summer/fall 2019
INSIDE THIS ISSUE In Memoriam Coming To A Close ACUHO-I Experiences
Photo Credit: Rebecca Stringham
TABLE
OF
IN MEMORIAM Remembering Mr. Pierce
6
EDITOR’S NOTE Turning The Page to A New Chapter
9
PRESIDENT’S LETTER Coming to A Close
10
VICE PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT ELECT LETTER Your 2019 MACUHO Experience, Continued
2 | MACUHO
11
CONTENTS ACUHO-I HOUSING INTERNSHIP FEATURE Experience Reflection - Residential Education at George Washington University
13
Experience Reflection - Housing at George Washington University
14
Experience Reflection - Summer Operations & Facilities at Montclair State University
18
Experience Reflection - Residence Life at Montclair State University
20
Experience Reflection - Housing & Residential Life at San Francisco Art Institute
21
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Professional Partnerships for A Purpose
22
Finding Their New Home: Supporting Transfer Students in The Residence Halls
24
Conference Services & Enrollment Management: The Focus on The Future Student
27
MACUHO | 3
MACUHO Magazine Committee – 2018-2019 MACUHO MAGAZINE EDITOR: Rebecca Stringham Montclair State University
EDITORIAL TEAM: Alex Reynolds Wilkes University Brian Root University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS & COMMUNICATION: Dillon Eppenstein Villanova University
DESIGNER: Arcadia Hewins Jefferson - East Falls
Danushi Fernando Vassar College Janine M. Weaver-Douglas University of Pennsylvania Jen B. Ciaccio Temple University Kerri Johnsen Montclair State University Tory Elisca Montclair State University Winston Branch III Ohio State University
MACUHO Executive Board & Leadership Council 2018-2019 PRESIDENT Stephen Apanel Bucknell University
DIRECTOR, ANNUAL PROGRAMS Carey Haddock Delaware Valley University
VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT ELECT Johnny Kocher West Virginia University
DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Tiffany Hughes West Virginia University
PAST PRESIDENT Debbie Scheibler Wilkes University
ANNUAL CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Ray FeDora Wilkes University
SECRETARY Natalie Sowers Susquehanna University
DIVERSITY CO-CHAIR Amanda Slichter Kutztown University
TREASURER Brandon Chandler Temple University
DIVERSITY CO-CHAIR La-Riese Eldridge Thomas Jefferson University
DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Misty Denham-Barrett Rutgers University - New Brunswick
HOST 2019 CO-CHAIR Steven Couras Curtis Institute of Music
DIRECTOR, BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND COMMUNICATION Dillon Eppenstein Villanova University
HOST 2019 CO-CHAIR Tory Elisca Montclair State University
DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Kurtis Watkins Stevens Institute of Technology
HOST 2019 CO-CHAIR Brian Pluchino Stockton University
DIRECTOR, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Nailah Brown The College of New Jersey
HOUSING & FACILITIES OPERATIONS Tim Moran Seton Hall University
4| MACUHO
HOUSING & FACILITIES OPERATIONS Christina Moran Jefferson - East Falls
GRADUATE ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR David Shanks Hood College
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Kevin Gaughenbaugh Northampton Community College
ENTRY-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Janelle Howey Northampton Community College
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Allie Triglianos Rutgers University - New Brunswick
ENTRY-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Ashley Lillie St. Joseph’s University
PROGRAM CO-CHAIR Vacant
MID-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Liz Ali St. Joseph’s University
PROGRAM CO-CHAIR Katie Patschke-Maguire Penn State - Harrisburg RECOGNITION AND CONNECTIONS Chancey Page Holy Family University RECOGNITION AND CONNECTIONS Gwendolyn Stevens Carnegie Mellon University SSLI CO-CHAIR Olivia Naugle Bucknell University SSLI CO-CHAIR Becky Ream York College of Pennsylvania VIPS CO-CHAIR Zach Neil Indiana University of Pennsylvania VIPS CO-CHAIR Max Shirey Saint Joseph’s University MAPC CO-CHAIR Jackie Cetera Bucknell University MAPC CO-CHAIR Pooja Daya Salisbury University ANNUAL PROGRAM CO-CHAIR Lauren Way George Washington University ANNUAL PROGRAM CO-CHAIR Alex Wehrenberg The College of New Jersey
MID-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Isaiah Thomas Swarthmore College SHO ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Colleen Bunn Susquehanna University SHO ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Krystyne Savarese Rutgers University ARCHIVES COORDINATOR Brian Medina MAGAZINE EDITOR Rebecca Stringham Montclair State University STRATEGIC PLANNING COORDINATOR Carolyn Pitcairn Notre Dame College STRATEGIC PLANNING COORDINATOR Nick Grammiccioni William Paterson University EXHIBITS & DISPLAYS COORDINATOR Lawrence Morgan LaRoche College SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR Tracey Eggleston Marshall University WEBMASTER Joanne Powser Wilkes University SYSTEMS ANALYST Judy D’Souza Rutgers University - New Brunswick
LEADERSHIP AND VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Sean Killion Temple University
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Dan Wright The George Washington University
FINANCIAL ADVISOR BOARD Olan Garrett Temple Univesity
ACUHO-I REGIONAL AFFILIATION DIRECTOR Shana Alston Temple University
GRADUATE ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR Angela Delfine West Virginia University
ACUHO-I FOUNDATION REP FOR MACUHO Crystal Lopez Caldwell University MACUHO | 5
VIP Cohort - 2013
VIP Cohort - 2014
VIP Cohort - 2016
VIP Cohort - 2018
Remembering Mr. Pierce IN MEMORIAM By Zack Neil, Edited by Max Shirey and David Clurman There will be an empty seat at the annual conference this year and a loss of a fixture to the MACUHO family as Mr. Tom Pierce passed away on June 4, 2019 at the age of 75. Mr. Pierce was a welcoming and warm presence who had a talent for making everyone comfortable and upon meeting him, make you feel like you were old friends. Mr. Pierce attended MACUHO's annual conference for 15 years to share the story and legacy of his daughter, Lisa Pierce, with undergraduate students. To date, over 220 undergraduate students across the region have attended the annual conference as special guests in order to explore their budding passion for student affairs. In exchange for their registration and housing costs, the students volunteer at the conference. Lisa created this initiative in 2001 and it was called the Volunteer Incentive Program for Students (VIPS). It was renamed in her honor in 2004 after her passing. Part of the VIPS experience is an hour with Mr. Pierce where he would speak about Lisa's dedication to students and specifically her interest in student leadership. He took pride in the work that his daughter did as a student affairs educator and the legacy that she built. He would also speak about his wife, Mrs. JoAnn Pierce, and the special marriage they had until the boating accident that claimed the lives of Mrs. Pierce and Lisa in 2004, while all three were on a trip to the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Since his daughter's passing, Mr. Pierce welcomed each new VIPS class and gave each a signed copy of his memoir, The Last Rose: A True Celebration of Eternal Life. Without exception, Mr. Pierce would make the annual trip from his home in Vineland, New Jersey to wherever MACUHO hosted its annual conference. At the 2018 Annual Conference, in Erie, Pennsylvania, Mr. Pierce was awarded the David Butler Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his service and contributions to MACUHO at what would be his last conference.
