Telling Our Story - A Year in Review - 2018-2019 -
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY HOUSING AND RESIDENCE LIFE
Residence Directors responded to and documented 187 duty calls (documented when deemed critical incidents) addressing the following issues:
HOW WE FACILITATE STUDENT SAFETY
GONZAGA RESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCE 5 FOCI
t Academic Success
Belonging
Ignatian Spirituality
Interculturality
Personal Growth
The 5 Foci: Broken Down Academic Success By living in the residence halls, students will be supported with spaces that encourage their academic pursuits, provided with opportunities to find their vocation, prompted to engage with academic resources, and challenged to share knowledge learned in the classroom with their peers.
Belonging
By living in the residence halls, students have the opportunity to create meaningful relationships, feel valued within their residential/GU community, and feel there’s an atmosphere for open communication, mutual respect, and an understanding of difference.
Ignatian Spirituality
By living in the residence halls, students will engage in opportunities to learn, reflect, and act in accordance with our Jesuit tradition and values.
Interculturality By living in the residence halls, residents will be in community with others from diverse cultural backgrounds, develop a sense of belonging that is inclusive of their social identity, personal traits, and preferences, and engage with what it means to be in solidarity with those who are marginalized.
Personal Growth
By living in the residence halls, students will learn to live in community with others, develop a balance between interdependence and autonomy, and establish healthy living habits.
Housing and Residence Life provided students with 997 programs and activities intended to engage the residential population in learning and social interaction. There were 11,738 participants (2181 students) for an average participation of 9.96 students per program. Students attended an average of 4.6 programs over the course of the year (mode participation was 1; range 1-30 programs) The 2181 students who participated in programs offered by HRL represents 75% of the residential population on campus.
HOW WE FACILITATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
The programs/activities offered fall into the GRX foci categories in the following way: Academic Success: 163 programs, 1292 participants Belonging: 317 programs, 4109 participants Interculturality: 178 programs, 1387 participants Ignatian Spirituality: 115 programs, 1156 participants Personal Growth: 224 programs, 1987 participants
Outcomes of Experiential Learning STRENGTHS: Cura Personalis Living-Learning Community (LLC): 100 % described learning and applying wellness concepts as a result of participating in the community. Women for Others LLC: 100% participated in a service learning experience outside of the hall. Global Citizenship LLC: 76% engaged in dialog with those whose identities are different than their own. Pre-health LLC: 100 % of the respondents learned more about life sciences outside of their classroom curriculum due to participating in the community. Engineering and Computer Science LLC: 69% reported accessing academic resources such as tutoring, utilizing the inhall classroom, and interacting with engineering/computer science professionals as a result of participating in the community. Outdoor Pursuits LLC: 82% of respondents reported learning more outdoor related skills as a result of participating in the community. Sophomore Year Experience (SYE): 87% of the respondents reported being able to apply practical skills to interact more effectively in a diverse, global society as a result of living in the community. General Student Body: 89% were satisfied or very satisfied with their on campus experience. 78% agree or strongly agree that they have been able to build meaningful relationships with others as a result of living in their residence hall/apartment communities. 70% of respondents (up from 55% in AY 17-18) reported learning about a different culture or background as a result of living in their residence hall/apartment communities
Outcomes of Experiential Learning OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH: First Year Experience (FYE): 59% reported that they rarely engaged with FYE programming during the year, largely due to outside social or academic commitments. Second Year Experience (SYE): While students particularly gravitated toward Finding Purpose and Promoting Wellbeing and Healthy Living activities, they were less likely to participate in Developing Resilience and Cultivating Intercultural Competence activities. LLCs: 51% of the respondents moderately agreed or agreed that participating in the LLCs supported their academic success. General Student Body: 60% agree or strongly agree that they developed as a whole person (mind, body, and spirit) as a result of living in the residence hall/apartment community. 73% of respondents (down 3%) report feeling included in the life of the residence hall/apartment community. Additionally, there was a 12% drop between AY 16-17 and AY 18-19 in those who strongly agreed with this statement. 76% of respondents (down 8%) agreed or strongly agreed that the residence hall/apartment community is welcoming.
Laundry Improvements HRL entered a new contract with a local laundry vendor who changed washers/dryers to front load machines with larger capacity and faster spin cycles (which extract more water prior to using dryers) across dozens of laundry areas. This change has resulted in substantial utility savings for the University to contribute to sustainability goals.
CAMPUS CONTRIBUTION
Fall Term Savings
Over 120,000 loads were processed- ½ of which were washers, ½ of which were dryers. Estimates suggest that front load machines use 33% less water. Conservatively, therefore, the savings in water is more than 600,000 gallons- for fall semester alone! Extrapolating for spring semester, 1.2 million gallons of water saved over the course of the academic year Estimates suggest front load washers, which spin in excess of 1,000 RPM, save 30% in electricity and gas use per dryer cycle.
New Furniture HRL also purchased and placed $55,000 worth of new common area furniture into several residence halls across the campus, thereby refreshing several living areas for incoming students.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Housing and Residence Life is particularly pleased with the degree of satisfaction that students have with their overall residential experience. A continued asset of the lived experience at Gonzaga is the strength of relationships that exist between students and the student staff. These relationships foster trust such that students report feeling highly supported.
As a result of this data, HRL will continue to focus training staff to plan and implement programs and activities that gain student interest and engagement. In particular, HRL will have a stronger focus on relationship building and community development. HRL will also continue to find ways to encourage residents to interact with those different from themselves while finding ways to encourage wholistic growth. Also, each unique program (LLC, SYE, FYE) has begun the process of better alignment of experiences with the GRX foci which has been better associated with the Student Development divisional commitments.
For questions or comments, please contact us at housing@gonzaga.edu