THE
AIMHO Angle May 2018
Pictured: Arizona State University
OVERVIEW The AIMHO Angle is the official publication of the Association of Intermountain Housing Officers (AIMHO). The AIMHO Angle is published on a quarterly basis throughout each year and includes submissions and articles by staff and students of the region. The AIMHO Angle is compiled and distributed by the AIMHO Marketing Committee. The purpose of the AIMHO Angle is to provide additional, year-round, outof-conference opportunities for associated members to share information and learn. All members of AIMHO are encouraged to write for and submit articles to the AIMHO Angle about topics such as passion areas, research, hot topics in housing, projects happening on their campus, and best practices in the field. If you are interested in submitting to the AIMHO Angle, learn how to on AIMHO Angle website at http://www.aimho.org/?page=SubmitAnArtlcle. You will also find previous issues of the AIMHO Angle on the website for your reference and to download. If you have any questions, please email aimhoangle@gmail.com We look forward to receiving your submissions!
MARKETING COMITTEE Cathering LaRoche (Chair) - Arizona State University Matthew Linton (Co-Chair) - University of Arizona Sue Belatti - Northern Arizona University James Bradley - Arizona State University Megan Letchworth - Prescott College Anthony Pegg - Arizona State University Shirl Portillos - Colorado State University
CONTENTS 4-6..................President’s Corner (Brad Shade - AIMHO President, University of Northern Colorado) 7-8..................Program Updates (Megan Chibanga - Program Committee Chair, University of New Mexico) 9.....................AIMHO Annual Conference (Megan Gallagher- Arizona State University) 10-11...............Assessment & Information (Cody Grunwald - University of Nevada - Las Vegas & Lisamarie Tomassetti - University of Nevada - Las Vegas) 12-13...............AIMHO College (Holly Kerrigan - AIMHO College Committee Member, University of Arizona) 14-15...............Awards/Recognition (Tyler Noragon - Awards/Recognition Committee Member, Arizona State University) 16-23...............Featured Articles • 16-19 Onboarding and Training New Staff (Shirl Portillos - Colorado State University) • 19-22 Using the Assessment to Inform the Onboarding and Training of Staff (Sue Belatti - Northern Arizona University) • 22-23 Instiutional Recognition (Jace Whitaker University of Montana) 23...................Spring New Hires
PRESIDENT'S CORNER The Immeasurable Value of Corporate Partners By: Brad Shade - AIMHO President, University of Northern Colorado Every fall we convene for our annual conference somewhere across the region and a host institution works incredibly hard to put together an amazing experience for all of us. We are housing people and we are trained to keep everything within the budget, as there really is no other option in our world. But in order to put on a quality conference, in a reasonably classy location, at a conference hotel that is able to house 225+ participants with meeting spaces that will accommodate the AIMHO Association – it is a big task and it is costly!!!! Then we ask our host institution to ensure that we have a venue large enough for 22 – 40 Corporate Partners (CP’s) to come and share their respective goods and services with us. This requires a very large venue such that everyone gets an 8 x 10 booth, some CP’s choose to support our region at a the highest level which affords them double that space, and then we need to find a location nearby or in the same venue for everyone to dine together with our CP’s. All this to say that the cost to provide a phenomenal learning environment with exposure to all these goods and services each year is big and the cost has increased over the years. Thankfully, we have amazing partners in our industry who are willing to support us and defray significant costs such that we are able to keep our conferences reasonably priced. Our goal is to make AIMHO Conferences affordable and relevant for everyone from the graduate student, the entry level professional to the senior leadership. But the CP’s financial assistance is only the tip of the iceberg! These partners have helped all of our institutions at one time or another in procuring products and services to help make our respective campuses attractive, functional and sustainable. This helps institutions to attract and retain students and we all know that students have many options, so we want to make our campus a great option as we want to keep those students on our campuses for as long as possible.
