MACUHO Magazine - Spring 2019 by MACUHO Magazine

Spring 2019

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Job Search Reflections Save The Date, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Shore Thing! Student Leadership Success

Photo Credit: Rebecca Stringham

EDITOR’S NOTE Aprils Showers Bring May Flowers...And The End of Spring 2019

FOR OUR STUDENTS 7

PRESIDENT’S LETTER Spring of Change

PAST PRESIDENT’S LETTER Your Springtime Self-Care Reminder

PROGRAM TO ARTICLE The Plan to Destroy The Plastic Supervisor (Top 10 Program)

Public Private Partnership Housing and Sense of Community (Top 10 Program)

100 Women’s Voices: Strategies For Supervising Women in Higher Education (NASPA)

JOB SEARCH - ADVICE Reconsidering The Concept of Fit in Staff Hiring

Sometimes You Need A Change: Transitioning Out of Residence Life

Eight Tips For Entry Level Professionals in Residence Life

JOB SEARCH - RELFECTION My TPE Experience

We’re All in This Together: Being Supported in The Job Search

Why Firing Me Was The Best Thing For Me

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Four Daily Principles to Unlock Student Success

Advising The Residence Hall Association at West Virginia University

Short-Term Study Tours Make Study Abroad Accessible

Language Matters

LEADERSHIP UPDATES MACUHO Engagement Coordinator Spotlight

Save The Date, It’s A Shore Thing!

Table of Contents

MACUHO Magazine Committee – 2018-2019 MACUHO Magazine Editor: Rebecca Stringham Salisbury University

Editorial Team: Alex Reynolds Wilkes University Brian Root University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Danushi Fernando Vassar College Janine M. Weaver-Douglas University of Pennsylvania

Director of Business Operations & Communication: Dillon Eppenstein Villanova University

Designer: Arcadia Hewins Jefferson-East Falls Campus

Jen B. Ciaccio Temple University Kerri Johnsen University of Delaware Tory Elisca Montclair State University Winston Branch III Salisbury University

MACUHO Executive Board & Leadership Council 2018-2019 President Stephen Apanel Bucknell University Vice-President/President Elect Johnny Kocher West Virginia University Past President Debbie Scheibler Wilkes University Secretary Natalie Sowers Susquehanna University Treasurer Brandon Chandler Rutgers University - Camden Director, Membership Development Misty Denham-Barrett Rutgers University - New Brunswick Director, Business Operations and Communication Dillon Eppenstein Villanova University Director, Strategic Initiatives Kurtis Watkins Stevens Institute of Technology Director, Training and Development Nailah Brown The College of New Jersey 4 | MACUHO

Director, Annual Programs Carey Haddock Delaware Valley University Director, Information Technology Tiffany Hughes West Virginia University Annual Conference Coordinator Ray FeDora Wilkes University Diversity Co-Chair Amanda Slichter Lehigh University Diversity Co-Chair La-Riese Eldridge Thomas Jefferson University Host 2019 Co-Chair Steven Couras Curtis Institute of Music

Housing & Facilities Operations Christina Moran Jefferson - East Falls Personal and Professional Development Kevin Gaughenbaugh Northampton Community College Personal and Professional Development Vacant Program Co-Chair Vacant Program Co-Chair Katie Patschke-Maguire Penn State - Harrisburg Recognition and Connections Chancey Page Albright College Recognition and Connections Gwendolyn Stevens Carnegie Mellon University SSLI Co-Chair Olivia Naugle Bucknell University SSLI Co-Chair Vacant VIPS Co-Chair Zach Neil Indiana University of Pennsylvania VIPS Co-Chair Max Shirey Bucknell 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

Graduate Engagement Coordinator David Shanks Hood College Entry-Level Engagement Coordinator Janelle Howey Northampton Community College Entry-Level Engagement Coordinator Ashley Lillie St. Joseph’s University Mid-Level Engagement Coordinator Liz Ali St. Joseph’s University 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 Marietta College Magazine Editor Rebecca Stringham Salisbury 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 Vacant

