Assistant Union and how that’s shaped daily life working as a residence director.
New! Student Staff Development Curriculum
Our ACUHO-I Intern, Kassidy, worked hard this summer to develop a series of professional development articles for RAs/student staff. Starting this term, we’re releasing these as banner announcements in our software (that you see at the top of your hub) for student staff. At the link below, you’ll find the “syllabus” for the year in case you want to discuss or incorporate these themes into your 1-1s or staff meetings. We’re continuing to add to and iterate this, so some new content and links will be added later. Check it out!
New Episodes of the #ResEdChat Podcast
The Roompact ResEdChat podcast is a digital variety hour of presentations, webinars, and interviews on topics of interest to residence life and education professionals who work in college and university housing.
Check out our latest episodes:
- Ep 35: Crystal Cyr and Kimberly Kruchen-Spaulding on their Multi-Institutional Study On The RA Role and Experience
- Ep 36: Kendra Sherman on Bringing Residence Life Abroad
- Ep 37: Understanding the Experiences of Indigenous Students On Campus
- Ep 38: Roommate Agreements & Managing Conflict
- Ep 39: Using the Doctorate To Amplify the Voices of Students and Staff
- Ep 40: Kassidy Giles with ACUHO-I Internship Reflections
- Ep 41: Roompact User Spotlight on The College of New Jersey
- Ep 42: Jong Youn On How You Can Partner With Roompact To Achieve Your Goals
- Ep 43: Understanding NACURH on the Campus, Regional, and National Levels
- Ep 44: Ardell Sanders & Alex Martinez Preview the 2023 Institute on the Curricular Approach
- Ep 45: Jess Robinson on Being a Working Parent in Residence Life
From The Blog
We Ask Chat GPT…
What does the future of AI-based technology hold? We’re doing a little experiment, specifically with the AI chat-bot, ChatGPT. We’ve started a blog series where we ask ChatGPT interesting, unusual, or just plain fun questions related to residence life and college student housing. All answers were generated by the AI. At the end of the series, we’ll share what we’ve learned and how you might use it as a tool in your work.
- We Experiment With ChatGPT: Asking Questions About Residence Life and College Student Housing
- Describe Some Popular College Residence Hall Rules In The Voice Of Moira Rose
- What are the Similarities Between Drag Queens and Resident Assistants?
- What Would Be The Most Annoying Songs To Use As A Ringtone For An On-Call Duty Phone?
- Tell Me A Funny Story That Takes Place in a Residence Hall
- Which Characters From Game Of Thrones Would Make Horrible Residence Life Staff Members?
- Give Me Some Examples Of Really Bad Icebreakers
- Write A Poem For Residence Hall Staff Wishing Them Good Luck In The Upcoming Academic Year
For Professional Staff
For Student Staff
Looking for a job? Are you a Roompact school that wants some help in advertising your job openings? Just send us an email with the title and a link to the posting. We’ve compiled a list of job openings at Roompact schools.