MACUHO | 7
Your MACUHO 2019 Experience
OCTOBER 23-25, 2019
NOVEMBER 9, 2019
MACUHO 2019 Annual Conference
Student Staff Live In Conference (SSLI) University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
Atlantic City, NJ
Questions? Contact: Host 2019 Co-Chairs Steven Couras (steven.couras@curtis.edu), Tory Elisca (elisca@montclair.edu), Brian Pluchino (brian.pluchino@stockton.edu)
Questions? Contact: Director of Annual Programs Carey Haddock (carey.haddock@delval.edu)
MORE EVENTS TO BE ANNOUNCED! Visit our website for more information on all of our events: https://www.macuho.org/
8 | MACUHO
Turning The Page to A New Chapter EDITOR’S NOTE Hello MACUHO, Welcome to the magazine Summer/Fall 2019 edition! We didn’t get this edition out exactly when we planned, but that doesn’t mean the content included isn’t worth your time. First, we paid tribute to Mr. Tom Pierce, who we tragically lost this summer, but whose legacy will live on forever in our VIPS program. Next, we have a closing letter from our outgoing president, Stephen Apanel, followed by a letter from our incoming president, Johnny Walker, who challenges everyone to find their path in MACUHO. Then we have a series of reflection pieces from five different ACUHO-I interns who share how the ACUHO-I Housing Internship Program impacted their summers and their futures in higher education. Then we have a few folks who share their thoughts on how we usually think about professional relationships, transfer students, and conference programs in our field. Finally, we end with our funny photo of the Leadership Council from Summer Summit 2019. I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding for the publication of this edition. The summer months are always so busy for those of us in housing, residence life, facilities, operations, and conference services, but it was also an uncertain time for me as I concluded my three-year term at Salisbury University and continued my job search at the start of July. Fortunately for me, by the end of July, I was able to find a new professional place to call home (Montclair State University) and returned to my old personal home (hello again New Jersey, farewell Maryland). Once I completed my on-board process, our training schedule, and a three-day move-in weekend, I was able to breathe and could finally return to my other professional passion, the MACUHO Magazine.
Rebecca Stringham She/Her/Hers Area Director Montclair State University Magazine Editor restringham@salisbury.edu
The Annual Conference is going to be here before we know it, and so will the one year mark of my acceptance of this editor position. I hope to continue working hard for the second year of my term to ensure that we produce more editions that feature the intelligent and dedicated members of our organization. If you see me in Atlantic City in October, please feel free to chat with me about any article ideas that you’ve been thinking of or to find out how you can join our magazine editing team. And if I see you first, prepare for me to encourage you to give writing a try and submit something to the magazine! I hope the end of your summer and the start of your fall semester went well, and I look forward to another year of serving as your magazine editor (and my first year of being a Red Hawk)! Sincerely, Rebecca Stringham MACUHO Magazine Editor
MACUHO | 9
Coming to A Close PRESIDENT’S LETTER The close of summer brings on the opening of our campuses to our newest students and the chance to welcome back our returning students. It is my favorite time of the year as the acceleration of our work comes to a climax with room readiness, last minute training sessions, the rally to find where the RA food has gone, all toward supporting our goals as institutions and as a profession. Soon thereafter, we start to see the change, not only in the colors of the fall season, but in the students as they acclimate to campus life. Roommate encounters can become heated, conflicts within student organizations arise, struggles with transitions to college life begin to surface, and more. It is in those moments we excel. We have conversations, introduce students to being uncomfortable, and find spaces for the sense of belonging and individual was hoping for. Within MACUHO, there is so much activity and change from conference planning, reviewing our finances, Stephen J. Apanel developing our next strategic plan, creating new He/Him/His professional development opportunities, Director of Housing Services strengthening relationships with other organizations Bucknell University and so much more. All this activity has many players MACUHO President and I am grateful to be part of this all-star team as sapanel@bucknell.edu they begin to excel. We have individuals who volunteer their time from across the region all to support and create professional development opportunities for every college and university in the area. As we get closer to our conference in Atlantic City, I ask you to consider becoming a part of this organization and give back to the field. We will have a chance for individuals to meet others and learn more about what we have to offer, beyond the annual conference. One item of change is the passing of the gavel to our next president, Johnny Kocher. This past year has gone by faster than a blink of an eye. But the interactions, friendships, and memories are so thick, I feel I could squeeze them like a pillow. I can not say THANK YOU loud enough, strong enough, or with as much passion as I could intend for all those who have dedicated their time within our Leadership Council, on our Executive Board, and in our committees. The team we have leading this organization has done a fantastic job keeping the momentum moving strong and forward. They are the engine of this machine we call MACUHO. Early in my career as a young professional, I wandered into the annual conference held in West Virginia without a clue of what to expect. I was handed a binder of programs, mesmerized by a keynote, motivated to influence change, and provide support to our students back at our campus. That was my first MACUHO experience and I have been hooked ever since. Friendships I landed then are still maintained today and recollecting the interactions as if they were just this morning. Colleagues, I have had a great opportunity to be your president and I look forward to watching others serve in the future. With great appreciation,
Stephen J. Apanel (He, Him, His) President
10 | MACUHO
Your 2019 MACUHO Experience, Continued PRESIDENT ELECT’S LETTER Hello MACUHO! In my previous article in the MACUHO Magazine Winter 2019 Edition, I discussed the many professional development opportunities provided by MACUHO throughout the year and challenged you to take advantage of these offerings to support both your own professional development and the development of your colleagues and staff. While these many events such as the Regional Entry Level Institute (RELI), the Student Staff Live In Conference (SSLI), the Social Justice Symposium, and the Mid Atlantic Placement Conference (MAPC) are great complements to the MACUHO Annual Conference, they are not the only ways to engage in valuable professional development within the association. Another way to get the most out of your 2019 MACUHO experience is to get involved in the association. I use the singular term “involved” because I believe that folks mistakenly assume that when I say “you should get involved” in MACUHO that I really mean that you should become MACUHO president. While it would be great if you wanted to run for MACUHO president, and I would love to talk to you individually about your interest in the president position (johnny.kocher@mail.wvu.edu), there are other avenues that you can take to become involved in MACUHO.