Host 2019 Co-Chair Tory Elisca Montclair State University

Leadership and Volunteer Recruitment Committee Chair Sean Killion Temple University

Host 2019 Co-Chair Brian Pluchino Stockton University

Financial Advisor Board Olan Garrett Temple University

ACUHO-I Regional Affiliation Director Shana Alston Temple University

Housing & Facilities Operations Tim Moran Seton Hall University

Graduate Engagement Coordinator Angela Delfine University of Pittsburgh Johnstown

ACUHO-I Foundation Rep for MACUHO Crystal Lopez Caldwell University

Social Media Coordinator Dan Wright The George Washington University

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Your MACUHO 2019 Experience

April Showers Bring May Flowers...And The End of Spring 2019 EDITOR’S NOTE Hello MACUHO,

OCTOBER 23-25, 2019 JUNE 13-14, 2019 Summer Summit Penn State, University Park State College, PA Questions? Contact: President Stephen Apanel (sapanel@bucknell.edu)

MACUHO 2019 Annual Conference Harrah’s Resort & Casino Atlantic City, NJ Questions? Contact: Host 2019 Co-Chairs Steven Couras (steven.couras@curtis.edu), Tory Elisca (eliscav@montclair.edu) & Brian Pluchino (brian.pluchino@stockton.edu)

Check Page 42 to read about what you can look forward to at our next conference!

Welcome to the magazine’s Spring 2019 edition! As we head to the start of the summer season, this edition is themed around the lessons learned by our authors from this past academic year. We have some encouraging words from our Executive Board, a feature of our new Engagement Coordinators, and some conference presentations turned into data-rich articles. We also have a large section of this edition devoted to job search advice and reflections from those who have been in the job search or are currently still on the hunt. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted for this edition! If you are unsure if you can submit an article to this magazine, ask yourself these three questions. - Do you have a presentation or a program that you are proud of? - Do you have a professional challenge that you navigated in your career? - Do you have a personal experience that other professionals may not have? If you answered above positively, then I encourage you to consider submitting an article for the summer 2019 edition. The magazine team and I are happy to provide suggestions, review rough drafts, and help you get your thoughts just right. Hope everyone had a smooth closedown and have a great two months of relaxation before we begin the Housing and Res Life cycle again in August! Sincerely, Rebecca Stringham MACUHO Magazine Editor

NOVEMBER 9, 2019 Student Staff Live In Conference (SSLI) University of Maryland-Baltimore County - Baltimore, MD

Rebecca Stringham She/Her/Hers Area Director Salisbury University Magazine Editor restringham@salisbury.edu

MORE EVENTS TO BE ANNOUNCED! Visit our website for more information on all of our events: https://www.macuho.org/

Questions? Contact: Director of Annual Programs Carey Haddock (carey.haddock@delval.edu)

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Spring of Change PRESIDENT’S LETTER Spring brings to mind blossoming flowers, the leaves returning to trees, warmer temperatures, and more daylight during the day. With all of these elements making a return to our environment, we had to adjust to those changes. The pace of our day probably increased with Room Selections, Closings, End-of-year banquets, staff hirings, and summer planning all happening now. In addition to what might be occurring on campuses, within the MACUHO campus, we have been also busy with many items. These items have been defining our roles within the organization, advancing the strategic plan, creating stronger relationships with neighboring organizations such as NEACUHO and CACCURH, reviewing our conference technology, and re-branding the Social Justice Symposium, all of this during the spring season. On a personal note, my three daughters (all pictured) have birthdays in the spring (March, April, and May), and watching their growth and change is a blessing and, at times, emotional.