PRESIDENT'S CORNER Some CP’s have been willing to custom construct items to fit within the constraints that we have in our housing (like wardrobes, desks & dressers), some come to campus and review their goods to see what items may need to be addressed via their warranty. Some come to our campuses for installation days to ensure that everything goes well or concerns are addressed immediately. Others want to see how their goods are performing from a quality control standpoint and they like to evaluate potential changes or upgrades in order to improve their product. Each year AIMHO has the distinct privilege of honoring one of our CP’s by awarding them the Lyle T. Morse Corporate Partner of the Year Award. This award came into existence 14 years ago when it was awarded to Lyle Morse who was the President and CEO of Norse Furniture. Lyle embodied the true customer servant, as his service to the customer was second-tonone and thus the aptly named award that we continue to give out each year. Every single one of our award winners have been incredibly deserving and helpful to our membership and to AIMHO. If you would like to peruse the list of awardees, please take a moment and check out this link from our website: https://aimho.site-ym.com/default.asp? page=LyleMorseAwardFinal. This past year I had the honor of presenting the award to Michael Moore from Sustainable Furniture whom my institution has purchased furniture from as well as three other companies that he has represented in the past. (See the picture of Mike and ignore the guy to his right). Just like all the other awardees, Mike doesn’t greet me with questions about my furniture needs, he asks about me, my family, my colleagues and my campus and then we may start to talk about furniture. If you ever want to see how this award and gesture affected Mike, send me a note and I will gladly send you his incredibly grateful letter of thanks to our region. I want you to meet Mike and all other CP’s that are able to attend our conference this November and start to build your relationship with these amazing partners. I know they are CP’s, but I call them friends and colleagues with whom I
PRESIDENT'S CORNER have had the honor of doing business with many of them. I have often spoken and written about our AIMHO Family and I want you to join me in embracing our CP’s as an extension of our family.
In closing, we want to identify that next awardee for the Corporate Partner of the Year. This is where we would love your assistance in reaching out to myself or Mike Schilling, our Treasurer to let us know who you would like to nominate and share your story of how they have made an impact on you and your campus. Don’t delay, send me a note today with a nomination for our next Corporate Partner of the Year! Sincerely, Brad
PROGRAM UPDATES AIMHO 2018 Call for Programs By: Megan Chibanga - Program Committee Chair, University of New Mexico Do you have a program topic or information to share with AIMHO? Please join us as a Program Presenter at the AIMHO 2018 Conference hosted by Arizona State University, in Tempe, AZ on November 13-15, 2018 to share your experience and knowledge. The call for programs will run from May 1, 2018-August 3, 2018; submit early (and if so included, you can go Chicago style and submit often!) We have changed the timeline this year to encourage submissions from all those who join our region in July, so please be sure to pass this information on to your staff who are joining you this summer! 2 Ways to Identify your programming session There will be two ways all programs are identified this year; by content type and by intended audience level. Content Type We have heard your feedback, and there are a broad variety of content tracks for our programs this year, and the content tracks outside of Residence Education components will be given special consideration for selection for this year’s conference. Full details of the content tracks can be found at http://www.aimho.org/?page=programhome. Intended Audience Level To support the dialogue and learning in the rooms, we are hoping to provide additional opportunities for the intended audience level. The biggest change from previous years will be additive options within the Entry Level track; with specification of Graduate staff, Entry (1-3 years), and Entry (4+ years). You will be able to select multiple levels of staff as the
PROGRAM UPDATES intended audience. Full details of the levels can be found at http://www.aimho.org/?page=programhome. Program Submission Process There will be a presenter guide available at http://www.aimho.org/? page=programhome which we highly recommend reviewing prior to submitting your program. The program submission will be done via Google Forms, which doesn’t always save your progress, so we would recommend using our template as a holding space for your program submission information. The template also can serve as a great collaboration space for you and any co-presenters! Program submissions will be due by close of business (6PM MDT/5PM MST) on Friday, August 3, 2018. Presenters will hear back on the status of their submission no later than Friday, September 7, 2018.