Johnny Kocher He/Him/His Residence Life Specialist West Virginia University Vice President / President Elect Johnny.Kocher@mail.wvu.edu
Committees are a great way to get involved with a group focused on a topic you are passionate about. Some of these amazing groups include Recognition and Connections (RAC), Personal and Professional Development (PPD), Diversity, Housing and Facilities Operations, MACUHO Magazine, Annual Programs, and the Lisa A. Pierce Volunteer Incentive Program for Students (VIPS). A full list of committees and committee chair contact information can be found on the MACUHO website under Association > Leadership > Executive Board and Leadership. These groups typically meet on monthly conference calls to discuss committee work and ideas for new initiatives, as well as provide an excellent way to meet new people within the MACUHO area with similar interests. Another way to get involved in the association is to interact with your Engagement Coordinator. The MACUHO Engagement Coordinators each specialize in providing support and resources for continuous engagement around the affinity group they oversee. These engagement groups are Graduate, Entry -Level, Mid-Level, and Senior Housing Officer (SHO). The contact information for the coordinator of the group you identify with are located on the same MACUHO website page as the committee chairs.
Finally, I cannot end this article without mentioning that, yes, you can run for MACUHO president. As your involvement in the association grows from conference attendance, committee involvement, and interaction with your engagement coordinator, MACUHO offers executive board officer positions that allow folks to give back to the association through the opportunity to lead. Much like the list of MACUHO Committees, the MACUHO Executive Board positions cover a wide range of topics from Training and Development to Treasurer, and each provides its own unique professional development experience. As you observe the end of the current MACUHO elections cycle, I encourage you to review the candidate statements and Vice Presidency speeches and think about which position you may be interested in for a future cycle. As you consider your 2019 MACUHO experience and think about future involvement in the association by getting involved in a MACUHO committee, interaction with your engagement coordinator, or running for an elected office, I want you to also think about the friends you will make along the way. I know that those who know me best will be very surprised to hear me say that I am not the most social person in the world. The truth is that I also struggle to make friends as well. However, I can say that the friendships I have made along the way from my first MACUHO committee meeting to my elected MACUHO offices have been some of the most valuable experiences of my life. At the end of the day, you should have a desire to get more involved in MACUHO so that you can meet and develop friendships with other incredible people with a passion for helping others because when people who want to make this crazy world a somewhat better place, amazing things happen. The support network you build as you rotate through MACUHO leadership positions will follow you for the rest of your life, and so will the friendships that you will never forget.
MACUHO | 11
12 | MACUHO
GW Residential Education EXPERIENCE REFLECTION When I began my search for a summer internship through ACUHO-I, I prioritized the type of experiences I wanted to have. I was looking to gain more experience in Residence Life and was specifically hoping to find a residential education role, but looked at residence director/hall director positions as well. Beyond the type of internship I was looking for, I also wanted to find an opportunity where my professional growth and development would be prioritized by my supervisor(s), which was clear in some of the position descriptions I read. With this criteria in mind, I began using the search tool and found the location parameter to be the most helpful for me because I was able to see all of the opportunities available in the geographic radius that I was searching in. I read through most of the residence life position descriptions that came up and gravitated towards the schools that clearly identified interesting projects, learning outcomes, and goals for their internship. I wanted to make the most of my summer by gaining as many new experiences and skills as possible. I also liked the descriptions that told me something about the university related to values, strategic plans, or the student experience, because that helped me to get a better feel for those institutions’ cultures. Casey Viet Rutgers University - New Brunswick
I was given the advice to only apply to positions where I was truly interested in the work that I would be doing and that I was genuinely excited about. I would pass that advice on to anyone in the ACUHO-I internship process in the future because it truly helped me to find positions that were a good fit for me. During the interview process, I made sure to ask questions about each office and position that would help me further determine where I would find the type of experience I was looking for. One thing I specifically was looking to learn during interviews was how each department's values aligned with equity and inclusion. It was important to me that I was able to work somewhere that is intentional in their work to create an inclusive and equitable culture, from the individual office level through the university as a whole. I was beyond excited to be offered the position of Summer Intern for Residential Education and George Washington University with the Campus Living and Residential Education unit. From the start of the interview process, the supervisor for this position, Lauren Murphy, was clear about what each step of the process would look like, and she provided as much information as possible to the candidates about the internship. She even linked an awesome blog created by the previous intern about their experience at GW. Lauren also talked about finding our “best fit” in her communication, making it clear that everyone should try to find the position that was best for them, whether that was the Residential Education role at GW or not. I appreciated all of the student affairs folks I spoke with throughout this process who emphasized that the ACUHO-I internship program is about finding the best fit for our own professional development and learning. After speaking with Lauren during my interview, I was excited about the different projects she mentioned and I was also very interested to learn more about the direction the institution was going in with their new leadership. I knew this would be a unique experience where I would be able to work on a variety of projects and initiatives. I had a very good feeling about this position from the start, and my interview confirmed that feeling and more. After I accepted the role at George Washington University, Lauren communicated with me regularly about everything I would need to know or do before arriving in May. I was never left wondering “What now?” We also scheduled a few phone calls to talk more about the specific projects I wanted to be involved in during the summer. I liked that there was not a prescribed list of tasks and projects that I would have to stick to exactly during the internship, but that I could choose to focus more on the things I was most interested in. Even towards the end of my experience, I was still asked by Lauren and other staff members in Campus Living and Residential Education if I felt that I was getting to do everything I wanted to during my time at GW. During my first two weeks at GW, my supervisor scheduled meetings for me with several different people at the university, including Campus Living and Residential Education leadership, a faculty member in residence, and the Senior Associate Director of Housing. It was great to have these meetings already on my calendar when I arrived because it was a good way to meet people I would be working with and everyone made me feel very welcomed! As an ACUHO-I intern, the aspects of my internship that I appreciated the most were the autonomy I had to work on projects at my own pace, the focus on professional development, and the support I had in my role. MACUHO | 13
Most days, I was able to work autonomously on my different projects related to RA selection, training, data, and special interest housing. I was also able to take each of these projects and make them my own, and it was empowering to have that level of trust. Lauren and I had frequent conversations about my professional development throughout the summer. She gave me great exercises to utilize, such as creating SMART Goals and tracking professional development tasks to help me think intentionally about my development. I was also given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and committees, and meet with student affairs folks both from within the University and at neighboring institutions. Other staff members in the department were also always asking what they could do to help me in these areas. The most important thing that I think an ACUHO-I supervisor and their team can do is support ACUHO-I interns by helping them to acclimate to the university, providing opportunities for learning, and encouraging them to have as many new experiences as possible. I cannot thank the Campus Living and Residential Education team at GW enough for their support and encouragement. The thoughtfulness and intentionality behind the summer experience they crafted allowed me to meet the goals I made back at the start of my internship search: to learn, grow, and make the most of my summer position.