Your Springtime Self-Care Reminder PAST PRESIDENT’S LETTER As this semester wraps up and you begin to turn your sights to commencement and summer plans, I encourage all MACUHO members to remember to invest in yourself. Spring brings with it a time for new growth, renewal, and fresh perspectives, but it can also bring with it exhaustion, feelings of loneliness, and present unique stressors that are unique to this particular time of year. While we in MACUHO are extremely excited to continue working under our new structural model, as well as for the spring and summer events that we have planned which ultimately lead up to the Annual Conference in this fall, we can lose sight of what matters more than anything else: that is ourselves as individuals. Whether you take a spa day, go for a run, unplug from social media, or veg out to Netflix on your couch, remember to treat yourself to some time specifically set aside for yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and you cannot be your best self at your home institutions or within MACUHO if you are running on empty. Our association cares deeply about its members, so we wanted to remind you all to make yourself a priority in this spring-to-summer season of transition. Selfcare is the best gift we can give ourselves; through taking care of ourselves, we role model healthy behaviors for our peers, our staff members, and our loved ones.

Stephen Apanel He/Him/His Director of Housing Services Bucknell University MACUHO President sapanel@bucknell.edu

As an organization, MACUHO is also going through some changes similar to this spring season. The Engagement Coordinators are creating things geared toward their area of focus, the Social Justice Symposium has occurred, our Strategic Planning is evolving, and conference planning is in full stride. We had a successful MAPC with over 100 candidates and almost 50 positions. I had the chance to be present as a hiring institution. This gem is a great placement conference for employers and candidates within the field of Student Affairs and in our region. Many thanks to the all the helping hands who put this event together. In February, our Leadership Council held its annual site visit to Atlantic City, NJ, which is our Annual Conference location this October 23-25, 2019. While in Atlantic City, we were able to view the programming spaces and were able to spend some great time together. Our site for this year’s conference is in good hands with our planning team putting together the details to offer a great professional development experience. It’s a real struggle when we go through this spring season to know my term as MACUHO President is hitting the final stretch. Despite the little time left, we will be continuing our work for this organization and its members. Many of the items we are working on will be discussed at this year’s Summer Summit, June 13-14, 2019 hosted again by Penn State - University Park. This time together is open to the membership and all are welcome. The meeting works as an introduction to the organization for those who want to attend, a chance to discuss much of the business of our organization, and to enjoy some housing and residence life fellowship as we share some of our favorite campus activities. If you are looking to get involved and want a “behind-the-scenes” view of how MACUHO operates, this is a great opportunity for you. We will have an introductory session just for those attending this event for the first time.

Debbie Scheibler She/Her/Hers Director, Office of Residence Life Wilkes University Past President deborah.scheibler@wilkes.edu

I wish you all a rejuvenating and healthy spring/summer season, and look forward to seeing many of you at the Summer Summit this June at Penn State University Park! -Debbie Scheibler MACUHO Immediate Past President

Save The Date, It’s A Shore Thing October 23-25, 2019 - Atlantic City, NJ

As you progress through this “Spring of Change”, my hope is that you are exploring your professional development and wondering how you might want to up your quality. Our Leadership Council and Executive Board nominations will go live on July 1, 2019. This is a great opportunity to become more involved in your organization, but also to network and meet with colleagues from across the region. I truly cherish all the friendships I have made from my involvement and look forward to meeting new individuals every MACUHOchance I get. I struggle to express the value MACUHO has worked on me professionally in addition to creating life-long friends. -Stephen Apanel MACUHO President

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The Plan to Destroy the Plastic Supervisor PROGRAM TO ARTICLE Michaela Bishop She/Her/Hers Area Coordinator Marshall University bishopmi@marshall.edu

me feel any more confident). I’m fortunate to be surrounded by amazing colleagues (like my co-presenter Gabriel Poindexter), and one of the things we’ve discussed is comparing ourselves to other supervisors and the harm it can cause. Our conversations uncovered three main areas of doubt. This, combined with our love for pop culture references, led us to presenting our Plan to Destroy the Plastic Supervisor at the MACUHO 2018 Annual Conference. If you’re going day to day feeling self-doubt, pressure to do more, or just truly feel like an imposter in your job, we encourage you to keep these three truths, values, or whatever else you want to call them, in mind:

THE PLAN TO DESTROY THE PLASTIC SUPERVISOR (1) Army of Expectations (2) “Hot” Topics (3) Your Aaron Samuels 1. Army of Expectations “I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom.” Expectations. Are. Everywhere. Spoken or unspoken, every position comes with a floor length list of expectations others will have of you, whether they be your supervisor, coworker, student staff member, or just some random person on the street who had an extra opinion to give away that day. While you’re expected to do your job correctly, there’s also that unspoken expectation (that we tend to self-impose) that you can’t be just a regular supervisor, you have to be the “cool supervisor”.

