Residence life and education, residential curriculum and curricular approaches, student housing, and technology.
As a student staff member or “RA,” you have the exciting opportunity to create a sense of community within your university residence hall floor. Building a strong and supportive community fosters connection, engagement, and personal growth among residents. In this blog post, we will share essential tips to help you cultivate a vibrant and inclusive... Continue Reading →
Hopes and Fears is an icebreaker game that can be used to help process through new beginnings or periods of transition. Typically, a facilitator will pass out an index card--one side will be for the participant to list "hopes" and the other side for "fears." It is supposed to be a moment of vulnerability and... Continue Reading →
Residential curricula are focused on student learning. Ultimately, curricular approaches primarily concern themselves with what we hope students will know and be able to do once their time with us comes to an end. Community building falls outside the learning-focus of the curriculum but it is critically important for its effectiveness. A switch to a... Continue Reading →
Employing a Residential Curriculum entails building a residence life program that is learning-centered. Previous movements within residence life focused more narrowly on wellness or community. Moving towards a learning-centered orientation is often more intentional, more transformational, more holistic, and leads to better outcomes for students. Making this shift, however, does not necessarily entail that one doesn’t engage in education around issues of... Continue Reading →
Roompact "Perspective" posts are opportunities for individual staff members to work out ideas and provide their individual thoughts and opinions on a given topic. Believing that community building happens naturally and doesn't require intervention is a myth. This "myth" is often not one that is widely believed by most professionals that work in residence life,... Continue Reading →
As May approaches at colleges and universities across the United States, the end of the academic year brings a number of rites of passage and end-of-the-year celebrations--from banquets to award ceremonies to graduations. Students are preparing for finals, saying goodbye to friends, planning for summer work and internships, and, for some, leaving the university for the... Continue Reading →
Roompact "Perspective" posts are opportunities for individual staff members to work out ideas and provide their individual thoughts and opinions on a given topic. Opinion pieces reflect the views of the individual authors and are presented to prompt discussion in our community. They do not necessarily represent those of Roompact. We've all heard it before: Residents... Continue Reading →