GW Housing EXPERIENCE REFLECTION By Halee Harrel of Azusa Pacific University Having spent three summers working in summer conference housing as an undergraduate in Washington State, I came to the Housing Internship Program as a graduate with a few things in tow. First, my undergrad institution was an ACUHO-I host school, so I had the privilege of working alongside ACUHO-I interns as part of my undergraduate experience. Because of these people and the work they did before I even considered a future in student affairs, I could approach the HIP as a grad student with a good concept of what a great ACUHO-I intern looks like. Every day, I am grateful for their work and support they provided for me during that time. Second, the internship program was one of the first major selling points in my decision to pursue higher education as a career path. Until late one night in the conference housing office the summer before my senior year, I had no post-bac plans at all. It was one of those summer conference days where an early check-in morning turns into a busy customer service day, then becomes a long planning night—and we were getting ready to do it again the next day. People say that the best way to get to know someone is to work hard with them, and because of this instance in particular, I tend to agree. While we were in the midst of pouring over an Excel occupancy planning document together, my supervisor (and my OG SA pro) pulled out some impromptu career counseling that utterly changed the direction of my life. The HIP was part of that conversation. Learning about student affairs in tandem with the HIP and the opportunity to travel anywhere I had the gumption to travel during graduate school was enough to peak my interest, and I loved that careers in student affairs could be equally as mobile. Just shy of a year later, I was on a plane to Azusa Pacific University in Southern California for my first year of grad school, and my higher education journey began from there. So there was no way I was missing the HIP. When it was time to begin the process, I was pretty nervous. Though I had summer housing experience and knew how to interview for a job like this, I still had doubts as to my capacity to be the type of intern I had seen and wanted to be. I focused on producing materials that were interesting for hosts to read and did not apply for positions I wasn’t genuinely interested in. My goal was to produce truly interesting materials for every school I sent an application to because who has time to send out 35 applications that won’t be compelling to the recipient? It’s a mutually unsatisfying experience. Because I was so intent on producing quality materials, I expected reciprocal effort to be demonstrated in the descriptions of positions I was applying to. For me, the whole selection process started with looking for internships with descriptions that were carefully thought out, with evidence that the job and the school would help to broaden what I knew summer operations to be. The look of the materials mattered too. The chances of me hopping on a plane on the good faith of an institution was proportional to the amount of effort I saw reflected in a job description. Long story short, if it looked like it was scanned out of an academic journal from the ‘70s, I walked away.
14 | MACUHO
MACUHO | 15
In order to make sense of the database 600 internships worth of opportunities, I made a hit list. It looked something like this. I prioritized:
Institutions with much larger summer housing operations than I was used to. Schools that fell outside of the mid-size public liberal arts institution classification where I knew summer operations best. Internships involving interaction with student staff. Places whose geography would throw me into a dramatically different summer season. The goal was to get outside of my summer operations comfort zone and learn how other schools accomplished their summer. My search was not location bound, so I was ready to cast my net as far as it would go. I intentionally took the opportunity to experience a new professional environment in a new region, so that I could get a better idea of what I might like as I move toward the job search at the end of the year. Deciding which of the hundreds of jobs located all around the country would work for me from my apartment in Southern California came with a few logistical considerations. Firstly, a live-on position was most ideal for the type of summer experience I was looking for. Positions without a live-on component were off the table unless they were within reasonable commuting distance from the Los Angeles area. Given the HIP search and the offer timeline (tight) and my budget (tighter), apartment searching in different areas of the country was not something I felt I could safely able to accomplish, especially since I would be living alone. I also had to pay to reserve my apartment in California, so live-on accommodations prevented me from having to consider a double-rent situation. All things considered, it makes sense that my top choice was a position being offered up by the chair of the internship program. I did not know him for this role at the time, but the materials for this summer operations job were, understandably, very good. The position at GW was designed for flexibility. There were three tracks to choose from: an academic year housing track, a Summer and Conference Housing track, or a chooseyour-own-adventure style blended track. This was great for me, because I was specifically looking for positions that were beyond conference case-loads and group management. Bear in mind I would not call this a common experience among my cohort mates. The majority of grads who applied for summer positions with me do prioritize the opportunity to experience summer operations for the first time through hands-on group experience. But because I had prior experience with conference group portfolio management, I decided to prioritize experiences that would induce learning around other facets of summer operations in addition to conference group work. From the beginning, my supervisor here at GW made it clear that his priority was to craft the experience that I was looking for. Due to this intentionality, I had the opportunity to learn in all arenas I set out to explore at the beginning of this process. I was able to see the way that my host institution ran the second largest summer housing program in the country, at a larger private institution, on a metropolitan campus with implications of historical property investment, ownership, and maintenance. If you’re keeping track, that hits everything on my day one wish list and more. I haven’t even gotten to the professionals I met at GW, who were all uniquely willing to welcome me to my summer home across the country, guide me through what they do even in the busiest time of their year, and even invite me to be on the division softball team. One of the things I was most worried about coming into this internship was bringing new learning into a familiar environment. While summer conference housing is an area where I have specific experience, all of that experience happened before I began studying student development. So on the one hand, I felt back in my element in a housing office during summer, and on the other hand, I had a whole new lens through which to see a summer housing operation. This was an area where I could feel a stretch in my own perspective as I found ways for development practices to land in the real world, especially within the fast-paced summer housing environment. It was an exciting feeling that I look forward to feeling throughout my career in higher education. This feeling was a great reminder to me that we never stop learning or growing. No matter how strong our resumes, no matter how perfectly our skill sets fit your internships, grad students still need a push to grow. Someone to see us where we are, and be willing enough to help us expand our focus to things we aren’t seeing, call out where our systems or solutions could be better, and challenge us to perpetually keep our act together and never stay stagnant. Having someone willing to really “go there” and tell you what you need to hear can sometimes feel less like a gentle nudge in the right direction and more like a Batman slap back to reality (look up the meme). But isn’t that exactly what we sign up for as professionals inherently committed to our own development? Isn’t that exactly what our students deserve for us to be?
16 | MACUHO
As a host, I would encourage you to be willing to establish a relationship with your intern where you can have real conversations about where their current practice is great, and where they need to build. The process of getting accepted into a master’s program, completing a year of graduate study, and competing for big fancy internships across the country can really gas us new professionals up, but that does not mean that we’ve arrived. Tell us so. Your involvement in our summer can keep us humble and on track to become the best professionals we can be. Correct our language. Throw nuanced cases at our quick solutions. Ask us how what we are doing is informed by what we learn during the academic year. Tell us we need to step up our game. You can make us better, and that learning is what we will remember years from now and carry with us into our careers. What really makes ACUHO-I HIP work is that this process can happen no matter what any given internship looks like. The internship I took was a profound opportunity for an institution to pull me into its processes and contribute to my learning. There is no way I could equal the ways GW contributed to my professional growth this summer, and for that I will always be grateful. But for the institutions who need their interns to make their summer happen: the detail driven, conference case load heavy, dawn-to-done summer internship hosts, you can contribute to our daily practice too. Who knows? Your help might even hit heavier at 11pm by the light of your occupancy planning document. #SumHouseStrong!