Gabriel Poindexter He/Him/His Area Coordinator Marshall University poindexterg@marshall.edu

“They are flawless.” “He has a stand-up desk and a Cricut.” “I hear she is so transparent with her staff.” “I hear they do staff bonding...off campus!” “Her favorite way to relax is hanging out with her staff.” “One time she met with our director...and he said she was the perfect supervisor.” “One time, they got a staff shout out and I didn’t—it was awful!” We all have that image of what makes a perfect supervisor in our heads, and when it comes to building relationships with our student staff members, sometimes we let our insecurities force us to strive to be the “It” Plastic supervisor: the one who not only flawlessly fulfills every job requirement, but also knows every little detail about their staffs’ lives and still has time to find a new pink outfit for Wednesday. But guess what: “She doesn’t even go here!” This stereotype of the Plastic supervisor can be daunting to younger professionals in our field, as many of the entry-level positions have heavy contact with the students and are already naturally demanding. As newer supervisors, it is natural for us to look to our peers for examples of what it means to be a supervisor, especially those we consider to be the “It” supervisor. But who is the “It” supervisor? What makes them Plastic (aka perfect)? “I’m sorry that people are so jealous of me…but I can’t help it that I’m so popular.” It was interesting to see during our presentation at MACUHO how quickly attendees were able to list off characteristics and stereotypes of who they considered to be a perfect supervisor. Things like “never gets overwhelmed”, “never forgets anything”, “attends every program”, “completes everything on time”, “attends all staff bonding”, “has a perfect work/life balance” and “buys treats for their staff” were thrown out confidently. While we may aspire to be able to do all these things, it’s unlikely for a well-seasoned supervisor, let alone a new one, to be able to (which I say from my own personal experiences and from other professionals who my co-presenter and I have heard from). Trying to live up to such an unrealistic standard can add a lot of stress to our already stressful jobs. I think our desires to live up to this expectation can be explained through “Imposter Syndrome”, first identified in 1978 by P. R. Clance’s research on high-achieving women. Clance (1978) stated that those who suffer “the impostor phenomenon do not fall into any one diagnostic category. The clinical symptoms most frequently reported are generalized anxiety, lack of self-confidence, depression, and frustration related to inability to meet self-imposed standards of achievement.” I was born with a need to prove myself, a sentiment I think more and more professionals are sharing in our field. There are days I’m so paralyzed by all the things my mind tells me I have to accomplish to be worthy of my position, that I don’t actually even get my work done (which, by the way, doesn’t help make

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What “cool” means to you depends on the people you surround yourself with and look up to. For me, the “cool” supervisor is super excitable and knows how to relate to every student they interact with. They can have the hard conversations most supervisors dread without breaking a sweat or the hearts of their students. The students want to hang out with them and share their deepest, darkest secrets. Young, lively, compassionate, driven, creative, responsible, wise, patient, firm, motivated, sweet, relatable, perfect! Did you feel the spiral? Cause I’m out of breath. Let’s admit it out loud—cool is just another word for perfect. Looking back through my experiences, I can easily see the only person who had this expectation of me, was me. I have a list of expectations from my supervisor, coworkers and staff that I am meeting. So why do I still feel as if I’m falling short? Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have a picture in our head of the Plastic Supervisor and when we don’t meet that imaginary standard, we are crushed and unconfident in our abilities to succeed. I can get compliments all day long, but my mind instead chooses to focus on areas I think I should improve in. Compliments come in one ear and out the other, but doubt is my constant companion. So how do you defeat the army of expectations? With reality checks, kindness, and understanding. When you’re feeling inadequate or feel you are not meeting expectations (whoever’s they may be) speak with your supervisor and ask them how you’re doing. And then trust what they are saying if they tell you that you’re doing a good job. You can do the same with co-workers and student staff members. The only thing holding us back from finding this peace is fear of how we will cope if we receive a negative answer. That’s where the kindness and understanding comes in. Be kind in how you treat yourself because it’s okay to be imperfect. I always tell my staff the same thing if we have to speak about job performance—“What’s done is done and doesn’t matter to me anymore. What matters is what you do after this and if you use the opportunity for change.” Understand that there will be times you fall short of expectations, but by opening up with your supervisor, co-workers, and staff members, you can easily identify which expectations are unrealistic and self-imposed. 2. “Hot” Topics “Made out with a hot dog? Oh my God, that was one time!” Any job I’ve ever started has begun with my coworkers giving me the 411. On supervisors, on other coworkers, on residents, on student staff members—it’s like an initiation you didn’t realize you’d signed up for and never think about the harm it’s going to cause down the road. Let’s be honest here, the 411 is usually filled with warnings and horror stories. “Here’s how you can expect this staff member to misbehave.” “One time they did this…” “They’re gonna treat you like…”

