by Alli Hurtado Residence life is a field deeply rooted in tradition. Many of our core practices, health and safety  inspections, multi-week student staff trainings, door decorations, on-call rotations, and structured programming models have remained largely unchanged for decades. These structures were built with care and intention, designed to create safe, supportive, and engaging residential  communities, places... Continue Reading →

by Matthew M. Inman During a recent focus group with resident assistants (RAs), one staff member said, “I’m supposed to talk with my residents about leadership, but some can’t even speak to their neighbors.” As an educator, this statement had a lasting impact. It represents a misalignment between what we currently focus on in resident... Continue Reading →

Changing Residence Life Practice to Meet Current Student Needs by Austin Korynta As a young professional, one of my least favorite phrases from mid-to-upper-level administration is the phrase “I’m old school.” In my personal reflection on that phrase, “I’m old school” communicates, to me, an unwillingness to change and adapt to the current environment, the... Continue Reading →

by Yoke Tassent In many ways, college students will always be college students. They will be under-rested and over-caffeinated. Planning their days full of opportunities to prepare them for the work force while making “core memories”. They will have a large appetite they must fulfill on a small budget. Relying on ramen and a meal... Continue Reading →

by Dr. Julie Ridgway Have you noticed your student staff engaged with your curricular approach? Are students attending or utilizing your strategies? Have you thought about if your curricular approach is Gen  Z enough?   Generation Z is the current generation of students living in our residence halls. As defined by Pew, Generation Z individuals were born... Continue Reading →

by Ryan Taylor It’s been six (can you believe it, six years!) since the pandemic impacted how we do this work. Remember the Zoom 1:1s, the virtual curriculum strategies, and for some, the closed residential communities? It’s just wild to think that was now 6 years ago - it still feels so recent. Six years... Continue Reading →

by D.J. Moore From learning about En Loco Parentis during graduate school to attending Title IX and other important trainings as our institutions, part of working in Higher Education is being dedicated to a growth mindset and being a life-long learner (whether that learning takes place in a formal classroom or on the job). Psychologists and sociologists... Continue Reading →

In 2017, I found myself as a freshman in college, rooming with three other strangers in a dorm where I knew nobody, on a campus where I knew no one. Even though I was surrounded by thousands of students my age, with whom I should have easily been able to connect, my freshman year of... Continue Reading →

...and What it Means for Student Affairs Practitioners Trying to Build Community When I started college, I was excited about my new dorm and especially curious about who my roommate would be. Now, though, students are changing how they live and connect. More students see privacy as an important part of living on campus and... Continue Reading →

For many of us working in student affairs, whether fresh out of our undergraduate programs or a few — or fine, many — years into our careers, it can feel exhausting to field the steady stream of Resident Advisor questions that dissect every policy, procedure, and email. It can feel like there’s always something. Our... Continue Reading →