This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, “What is the future of the RD position and role?”
Guest Post by Becki Tankson-Artis, Residence Life Professional
Things change and that’s all we can ever rely on, blah blah blah. We’ve been hearing this since we were children, and something changed that we didn’t like. My big moment like this was when my mom moved from the house to the apartment when I was in college. I faced a lot of change prior to that, such as my parents getting divorced and my sister getting married and moving across the country when she was 19, but this was the moment that really struck a nerve for me.
My mom sat me down for the dreaded talk and supported me through the struggle I had with acceptance. I had no other choice but to be okay with change, and I learned that the change I dislike the most is change that is out of my control (how shocking).
What was truly shocking was when I discovered I love working with college students and I wanted to pursue a career in residence life. Change is abundant in this field. I learned that quickly as an RA back in 2016. The state of Illinois didn’t have a budget and our RA funds got cut off quickly. How was I supposed to host my stress pinata event without a pinata?
Pivoting from buying a pinata to making a pinata showed me that I can get through unforeseen circumstances. My supervisor gave me the suggestion, and I always think back on that suggestion when I am faced with a challenge; sometimes I just need to think a bit creatively. From that point on, I was pretty good at it pivoting. Not quite as good as Ross, Rachel, and Chandler, but close.
Luckily, I got used to pivoting quickly because the RD role is forever changing. From being a Hall Director overseeing a nontraditional apartment complex that housed families to being a “Residence Life Coordinator” doing Assistant Director responsibilities, I have seen quite a lot, and that almost makes it difficult to know what is coming next.
What happened in 2020 isn’t a secret to anyone, except maybe Jared Leto on his silent retreat, but it changed the way residence life staff work. I was putting students in quarantine housing and delivering meals to them all while hoping I wouldn’t get myself and my family sick. Since then, we have been evolving student staff roles to be better suited to the needs of today’s students, and I have even looked at what it would look like to have an overnight RD position to take some of the heavy on-call load. Our students are changing, and residence life needs to change too, so we can continue to support our students through their college careers.
Now, when it comes to making educated guesses in the realm of residence life, I am typically pretty confident in those guesses. I have four and a half years of professional experience across three universities (that’s a story for another day), and not to brag, but I’m pretty good at my job. However, predicting the future of the RD role is a challenge. I couldn’t have guessed that 2020 was going to happen the way it did. I couldn’t have guessed that having three entry level positions at three different universities would be my normal, and that all three of those positions would be so vastly different even though they were all entry level “RD” roles. My best guess for the future of the RD role is that we will have to wait and see, because it’s hard to predict the future.
I will confidently say, though, that we need to make sure our RDs are not overworked and underpaid. We need to focus the RD role instead of continuously expanding RD responsibilities. We need to make sure residence life leadership is competent and care about their staff as humans, not just see them as employees. In a career so focused on the care of our students, the people providing that care also need to receive that care and support. Otherwise, the RD role will continue to struggle with turnover and become more challenging than it is rewarding. Change doesn’t have to be bad or scary. It just needs to be supported, like how Rachel and Chandler supported Ross’s couch dream.