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Any of those sound familiar? Now think back to how you first interacted with that staff member after hearing the warnings from coworkers. I know I’ve gone into first meetings with my guard up after hearing how I should expect a certain student to treat me. What I’ve found is that those relationships are never quite as strong as the ones I gave a chance to show me who they are. The reality is everyone interacts with each other differently. I have some staff members now who didn’t get along with previous supervisors, but we get along fabulously. I have some staff members who got written up for things last year that I’ve never had to write up once. Part of being an authentic supervisor is forming your own relationships and your own opinions. When you approach a relationship with a coworker-influenced bias, you’re robbing yourself of the chance of a meaningful relationship. Not only that, but you’re denying that person a chance to grow. So this part of the plan is pretty straightforward and simple. Quit listening to gossip about your staff members and go spend time with them. Show them that you’re there to support them. Treat your first meeting like a first date—with an open mind and the determination to learn more about who they really are. More importantly, challenge your coworkers who spend their days gossiping about others. The easiest way to defeat “hot” topics is simply just to avoid them. It’s okay to take note of what people are saying, but when you let those opinions take over your own is when you start to become Plastic. 3. Your Aaron Samuels "One time I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip flops. So I bought army pants and flip flops." If you’re up to date on your Mean Girls knowledge, you know the plot of the movie is about a high school student, Cady, changing who she is to attract another student, Aaron Samuels. You’ll also remember that at the end of the movie, Cady finally realized that Aaron liked her for who she originally was, and not the Plastic she turned into because she thought that’s what he wanted. In this scenario, you are Cady Heron and your job is Aaron Samuels. To put it simply, you were hired to your job for who you are and what you can bring to the table. You fulfill a need your department had that only you could specifically fill. We don’t typically hire people in housing for how fake we think they can be, so why do we spend time trying to turn ourselves into this Plastic Supervisor we know isn’t real? Your staff needs you. Plain and simple. You were hired for your passion, your experience, your ideas, and your potential—despite your imperfections. Your department likes you, imperfections and all, or they wouldn’t have hired you. And while I think deep down we all know this, it’s still hard to focus on what we do well and take time to celebrate in our authenticity. But you will build stronger relationships with your staff when you are being you and not pretending to be someone else. Quit trying to prove your worth to others through Plastic behavior. Seek meaningful development instead. It’s all right to admire qualities about other supervisors and seek growth in yourself, but it’s not about changing who you are. Let your staff see the real you because that’s who they’ll appreciate and trust. When you spend less time focusing on changing yourself, you’re allowing yourself to be in the moment and dedicate more time to actually supervising your staff. Just like you should trust when people tell you you’re meeting expectations, you should trust that who you already are as a supervisor is good. You are good. You are not an imposter. You are enough. You are a successful supervisor. You are you, and that’s all we want. So if you take anything away from this classic example of when pop culture meets real life, let it be that you are already a good supervisor. Quit idolizing this fake ideal of a perfect, Plastic supervisor. Don’t seek change, seek growth. Seek out what makes you different from other supervisors and capitalize on it. Appreciate it. Enjoy it. Love it. Others will love you for who you are, you just have to let them. And always remember, Aaron Samuels already likes you, Cady, so quit spending your days trying to be Regina George. It’s so not fetch. Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241-247. Waters, M. S., Michaels, L., Rosner, L., Fey, T., Okada, D., Kent, R., In Bricmont, W. G., ... Paramount Pictures Corporation, (2004). Mean girls.