AIMHO ANNUAL CONFERENCE Arizona State University Preparing for AIMHO 2018 By: Meghan Gallagher - Arizona State University Arizona State University will be hosting AIMHO 2018 at the Hilton Phoenix Airport November 13-15 in sunny Arizona. The location is close to both downtown Phoenix and Tempe which both offer great entertainment and night out experiences. The entertainment committee plans to offer many great opportunities for conference attendees including Night on the Town, an AIMHO basketball game, karaoke and some morning fitness options. The planning committee is currently working on getting more information about registration and programs and more information will be released in the upcoming months. Staff is currently working with hotel and transportation to ensure that all conference attendees will have an enjoyable stay in Arizona. The average temperature for the area in November is 76 degrees and the area offers many opportunities to be outside. Â Look out for more information and our webiste to come in the upcoming months. Check out this video to meet some of the staff planning the conference and learn more about ASU https://youtu.be/Q9wfdA84s2g.Â
ASSESSMENT & INFORMATION AIMHO Assement & Information Committee Updates By: Cody Grunwald - University of Nevada - Las Vegas & Lisamarie Tomassetti - University of Nevada - Las Vegas We are very excited to report on the work being completed by your Assessment and Information Committee. We wanted to provide you with an update on the work we are doing to help inform best practices within the region. NOW Available for viewing: 2017 Member Survey Results Find out how your colleagues view our organization, along with summary findings that will help provide critical information to AIMHO leaders, by reviewing the 2017 Membership Survey. Last year, we completed our second regional member survey to gather information on how well the region is meeting the needs of its members. Some of the things we collected in the survey include variations in position level (i.e. graduate assistant, entry-level, mid-level, SHO, VP) across the following areas: salary, professional development budget, involvement with professional organizations, and more! Additional information in the report includes assessment of: institutional demographics, how members perceive initiatives within the region, professional development opportunities offered within the region, member satisfaction with the opportunities offered, and what those opportunities focused on (i.e. title IX, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, etc.). There is also insightful member feedback on how the AIMHO region can better meet your needs. If you are interested in viewing the survey, you can find it here. Programming Initiatives We have been working with the programming committee to create an assessment track for the AIMHO 2018 Annual Conference. The purpose for
ASSESSMENT & INFORMATION
this new initiative is to provide programming opportunities for AIMHO members to share how their institution approaches assessment. If you or your department have any home-grown assessments, tips of the trade, or other valuable information that you have learned through your own assessment experiences, we invite you to submit a program proposal to share your knowledge with the rest of the region at the upcoming AIMHO 2018 Annual Conference. We look forward to your program proposals. WE NEED YOUR HELP: 2018 Regional Survey Currently our committee is in the process of designing the upcoming 2018 regional survey. When the 2018 survey is finalized, we will send it to the Senior Housing Officers for each institution. We ask that the senior housing officers of each institution touch base with one another to determine who will complete the survey for their individual institutions. We ask that this occurs to avoid multiple responses for the same institution. As of now we are reviewing the 2015 regional survey to assess the information we last collected and determine if there may be any additional areas needed in the 2018 survey. If you would like to review the 2015 regional survey, please visit the assessment committee page of the AIMHO website or click HERE. Â While we appreciate your feedback, if you have any recommendations for the upcoming regional survey, please direct those recommendations to your senior housing officer. We will be reaching out to the senior housing officers to ask for any possible additions to the 2018 survey. Shout Out Section We would like to thank Jed Cummins from the University of Northern Colorado for help with developing the 2018 regional survey, as well as assisting us with determining what software we will use for our assessment efforts. We also want to thank Brad Shade and Rich Clark for attending our monthly meetings when their busy schedule allows, for answering questions we may have, and for helping us to coordinate with the leadership team.