Because there’s more to college than laundry. WASH’s on-campus laundry services provide the ultimate in convenience: • Choose from vended or unlimited open access machines • ENERGY STAR washers & dryers
• Remote laundry monitoring • 24/7 live answer and FixLaundry service app
Learn more at wash.com/university 586-292-1454
And, now for our vended laundry rooms we are excited to offer mobile payment and exclusive monthly discounts to drive revenue.
MACUHO | 17
Summer Operations and Facilities at Montclair State University EXPERIENCE REFLECTION This summer, I had the opportunity to complete my ACUHO-I internship at Montclair State University. Coming from Rutgers University – New Brunswick, an institution with 60,000+ students and a 16,000+ live-on student population, there was a shift in operational mindset that I had to undertake as it regarded my new role. My role was to be the ACUHO-I intern for Summer Operations and Facilities. I was attracted to Montclair State because of their commitment to diversity based on my research in my internship search. I also enjoyed the fact that it had gained its Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) title in 2016 and that it had been in the top 25 schools for LGBTQIA+ friendliness according to the College Consensus (2019). Based on my interests of wanting to work with marginalized student populations most, I felt that I had lots to learn from Montclair. My main functions were originally to supervise the Summer Conferences staff, coordinate with facilities for building turnovers, partake in the duty rotation, and work on summer projects on professional staff committees as needed. However, because of leadership changes, my role became a more fluid position that allowed me to chart my own path and tailor my experiences to my interests. I was able to revise and edit the Residence Life policies Brian Pirapakaran and procedures manuals, complete key audits for a building run as Rutgers University - New Brunswick a Private Public Partnership (P3), and create learning outcomes for both professional and student staff training. Additionally, I was able to create lesson plans for the in-hall residential education curriculums, collaborate on attempting to create a curriculum plan for professional development, and critique and evaluate MACUHO program proposals. While these were more standard projects that aided in streamlining the university’s departmental missions, I was also given complete autonomy to work on projects that truly interested me. One project that has afforded me invaluable experience was coordinating and planning the diversity training for the student staff. In being a part of the Student Staff Training Committee, I was able to push for revamping diversity training from half-a-day to a full-day conference style event titled Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Day with keynote speakers, featured speakers, and student panels. My suggestions allowed me to be given the responsibility to spear head this initiative and to do it purposefully with the collaboration of a professional staff member, Community Director Garry William Jones and the Director of Multicultural Affairs, Hamal Strayhorn. With my firm beliefs that multicultural competency needs to be a priority in Student Affairs, with specific attention to Residence Life training because our student staff interface students the most, this project was my favorite to work on. Residence Life Training needs to incorporate multicultural competence into every aspect, not just have one day dedicated to it, but the work always starts somewhere and I was happy to be a part of this enormous stepping stone. A second project worth highlighting was the revamping of recruitment and selection processes for our student staff, with specific attention to diversifying our candidate pools. Residence Life is notorious for hiring white women on staff, so usually males and people of color are lacking as representation in our residence halls. This could be especially problematic in a school considered an HSI. The Student Staff Recruitment and Selection Committee was tasked with researching scholarly articles that discussed hiring practices to diversify candidate pools and to subsequently have meaningful dialogue surrounding this issue. Ultimately, I along with the aid of another professional staff member, Community Director Jahkahli Johnson, contacted the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) office on campus and coordinated a space and time to present at their Summer Institute to their students who are majorly students of color, from low-SES backgrounds, and are the first in their family to attend college. This was special to us because both Jahkahli and I are former EOF students and we wanted to give these students opportunities that we knew would be invaluable. Overall, my experience at Montclair State has been positive and autonomous which has allowed me to delve deeper into tasks that engaged my passions. Honestly, I was surprised with how much trust I was allotted being that I was solely a graduate intern, but that was the key. The biggest takeaway from the summer was 18 | MACUHO
CONTEMPO
COLLECTION
A stylishand flexible solution for any room. Contact us today to discuss your furniture needs. Savoy Contract Furniture| www.savoyfurniture.com| 800.233.8953 | sales@savoyfurniture.com Savoy Contract FurnitureÂŽ is a registeredtrademark of John Savoy and Son, Inc.
1/
MACUHO | 19
that I was not treated as inexperienced and lacking of knowledge because of my title. On the contrary, my opinions were sought by all levels of staff (paraprofessional, professional, managers, and executive team) and my inquisitive nature to think about our purpose, stakeholders, buy-in, objectives, our goals to achieve those objectives most efficiently, metrics of assessment, and thinking about potential blowback of decisions made and how to maneuver those was always sought and valued. I will genuinely miss my Montclair team.
Residence Life at Montclair State University EXPERIENCE REFLECTION My name is Wesley Williams and I am currently a Resident Hall Director at DeSales University over in PA. This summer I decided to do another ACUHO-I internship in order to gain more experience at another university. Last year I did an internship at The Stevens Institute of Technology and worked with their PreCollege program as a Hall Director. This summer, my internship was at Montclair State University working as an intern for the Office of Residence Life. Originally I decided to pursue an ACUHO-I internship because of the experience that was offered through the program and I thought it would be a great way to put my name out there and network at different schools. Two years ago during my first time through the ACUHO-I process as an undergrad, I did not take any internship offers as I had decided to work at a Summer Camp for the summer and work with children between the ages of 8-16. The camp I worked at was L.G. Cook 4-H Camp and it was run by Rutgers University (New Brunswick).
Wes Williams DeSales University
Last year, I was intent on going through the process and was granted the opportunity to work at Stevens for the summer. I enjoyed my time through ACUHO-I so much that I decided to take another go at it this summer at Montclair. Through all my experiences, one of my main pursuits was to gain as much knowledge as I could at each institution that I was at and ACUHOI provided me with two excellent chances.