Public Private Partnership Housing and Sense of Community (Top 10 Program) PROGRAM TO ARTICLE Market trends of the last few decades show increased competitiveness in undergraduate enrollment efforts among college and universities. In response, institutions of higher education (IHE) often use multiple strategies to capture high school graduates’ attention such as boasting faculty research, broadcasting collegiate athletic prowess, and proclaiming on-campus social opportunities. Awareness is also given to updating research facilities, community space, and the campus landscape. Colleges and universities are also eager to attract students by offering new or renovated on-campus living spaces. However, despite the need or desire to update old or dilapidated student housing, rising construction costs, lessening federal and state funding, and revised safety and accessibility codes have challenged many universities from doing so. Still, some schools have sought collaborative partnerships with external entities in order to provide enhanced or new student housing. Business partnerships between outside agencies and colleges and Denise Davidson universities are not a new practice. On many campus partnerships She/Her/Hers with third-party entities exist to provide auxiliary services such as Associate Professor: Educational custodial oversight, campus safety, dining services, bookstore Leadership and College Student Affairs management, and/or printing and mailing services. Additionally, Bloomsburg University capitalizing on opportunities that provide additional financial ddavidso@bloomu.edu support, construction management expertise, and in some cases, facility oversight, has led to increased partnerships with public developers for on-campus student housing ventures. Despite continued growth and reliance on public partnerships in higher education, their influence on campus culture, community development, and student engagement remains widely understudied. Acknowledging the need for modern scholarly contributions in this area, I along with a team of two other notable student housing scholars, (Dr. Denise Davidson, Associate Professor at Bloomsburg University and Dr. Katie Boone, Adjunct Professor at Cabrini University) embarked in a multi-site study to compare students’ sense of community based on living in a university owned/operated residence hall (RES) or a public private partnership developed/operated facility (P3). The following provides an overview of the theoretical framework used in our study and highlights comparative findings from this research endeavor. The end of the article will also provide some lessons for practice. Sense of Community Framework Created in 1986 by Dr. McMillian and Dr. Chavis, sense of community (SOC) as a theoretical framework is a psychological construct comprised of four elements: membership, influence, fulfillment and integration of needs, and shared emotional connection. - Membership, in broad terms, defines who has access to community association and who does not. Investment in the community is fostered by emotional vulnerability through a commitment among members. - A sense of mattering defines influence. Within this element, individuals contribute to the overall success of the association and in turn receive support from the group. Within this element, a reciprocal, shared commitment between students occurs – that is, community association positively contributes to the success of each member, as simultaneously each individual influences the group. - The third element is reinforcement, measured by integration and fulfillment of needs. Community togetherness persuades members

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Chris Heasley He/Him/His Assistant Professor: Educational Leadership Saint Joseph’s University cheasley@sju.edu

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to act and behavior in a uniform manner, one that is most beneficial to the association. Integration and fulfillment of needs serve as a guide for measuring an individual’s reputation, aptitude, and allegiance to communal values. Such measurable outcomes are used to determine community devotedness.

CONTEMPO

- Shared emotional connection, the final element of McMillan and Chavis’s SOC model, describes the development of membership as a result of experiencing a collective history, space, kinship, and events together.