AIMHO COLLEGE AIMHO College Committee Updates By: Holly Kerrigan - AIMHO College Committee Member, University of Arizona AIMHO College is a phenomenal way for new professionals to become acclimated with the AIMHO culture, goals, values, and objectives. AIMHO College cultivates a space that is engaging, inclusive, fun, and productive. Being both a new professional and a first-time attendee last November, I am so glad that I chose to participate in AIMHO College. I had the opportunity to engage with other new professionals from all over the region and get a glimpse of what housing looks like at different campuses. AIMHO College creates a close-knit feel that allows new professionals to engage in open conversation on topics that the committee has decided on. These topics range from facilities management, to time management, and more. To expand more on the actual experience, AIMHO College breaks you up into cohorts which allows you to collaborate with even smaller groups of new professionals. Each cohort has a mid-level professional overseeing conversation and guiding you through the process. The whole group participates in the conversations lead by assorted faculty speakers, but then debriefs occur in your cohorts where you are able to ask more questions or just talk about what you learned. The cohorts tend to get very close and really enjoy spending time with each other! While AIMHO College is a great way to network with other new professionals, there are also opportunities to interact with other more experienced professionals in the region. Each year AIMHO College hosts a SHO Breakfast. This is where Senior Housing Officers are invited to come breakfast and sit among the new professionals and get to talk. There are some guiding questions at the tables but for the most part they are there to just fully engage in the conversations at the table. This is also such a great networking opportunity for the new professionals because they get to haveÂ
AIMHO COLLEGE direct contact with someone who has so much knowledge and experience related directly to housing. This is a common place to ask more casual questions to the Senior Housing Officers and they are all excited to engage with the new professionals. Â Â Each year AIMHO College also hosts a keynote speaker to get everyone engaged and excited for the rest of the conference. They keynote is designed to be an uplifting and be a more of a wrap up experience for the end of AIMHO College. At the end of AIMHO College participants go through graduation! They get certified as AIMHO College participants. Even though the AIMHO College experience only last a day and a half, it creates memories and connections that last a lifetime. Continuing through the rest of the conference after attending AIMHO College is a seamless process. No matter where you go or what sessions you are in you are likely to find someone you know. Being a new professional that becomes invaluable as you navigate the AIMHO Conference experience. AIMHO College truly makes a difference in the AIMHO experience. I personally still have multiple connections that I talk to regularly just from attending AIMHO College.
AWARDS/ RECOGNITION Awards/Recognition Committee Updates By: Tyler Noragon- Awards/Recognition Committee Member, Arizona State University With the end of the academic year upon us, the opportunity to recognize others for their hard work has arrived! Please check out the updates below, courtesy of your Awards and Recognition Committee. ONGOING RECOGNITION: SPOTLIGHT IN THE ANGLE: In each edition of the AIMHO Angle, the Awards and Recognition committee will be spotlighting the work of individuals who have made an exceptional impact on your residential life community, staff and campus. We challenge you to take time to recognize the hard work of individuals who go above and beyond in their job requirements as we know that many times these actions go unnoticed. As you work hard through the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for outstanding work and nominate them! Nominations are due the following days: July 15th and October 15th. Nominations can be found on the Awards and Recognition committee page. ENGAGE IN RECOGNITION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: The committee welcomes you to engage in our social media recognition challenge! Using the hashtag (#recognizeAIMHO) we ask that you take the time and post on twitter, instagram, or facebook, and share about the amazing accomplishments of those within the AIMHO region. The committee will spotlight these on the Awards and Recognition committee page for the AIMHO Region.Â
AWARDS/ RECOGNITION PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: In each edition we will be providing some opportunities to develop your professional skills of recognition and appreciation. For May, June, and July, we encourage you to indulge in some self-care by reading “Daring Greatly” by Dr. Brené Brown. As a research professor at the University of Houston, Dr. Brown carefully constructs how to be courageous in creating opportunities, particularly useful in the way we as housing officials can educate and lead more effectively through vulnerability. Take time for you this summer to read Dr. Brown’s new vision for leading. ANNUAL CONFERENCE AWARD: It is never too early to start thinking about individuals who are deserving of the awards that are handed out at the Annual Conference in November. Nominations for the awards will open in May but we encourage you to start planning on the nominations so that by the time the nominations open, you are ready to go. For more information about the awards, please visit our Award Description page. If you have any suggestions that you would like the committee to consider, please feel free to email Stephanie Jones, Committee Chair, or John Terry, Committee Co-Chair.