I decided to work at Montclair because I saw it as a completely different opportunity than anything I had ever had. Out of the schools that offered me a position, MSU was much larger than the other schools and MSU was an HSI while the others were PWIs. I set out to go through the ACUHO-I process because I wanted to learn about a wide variety of schools of different sizes and different backgrounds. For both this year and last year, MSU and Stevens provided me the chance to stay relatively close to the summer camp that I used to work at, and both were willing to provide me time off over the summer so that I could go and volunteer there. My experience at MSU was great and I loved every moment that I worked there. The staff was amazing to work with and I was able to learn so much professionally this summer. While I was not able to work directly with a summer staff of student workers, I was given the chance to work on a wide range of committees and projects alongside the professional staff. I was also able to meet a wide range of faculty on campus to learn about different aspects at the university. The staff at MSU were all very friendly and welcoming and were all great to work and interact with. My favorite part of being at MSU was the staff and the campus itself. As I stated, everyone was very friendly and welcoming which made working with them very fun and very easy. Some of my favorite projects that I was able to work on were working on committees to help plan/revise student staff selection as well as student staff training for the fall. One area that I was really glad to work on and be a part of was the Professional Development committee in which we started to look at ways to encourage ProDevo for the professional staff and how the process could be bettered at MSU. My overall thoughts were that I really loved my internship opportunity at MSU and I would highly encourage others to apply for it. In working at MSU, I never felt like I was working as I was able to work on many different things that I found fun and interesting. A day in the office never felt like it was a drag or anything like that as we were constantly having fun with one another, while either working on current projects or just joking about sports or other topics. I would definitely love to come back to MSU one day and work there again. 20 | MACUHO
Housing & Residential Life at San Francisco Art Institute EXPERIENCE REFLECTION How do you work in an ambiguous environment? The interview question I always dread because, let’s be real, I have had to ask what ambiguous means. After my ACUHO-I internship, I feel very prepared to answer this question. This summer I had the privilege to be an ACUHO-I intern at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). I was surrounded by a dynamic group of five other interns, the most unique student affairs department, and an incredible Residence Life Director. Each of the interns and the professionals I met from both SFAI and other institutions like the Academy of Art University and UC Berkeley contributed to the invaluable experience I had this summer. It would be a disservice if I did not mention that I had the most incredible people supporting me in this process back at my graduate school: my fellow Assistant Community Director (ACD), Melanie McLemore, as well as my Community Director, Genicka Voltaire, and Assistant Director, Tory Elisca, because they each helped me throughout my interviewing process. What experience did I gain from my internship? As mentioned before, there was a lot of ambiguity with my role at SFAI. Eagerly, I thought of this as the perfect opportunity to make this experience whatever I wanted it to Tom Armstrong be. My favorite professor in my graduate program, Dr. Blanca Vega, always He/Him/His asks “What are the gaps in the literature?” With my brain always thinking Assistant Community Director about what could be missing, I saw that there was a need for an intern to Montclair State University take lead in programmatic efforts between SFAI’s Housing team and PreCollege program, so with the other interns taking on other collateral assignments, I jumped at the opportunity. Using the research I’ve previously done with Generation Z, I thought I prepared great programs that would fit the needs of any high school-aged student. Fair enough to say, I was so far off. The PreCollege students were a very specific type of student: they were all art students. And they were the most mature students I’ve met with vastly different needs. Another intern, Esther Vuong, and I noticed that some of the students had food insecurity. We talked to each other and realized that if these students were worried about when and how they were going to eat, they weren’t going to be able to do well in their courses or enjoy the time in the residence hall. That was when we had late night walks to get students food, ensure there were always snacks in the lobby, and provide food at all programs. After spending the late nights and early mornings with these students, the work they produced at the end of their four weeks was remarkable. I was so incredibly proud of these students and the art they made, and such inspiring work from such young adults had me feel reassured that everything is going to be okay. This summer also taught me the importance of self-care, especially when you work in Residence Life. I was beyond fortunate to have ample time to explore San Francisco, a city that I’d like to call home one day. I found myself eating healthier, challenging myself to walk more and more every day, and finding time to complete some graduate school coursework and plan for the upcoming semester working in my residence hall at Montclair State University. I also began to plan for my job search and think about what I am looking for in my next position as an entrylevel professional. So when I’m at The Placement Exchange at the end of March and my interviewer asks me, “How do you work in an ambiguous environment?”, I can tell them that I go into the experience eagerly. As someone who is motivated by the opportunity to create, I thrive in ambiguous environments. Then I’ll share more about the transformative experience I had at the San Francisco Art Institute during the summer of 2019.
MACUHO | 21
Professional Partnerships for A Purpose DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Starting off a new academic year can bring many opportunities and challenges, empowering us to reset old habits and establish a healthy routine within the workplace. While recalibrating yourself in preparation for the year ahead, it might be helpful to rethink the way we engage with one another, on and off campus, to ensure long term success for the professionals in your midst.
Develop partners, not colleagues. The term colleague connotes the idea that we work with someone, likely within academia, and that there may or may not be depth to our working relationship. Perhaps we are more transactional with our interactions, asking for a favor and then returning another at a later time. Perhaps we are so busy with the tasks that we forget that we are a profession of people, cultivating ourselves and others as both a process and an outcome. When starting brand new at an institution, we have a tendency to try to prove ourselves and demonstrate our commitment, trying to do anything and everything. Clearly, that can lead to burnout, and so Brian Medina modeling a more paced and methodical approach can not only Ze/Hir/Hirs ensure enough energy for future years, it can also signal to senior Archives Coordinator level professionals that you have a plan and want to invite them as brianmedina1@gmail.com partners into your long-term development. I have found that regularly checking in with my supervisor about achieving goals can be helpful, while thinking big picture can enable our partnership to envision a common purpose, united as one. It also affords supervisors to get to know you organically by sharing both your hopes and fears within your new role. For those returning to the same workplace, it can be easy to fall back into what has been comfortable or safe in years past. However, this rarely challenges you to grow or better serve those around you. Maybe you ask to represent your department on a new committee or (gasp!) oversee a new area of campus even if it means moving apartments or offices. Some departments have the standard practice of moving people around regularly while others encourage stability for many years. Regardless of the foundational philosophy, there are ways to empower yourselves and others to make minor changes in order to forge stronger bonds between partners on campus.
