Residence life and education, residential curriculum and curricular approaches, student housing, and technology.
As I sat down to author my final blog submission for this yearlong reflection through writing, my relationship with the profession kept coming up. If you add up my first experience of on-campus housing as a first-generation freshman, elected as hall president in my mostly male residence hall, I am wrapping up my 21st year... Continue Reading →
In a previous post, I wrote about how a supervisor might assist in supporting their staff member(s) through the job search season. As we are now entering a new year, and with some hopeful reflections motivating our purposes, it seems only fitting to now address this phenomenon from the perspective of the candidate. I want... Continue Reading →
The end of the semester comes at us like the down track on a rollercoaster. We’ve climbed and persisted up the track and hit some peaks this fall. As we gleefully enjoyed a winter break, it went by so quickly. Before we can fully catch a breath we’re ascending another climb into spring opening. As... Continue Reading →
It's job search season! For those of us with graduate assistants, and perhaps those with undergrads interested in the field (see my previous blog post!) these staff are beginning to plan out their job searches. The professional job search and the graduate school search have some significant differences and individuals going through these processes need... Continue Reading →
October, among many other celebrations and observances, was Career in Student Affairs Month. As graduate school application deadlines begin to loom in the near future, it felt important to discuss some insight into making the choice and transition to pursue a career within the field of student affairs. Below are some considerations for the uniqueness... Continue Reading →
As we are [hopefully] settling into the start of our academic years, you may have been noticing some patterns in your calendars and weekly schedules. It can quickly feel overwhelming with the various administrative tasks to accomplish each day and week, and with the unexpected items demanding a more urgent response which redirects our focus.... Continue Reading →
As semester schools begin settling into the start of the fall semester, and quarter schools prepare for opening their halls and campuses, we may find ourselves struggling through a bit of transition into new roles, new communities, new supervisors, and new institutions. This cyclical transition finds many new professionals beginning their first full-time position, and... Continue Reading →
As the new academic year begins for almost all of us in housing and residence life, we are wrapping up the training and onboarding of new staff members. It seems that summers continue to feel shorter, leaving our batteries half charged as we embark on a new academic year. Our residents are arriving not knowing the... Continue Reading →
Collecting and processing student feedback is crucial to ensuring that your department’s efforts are moving you toward your goals and serving students. Choosing the way in which this data is collected from your residents is just as important as what you do with it to take action. Below are some ways you can utilize Roompact... Continue Reading →
Congrats on the new position! Along with starting a new job - even if it’s at your same institution - comes with all those “adulting” things like retirement, health benefits, registering a vehicle, etc. and it can be an IYKYK situation sometimes. As a long-time recruiter and onboarder, here are some things I make sure... Continue Reading →
We’ve heard the attributions of another year covered in the cloak of COVID-19’s shadow–arresting the development of our residents, limiting academic engagement and success, and continuing to exhaust the efforts of our residential life staff members. Though there have been many types of efforts at recognizing these vital staff within a university, I offer an... Continue Reading →