FEATURED ARTICLES Onboarding and Training New Staff By: Shirl Portillos - Colorado State University It is that time of year when we are counting the days until we close our halls and wondering if we will be ready for summer school and conferences so who really has time to think about on-boarding new staff?! Remember it takes a new staff member one day to decide if they will stay for the “long term” with an organization. It is important to on-board your staff the minute they are hired and not on the first day they step into the office. Knowing your new staff will be arriving to campus during the summer, you will need to be ready for their arrival so here are a few on-boarding suggestions to welcome your staff! Prior to the Start Date: o Encourage staff member to read “Don’t Drink the Water?”: A Guide to Encountering a New Institutional Culture o Prepare their workspace o Background check completed (if applicable) o Offer Letter o Apartment cleaned o Apartment furniture order/removed o Keys requested and picked up from lockshop o Welcome sign o Welcome basket o Name tag for office o Long distance and copy codes ordered o Paint colors for apartment shared and ordered o HR appointment made
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Introduction, Orientation and Tours o Introduce to staff/coworkers o Tour workspace, department, residence halls o Share parking information Human Resources o Complete HR paperwork o Travel card, procurement card, name tag, business cards, apartment contract, alcohol/drug contract, etc. o Moving reimbursement receipts submitted o Provide handbooks and brochures-department, calendar, org chart, parent, etc. o Review required trainings o Work with tech to set up email, eID, computer, laptop, cell phone, add to listservs, etc. o Sexual Harassment training o Parking permit o Department welcome with Director o Orientation to campus o Welcome/orientation to the Division Department Protocol o Leave request procedures o Review expectations o Review dress code o Share performance evaluation timelines On-Going On-Boarding o Share norms of office culture o Share campus culture o Share off campus culture and community o Set up regular 1:1 meetings o Address work life balance
FEATURED ARTICLES o Schedule monthly on-boarding meetings o Create a scavenger hunt that will allow to learn about University and campus Please know this is a short list of ideas on how to help on-aboard your staff. Do not hesitate to reach out to your student affairs colleagues for more suggestions! Once your staff is onboard, the real work of training begins. When thinking about training of new staff, important areas to consider include: • Creating an Environment of Life-Long Learning: The training of staff doesn’t necessarily end after a few days at the beginning of each semester. Ongoing training of staff throughout the semesters ensures that they are receiving the information they need to be successful. • Share Mission, Values and Goals for the Department: To support the work we do, we need to understand the “whys” behind our work. Being trained as to the mission and values of our department and institution will help staff feel more grounded in why the work we do is important and the passion that drives our department. • Seek Out Returning Staff to Act as Mentors: Finding multiple teachers among your returning staff to help mentor your new staff expands the learning process well beyond a set training time. Returning staff can offer insight and best practices for completing tasks needed within the new role. And they can serve as an additional support system for new staff. • Be Broad and Be Specific: Good training should include both a birds-eye view of the department along with the details of certain roles and processes. Having a broad context for the individual work staff will do provides them the background knowledge they may need for the importance of their role. And providing the necessary details for positions and processes ensures that staff have the tools to be successful in their roles.
FEATURED ARTICLES • Have Fun With Training: Coming together as a new staff to learn a role can be a stressful time. But it can also be a time where friendships are made and the means in which information is shared can be quite creative. Mixing up the training of new staff to include fun elements makes the learning process so much better. And it helps build strength among the team. • Recognize Staff During and After Training: Weave in opportunities to celebrate the victories and accomplishments among your new staff members as they come up to speed on policies and practices. Rewarding staff with recognition helps keep their motivation high during and after formal training times. It also shows that you value them as new employees on the team and the work they are contributing to the department. Good luck and have fun!
Using Assessment to Inform the Onboarding and Training of Staff By: Sue Belatti - Northern Arizona University For many years, assessment conducted in higher education was associated primarily with the academic side of the house. And although our academic colleagues still use assessment in their work, the recognition for assessment in the work we do in Student Affairs has grown in importance as well. There are very few Student Affairs professionals, either current or entering the profession, who are not familiar with how assessment can “inform our practice” when it comes to the work we do with our students. The use of assessment has become even more important in recent years with the rising cost of education and the publics’ impression that higher education may not be producing what it has promised. Divisions within Student Affairs use assessment on multiple levels. On an