Partnerships promote trust. Healthy partnerships require trust, time, and shared experiences. Anyone who has served with a coworker or supervisor for many years will tell you that there will be ups and downs in your relationship. Sometimes, it will be tested due to a campus tragedy or crisis. Other times, the willingness for someone to support you through difficult situations at work or at home will determine whether that team member nurtures a stronger bond or fails you and generates a greater rift. For many of us, we hop to new jobs and adventures enough that consistency at a workplace can seem difficult to embrace or expect. For others, a tenured career at one institution provides stability and a storied history with your employer, through thick and thin. Partnership also requires risk and intentional development. While certain work experiences may seem random or just by virtue of the “right time, right place”, many of our working relationships force us to rethink our own values and needs such that we grow to adapt accordingly. I had a former co-worker who, when they started in their new position at my side, was told by me not to expect us to ever be friends, because I don’t endeavor to make friends in the workplace but rather allow them to happen organically. It was perhaps a less tactful way of suggesting that I want to get to know you first before we can call ourselves close, but the message was clear – I am about work first and personal relationships long thereafter. I admit that I’ve softened quite a bit since then and recognize that I came off a little too much, perhaps a product of having been burned by other co-workers in the past with whom I confided too early in our working relationship. Nonetheless, after several years of working together, relying on one another to bounce ideas or help draft a nuanced email together or just commiserating over the amount of hours put in, we became close friends. This former colleague is now one of my references and I attended their wedding last year, something I truly valued and I know they did as well. 22 | MACUHO
What I also learned from this aforementioned working relationship is that we had to find ways to assist each other even when it wasn’t easy or popular. We would often be criticized by a staff member we supervised for one decision or another. Even when we may have disagreed with our co-worker, we backed them up in public and only in private questioned the wisdom or communication or follow-through in that specific circumstance. It also required us to push our supervisor to provide more opportunities to develop the broader team, rather than just rely upon the two of us to shoulder the burden and therefore receive the persistent criticism.
Partnerships can transcend individual institutions. Many of my trusted partners and friends in the field do not work with me on the same campus. Either we worked together previously or we met through a regional or national association, and fostered a rapport over time. When one or both of us moved to a new place, we stayed in contact and became mutual mentors or sounding boards for our respective workplaces. We challenged each other’s ideas and yet still supported each other when things don't go our way. When we’ve had opportunities to reconnect, we rekindle that trust and comradery despite not seeing each other for months or even years at a time. While we may occasionally grow apart, there should always be people in our lives that we can trust to pick up the phone and call someone who will be a listening ear through any of life’s great tribulations or successes. These same partners make great professional references. Not only might they appreciate your collaborative spirit, they will have a better understanding of your day-to-day work and speak to various perspectives rather than what might be observed (or not) by your supervisor. There is also the added benefit of having references representing multiple institutions, something a potential employer might value in a team member. I have also found that the better partners seek out opportunities for my long term success. Whether that is sharing a new job prospect or a volunteer opportunity in MACUHO, partners do more than simply assist when you ask, they preemptively connect you to people and positions that empower you beyond where you could have imagined on your own. Whether you are starting at a new institution or returning after many years, there are always new opportunities to forge meaningful and lasting partnerships. Make the most out of the days and weeks ahead to ensure the success for not only your current students, but for the sustainability of higher education as we endeavor into ever more complex challenges ahead.
Call us at 1.800.525.7307 to discuss a program to fit your institution’s needs. www.mymicrofridge.com
MACUHO | 23
Finding Their New Home: Supporting Transfer Students in The Residence Halls DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE As you welcomed your first year students into your residence halls this August, you also welcomed another new population into your halls: transfer students. Often times, we think that this population will mostly be commuter students, but that is not always the case. More transfer students are looking outside their hometowns to transfer or may be transferring from either a two-year or a four-year institution. Depending on your institution, you may have different support mechanisms built in place to provide some type of support for this population. When you are planning your start of the semester activities, make sure you are providing this population with targeted support. While transfer students may have been successful at their previous institution, they may still face struggles when adjusting to a new institution just as a first year student. Some people refer to this as transfer shock, which is “the tendency of students transferring from one institution of higher education to another to experience a temporary dip in grade point average during the first or second semester at the new institution” (Thurmond, 2007). These transfer students are still going through a major life change even though they have previously been at a higher education institution. Your institution is different from their previous institution, and more students are transferring two or three times during their collegiate careers. Just like other new students, they need support.
Jacqui Rogers She/Her/Hers Coordinator of Transfer and Articulation College of Southern Maryland jacquir16@gmail.com
For these transfer students, they will come to your institution looking for a sense of community and belongingness. When working with transfer students directly at community colleges, not all of them are looking to have a single room when they transfer and move on campus. For some of these transfer students, they still want to have the “full” college experience, even if it is for a shorter period at your institution. They want to have the roommate bonding, become involved on campus, pursue their professional and personal interests, and, in some cases, grow into student leaders on campus. As these students begin to apply and move onto your campuses, here are some strategies you can implement to help these students successfully incorporate themselves onto your campuses:
1. Provide tools for transfer students to find housing. Sometimes for transfer students, finding on-campus housing is extremely difficult. Some institutions do not guarantee on-campus housing for transfer students. This often means that students are not only trying to navigate transferring to a new institution, but they are trying to find housing in a town they may not be familiar with. In these cases, provide your transfer students with a brochure or webpage to help them navigate their various housing options, both on and off campus.
2. Create a Transfer Student Living Learning Community. At some institutions, they may house their transfer students with returning upperclassmen students. When this happens, transfer students sometimes feel isolated because they are among people who already have found their home on campus while they are trying to find their fit. By creating a Transfer Student Living Learning Community, it allows transfer students to live in a community with people who are in a similar situation: not new to higher education, but new to this institution.
3. Develop opportunities for transfer students to bond during welcome week/orientation if they move into the residence halls early. Transfer students often have a different orientation schedule than first year students, but you should still provide transfer students programming opportunities within the residence halls as you would for first year students so they have the chance to meet other new students within the halls. If you have a small amount of transfer students in each hall, you can use this as an opportunity to have transfer students from different buildings get together in a centralized location to socialize. 24 | MACUHO
2019SneakPeEk
behindthescenes
4. Train your student staff members on working with transfer students. During training, there may be times when you talk to your staff about working with first year students, such as things to be aware of and how to provide support for this population. Do you also have time during your training that is dedicated to understanding and supporting transfer students? Since these students may be in your upperclassmen housing, but are technically new students at your institution, it is important to educate your staff on the needs of this population. When I have previously worked with a student staff in an upperclassmen area, I introduced them to Schlossberg’s 4 S’s and discussed what this could mean for a transfer student. You can also teach your staff about transfer shock so they can support transfer students who may be feeling anxiety about adjusting to a new environment. Provide your staff with a quick facts sheet of resources that these transfer students may need like where to find the transcript evaluator on campus. Your staff will most likely have programs in the first year residence halls to assist students in selecting and registering for their courses. Have your staff host these same programs for your transfer students in the upperclassmen halls too. August and September can be a big season of change for all of our students, and we have the opportunity to support these students through these life changes. By providing intentional support and opportunities for transfer students within your residence halls, you can help them maneuver through transfer shock and succeed at their new home. Thurmond, K.C. (2007). Transfer Shock: Why is a Term Forty Years Old Still Relevant?Retrieved from NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Dealing-with-transfer-shock.aspx
26 | MACUHO
Conference Services & Enrollment Management: The Focus on The Future Student DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE In June 2017, I had the privilege of mentoring several youth high school students coming to Indiana University-Bloomington (IUB) for a one-week pre-college program through the Kelley School of Business. This program targeted racially underrepresented students who had desired to study business. I served to guide them through various academic sessions, campus partner presentations, and their navigation of the IUB campus from a counselor role. From this opportunity, many would then apply for admission to IU; with several then earning scholarships upon their acceptance. At that point, my view of pre-college programs shifted. These programs were a pipeline to set students up for success by a) exposing them to the campus environment early, b) connecting them to current students, faculty, and staff for support, and c) partnering with university admissions to place value on precollege conference groups. These efforts were championed by the IUB’s Kelley School of Business and I saw an opportunity for housing officers who organize conference services to more fully integrate this practice. How could housing organizations frame their conference operations to have enrollment-centered practices that focused less on recruitment, and more on awareness of the institution for youth conference audiences?
