Residence life and education, residential curriculum and curricular approaches, student housing, and technology.
For Pro Staff For Student Staff Roompact's "Quick Tips" series highlights ideas and suggestions you can put into your practice as either a professional staff or student staff member working in residence life and education. Click to read more from the series. Bed bugs are a common nuisance that can infest even the cleanest and... Continue Reading →
I wasn’t supposed to live on campus originally. I had checked a box when I applied to the state institution 15 minutes down the road from my parents as a senior in high school. That checkmark could have very well shaped the next two decades of my life. Little did I know that by checking... Continue Reading →
One of the essential elements of a curricular approach is to have a regular review process in place. Peer review is one of the best ways of building buy-in for your curriculum and improving its effectiveness. Divisions and departments will approach the peer-review process differently. Some may choose to set aside a "review day" a... Continue Reading →
This is part of a multi-part series on utilizing principles and techniques from arts-based research practices and applying them to the residents life setting. Explore more parts in the series:Introduction and Strategies | Community Building In the previous segment of this series, Arts-Based Research (ABR) was demystified. Definitions, readings, and examples were provided to help... Continue Reading →
This post is part of a three-part series on starting a supervisory relationship in residence life. Following a chronological timeline, this series is broken up into three parts:The Beginning: Staff Performance Begins with YouThe Middle: A ResLife Supervisor's Guide: Managing Performance Through InquiryThe End (coming soon) In the previous segment, we explored how setting a... Continue Reading →
Having a "vendor fair" is a feature of the the ACUHO-I annual conference and at the various regional conferences (NEACUHO, AIMHO, UMR-ACUHO, SEAHO, WACUHO, MACUHO, GLACUHO, SWACUHO, and NWACUHO). If you're a first time attendee to these conferences, you may not be sure how to approach these fairs and how to interact with vendors. Don't... Continue Reading →
Across the country a week or two before all students return to campus, we see housing student leaders come back early to prepare and train for the upcoming year. This often involves team building, crisis management, facetime with campus resource leaders, and hopefully some time carved out for hall preparations. After the whirlwind of the... Continue Reading →
Bulletin boards have been a fixture of most residence life departments for decades. Creating fun, engaging, and educational bulletin boards is a common requirement for resident assistants and student staff. But since the advent of the internet, smart phones, and all of the other ways we can now engage residents, do bulletin boards still have... Continue Reading →
This post is part of a three-part series on starting a supervisory relationship in residence life. Following a chronological timeline, this series is broken up into three parts:The Beginning: Staff Performance Begins with YouThe Middle (coming soon)The End (coming soon) They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So when you hear “performance... Continue Reading →
As we prepare to finish this current school year I wanted to share some conversation starters that I am hoping you may find helpful as you speak with your residents and students who may be preparing to possibly move from on campus housing to off campus apartments, houses, or other independent living options. Moving from... Continue Reading →
Across the country a week or two before all students return to campus, we see housing student leaders come back early to prepare and train for the upcoming year. This often involves team building, crisis management, facetime with campus resource leaders, and hopefully some time carved out for hall preparations. After the whirlwind of the... Continue Reading →
This is part of a multi-part series on utilizing principles and techniques from arts-based research practices and applying them to the residents life setting. Explore more parts in the series:Introduction and Strategies | Community Building (coming soon) The history of residential life on college campuses spans far back into the 1600's. One of the first... Continue Reading →
Within the past few years, residence life and education professionals are increasingly scrutinizing the resident advisor (RA) role. Is it still relevant? Is it sustainable? Have times changed? How have our students changed? What should be the duties of the position? What are reasonable duties for an undergraduate staff member? How do we compensate our... Continue Reading →
This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, "What is the future of the RA role?" Read More From The Series Guest Post by Victoria Walsh, Professional Staff Member When first reading the question, the word “obsolete” immediately came to mind. Now, many who know me would think: ‘Victoria, how could you say... Continue Reading →
This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, "What is the future of the RA role?" Read More From The Series Guest Post by Jennifer Watley, Graduate Student Staff Member ResLife staff members are certified shapeshifters. If the residential environment of our buildings and communities represent the wild, then we staff represent the... Continue Reading →
This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, "What is the future of the RA role?" Read More From The Series Guest Post by Danielle Jones, Professional Staff Member The question of the future of the RA role is not one that is new or original. This question has found itself posed by... Continue Reading →
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 →
This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, "What is the future of the RA role?" Read More From The Series Guest Post by Kendra Sherman, Professional Staff Member, Seton Hall University Lifesaver. Friend. Resource. These and many others are the expectations of Resident Assistants everywhere. The variety of hats that RAs wear... Continue Reading →