FEATURED ARTICLES organizational level is it used to look at the effectiveness of an organization from the 30,000 foot view in an effort to discover gaps in competencies and knowledge. On a task level it is used to look at particular functions and key skills needed to perform efficiently. On an individual level it is used to look at the performance of personnel and their acquisition of skills and competencies to succeed within their role. Conducting assessment may not typically be associated with fun. But by being creative in your assessment processes, you can add an element of fun. Factoring in staff rewards for reaching response rate milestones (e.g. pizza parties, ice cream socials) or participant rewards for completing surveys (e.g. being entered into a drawing for a prize) can make the process of gathering feedback much more enjoyable. And building upon this momentum by sharing results of data when appropriate can increase the level of ownership among staff in your department. The most common types of assessment utilized across many divisions of Student Affairs include staff performance assessment, qualitative assessment that gets at the “quality of life” for our residential students, and a variety of assessment around the training and onboarding of our staff. It is this third example that I’d like to concentrate on. When planning a training program for new (and returning) staff, the questions often discussed from a theoretical perspective have to do with what we feel staff need to know and learn, and what the baseline knowledge is we want all staff members to possess. The ways in which we might use assessment to assist us in gathering feedback to these theoretical questions pertaining to the onboarding of staff might include: Previous Feedback to Inform Training: Although training schedules and topics are adjusted on an annual basis, beginning by reviewing previous year’s program/training assessment is an excellent practice. Gathering staff members’ feedback opens up the training to a variety of perspectives and
FEATURED ARTICLES needs within your staff. The phrase “if it isn’t broke – don’t fix it” should be a part of any assessment review of previous training sessions. This is especially true for processes that may carry over from one year to the next. If the primary learning objectives were met – then using this feedback to “inform” future sessions may be very appropriate. Ongoing Assessment During Training. This allows you to determine if new staff are understanding content as information is presented and if you are meeting the objectives discussed prior to training. Ongoing feedback (data) collected can also offer an opportunity to make changes during training to get aligned with learning objectives. Types of ongoing assessment might include pre and post questions prior to and after certain content is shared. Checking in daily to review with staff what they learned the prior day and whether there are any lingering questions needing clarification. Some of the assessment might be in the form of a task that staff need to complete as a measure of their understanding of content from training. Training Post Assessment: Sending out a more formal assessment of the entire training process is an important source of data to provide a more holistic look at staff training sessions. Information gathered might include self-reported comfort and mastery of topics, timing of information provided, environmental questions (e.g. location of training sessions, order of sessions presented, length of sessions, etc.). Recapping training after it has finished through the assessment process allows one to gather suggestions from staff – while still fresh in their minds – as to what they felt worked or didn’t work during the training process. This information will assist future planning teams to make needed adjustments to subsequent training sessions. End of Semester Report Card: Completing an assessment of job knowledge or skills near the end of a semester provides a type of “report card” for each staff member as to their acquisition of job skills. Depending
FEATURED ARTICLES on when conducted, this type of assessment can be used to inform the next semester’s training where tasks and skills can be reexamined and “tightened up” so staff can continue to meet and exceed job expectations. Although not an exhaustive list, these suggested assessments can provide a good lens through which those who are overseeing the training process can use data to help guide their work. In utilizing different types of assessment during the onboarding and training of staff, you can feel much more confident that your goals and learning outcomes were attained thus setting staff up for being successful in their roles. And don’t forget to add a little fun – if possible - to whatever assessment processes you use!
Institutional Recognition By: Jace Whitaker - University of Montana Sandy Curtis, Director of University of Montana Housing, was presented with the Patriot Award on January 19, 2018 by Rachel Higgins Montana Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) volunteer. The award recognized Sandy’s steadfast support of her employees serving in the National Guard and Reserves. Sandy was nominated for the employer award by Navy Reservist Petty Officer Second Class Jace Whitaker for her support of his military service. The award was presented during a morning staff meeting which included five front office employees. Sandy was very appreciative of the time taken to present the award. She was quoted as saying, “I’m humbled and honored to receive this award considering the dedication and commitment of service from all of guard members and military reservists. Navy Reservist Jace Whitaker’s nomination highlighted Sandy’s eminent record of service and care as an employer to her veteran employees. Stating, “I’ve had the opportunity to observe Director Curtis in a number of campus
FEATURED ARTICLES leadership roles and what strikes me the most—in comparison with other employers I have been with across the country—is her dedication to the awareness of veterans rights and the disbursement of that information to others, her steadfast commitment to continually proving her department to be hospitable and supportive of my annual training exercises and my monthly drill weekends, and repeatedly providing positive recognition to Guard and Reserve employees—by doing such things as personal recognition during one-on-one meetings and providing recognition during weekly meetings. All of which make the University of Montana and the surrounding Missoula community a better place for veterans far and wide.”
SPRING NEW HIRES University of Arizona Claudia Gonzalez Mercado is a new Assistant Director
If you want to see your institution's new hires on the next edition of the AIMHO Angle, please email aimhoangle@gmail.com!