Julian A. Batts He/Him/His Area Coordinator The George Washington University jabatts@gwu.edu
This led to myself working for the University of Miami in Summer 2018 as part of the ACUHO-I Internship Program. I administered twenty youth conferences groups that resulted in 2,100 youth participants staying on campus. This role challenged me to consider how conference services could use campus partnerships to advance its efforts. Specifically, were conference guests viewed as short-term guests or future students of campus? I wanted to explore how to pivot practices that framed participants as transactional clients to redefine their purpose to be viewed as future students. Brand Delivery & Goals As I envisioned implementing this endeavor, I understood the importance of exposing conference guests to the institution’s brand effectively. Guests needed to experience core values, campus resources, and the student experience during their stay. Activities centered on those ideas elicit guests to consider what components of the brand resonate with them. Furthermore, it allows the institution to navigate how to integrate these components for the guests during their campus stay. Questions centered on academic programs, student services, and housing accommodation options are expected as guests are delivered this brand message. The following goals prompt conference services to consider how they are maximizing on this action of suiting their youth guests: present institutional offerings to match desired conference outcomes, capitalize on the conference platform to channel academic discovery of higher education, and engage guests on the student experience and connect faculty and staff to value delivery. These goals establish conference groups as not merely a source of revenue for the housing organization, but as a means for guests to learn about the institution as part of their stay. It suggests conference services to be used for community exploration. Target Audiences Distinct audiences within youth conference groups should be targeted dependent on their level of integration with the group over a long-term period. Those audiences include conference group clients, guests and students, and parents. Conference Group Clients Housing organizations must recognize conference group clients as the gatekeeper of the conference guests’ time. Clients open the conversation pre-conference for Enrollment Management, and Admissions staff to be integrated during the group’s stay. By doing this, housing organizations acknowledge the group’s needs and align those best suited for awareness to take its course. MACUHO | 27
Guests & Students The primary target audience remain the guests and students. They are the future talent of the institution and express the curiosity to explore the collegiate environment as guests. Their experience on-campus will influence whether to consider the institution as an option to enroll. Parents Once the conference concludes, parents hold the responsibility of following up with the student on their experience. Would the student consider a formal admission visit? Are there staff members to follow up with following the conference stay? In partnership with the student, parents serve as an influencer for how the college exploration process is shaped – most importantly, whether the host institution of the conference should be considered for an admission application. They also assist in holding the student accountable for keeping conversations with the institution continual. Practices to Implement Housing professionals must view their implementation as a means toward maximizing campus partnerships. Recognizing these practices help youth conference guests view the institution as an option for their future. Moreover, professionals should intend to lead these guests to admissions for future conversations, not to directly recruit them. Additionally, if the student is not interested, low risk is presented to the institution. These practices place a larger emphasis on student staff roles to allow them to share their experiences more openly. They cultivate campus partnerships to assist the institution with broadening its reach to a captive audience. Intake Form I found that several of the youth conference groups I interfaced with were not aware of the various campus offerings to explore during their stay. Several groups arranged their schedules to have minimal time outside of conference-related items, making it difficult to pile extra items on their schedule unplanned. Adjusting the conference intake form to incorporate campus partners empowers groups to consider what their participants would value outside of their group’s needs, such as admissions, athletics, and academic programs. Additionally, suggesting an admissions seminar can help youth audiences that are beginning their college exploration to learn the various requirements related to college admission. This is important as conference clients consider to what extent their conference will assist with this exploration process. Furthermore, offering conference groups a marketing tool kit for their guests allows for their respective audiences to gain a valuable first impression of the institution. This can include a showcase of campus, residence halls, and facilities captured through photos and videos. Attention should be focused on conveying that the institution is driven to enhance their stay on campus while meeting conference-related outcomes. Enrollment Liaison Due to the high volume of guests that conference groups often bring, measures to ensure consistency in information should be considered. The presence of an enrollment management liaison makes for succinct messaging on admissions-related requirements inquired by guests and families. This relationship strengthens the liaison’s understanding of the student’s context from which they enter the environment. It should be promoted that students can voice their positionality through their presence at a conference to an enrollment management liaison, without limitation of external factors that may dissuade them to follow up upon leaving. Avoid putting this on housing officers to understand when this can allow for a campus partnership to be cultivated. Chats with Conference Assistants A widening gap I noticed during my internship experience included high emphasis on undergraduate conference assistants to be merely conference administrators. This inhibited the staff from connecting with guests to share their experiences on student life. To prompt conference guests to consider the student experience, narratives from undergraduate conference assistants should be shared to open dialogue. This encourages conference assistants to expand the breadth of their roles and position themselves as multidimensional resources. Several missed opportunities occurred for rising juniors and seniors in high school to connect with current students about life on campus. This informal engagement with guests offers discussion to foster the curiosity and cherish relatability to peers less-familiar with the environment or those holding minoritized identities. This partnership with conference services and enrollment management should formulate with both parties having a better understand how to assist each other to meet desired outcomes. By using the platform of conference services, housing organizations execute their practices for future conference guests to capitalize their time on campus. Extending conference services beyond the scope of revenue attainment gives housing organizations an unparalleled purpose to shape the pathway for future higher education. 28 | MACUHO
MACUHO | 29
Would you be interested in b
Contact Katie Patschke-Maguire at ka Learn about the opportunity to serve
being a committee co-chair?
ap293@psu.edu for the Program Committee on the MAUCHO Leadership Council!
Hello MACUHO, The MACUHO Magazine Team has a vision of helping our members share their experiences and become published professionals in our field. We encourage you to consider joining the magazine team and/or writing a submission for the magazine today! If you are interested, check out our page on the MACUHO website to learn more about what to submit to the magazine - https://www.macuho.org/ We will take submissions at any time throughout the year. We are also happy to look at any rough drafts if you need some guidance. And if you have any questions about the magazine overall, please email magazine@macuho.org!