COLLECTION

During SOC development, group affiliation is strengthened by emotional investment. Importantly, the four elements of SOC may be experienced in isolation or in combination with one another to enhance connectedness to others and space. In relation to student development, when students feel connected to one another and the institution, they experience a sense of belonging and shared trust, the underpinnings of SOC. Previous scholars also noted the link between one’s connectedness to campus and student retention based on heightened SOC. Based on the influential outcomes associated with increased community affiliation, Treanor Architects reported in 2011 that SOC remains the biggest trend influencing campus housing construction and design. In spite of the reported stronghold of SOC in prompting development of new residential living spaces, no empiricallybased findings could be found to substantiate whether all housing types contribute equally to students’ SOC. As scholars, we were left pondering, if SOC is important to develop and nurture, how do we determine which student housing options promote its growth?

Comparing Outcomes With financial support from an ACUHO-I Foundational Research Grant, we designed a mixed-methodological approach to measure SOC using both quantitative and qualitative data. For empirical analysis, data was gathered from 539 survey responses from second, third, and fourth year students (first year students did not reside in P3 housing; therefore, their comparative experiences are absent in this study). In aggregate, the majority of quantitative survey respondents lived in P3 housing (77.4%, N=417), with the remaining students residing in RES (22.6%, N=122). Among the four elements that comprise SOC, only influence was found to be significantly different among students relational to their housing type with RES students reporting a higher mean score. However, despite reaching a level of statistical significance, the difference in influence scores between RES and P3 students was very small. No statistically significant difference was observed across the remaining three elements (i.e., membership, fulfillment and integration of needs, and shared emotional connection) of SOC based on housing type. Following quantitative data collection and analysis, the research team collected qualitative information through multiple focus groups with students living in RES and P3 housing types. Coding student narratives led to new discoveries in identifying factors that support SOC development and growth. As unique themes emerged, they were linked together to formulate a complete description of participants’ experiences and SOC sense making. Results from qualitative analysis led us to conclude consumer-mindedness, first year experiences, and upperlevel residence facility design each contributed (whether directly or tangentially) to the formation of SOC in student housing. - Consumer-mindedness describes student awareness of housing cost and building location as driving factors in the development of SOC. Indirectly, these two factors provide criteria for housing selection and thereby influence sorting of students into varying student housing options. In multiple cases, students expressed willingness to depart from previous friendship circles in order to reside in a facility they could afford and met their location desirability. - Focus group participants reflected on their first year experiences in on-campus housing. With fondness, an overwhelming majority of students articulated development of SOC through shared communal experiences with other residents, participation in floor programs, and intentional use of building space (such as study lounges, community bathrooms, and workout rooms). Opportunities for interactions with others were vital to the process of developing community affinity.

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- Upper-level residence facility design has a direct influence on SOC. Facility aesthetics, room layout, building amenities, and floor plan design, often shaped how students navigated community experiences. Across all four elements of the SOC model, stronger community association was affected by greater interest and happiness with a facility. Conversely, problematic building features such as multiple access points into the facility (lessening opportunities to interact with residents), a lack of spaces for incidental interactions (such as elevator landings and study lounges), and too expansive or dense site plans, had negative impacts on community development.

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Lessons for Practice Five lessons for practice are offered as a result of contemplating the findings from both the survey and focus group data collected. Lesson One Residents of RES and P3 housing do not experience SOC in dramatically different ways. SOC as a student outcome should no longer be a mitigating factor preventing partnerships between universities and private developers in the creation of student housing on college campuses. Lesson Two SOC cannot be developed if students cannot afford to reside in the facility. In accordance with fulfillment of needs, financial considerations were the leading motivator in behavior and drove selection of a particular housing accommodation. Participants affirmed a consumer-minded drive and its impact on selection. Affordability and SOC must be considered in tandem. If only one of these is offered, students will likely choose affordability. Lesson Three While many factors contribute to SOC, the elements of influence and shared emotional connection with paraprofessional staff on residents’ development remains paramount. Students experience a strong SOC during their first year through the efforts of the building staff. Beyond first year, students viewed the ownership of building SOC was seen as their own responsibility. Student housing that assists with SOC longevity rather than a focus on initial SOC development is important for non-first year facilities. Lesson Four Students voiced the importance of floor plan design and its influence on privacy and independence. Similar floor plans and a desirable campus location should be available in both forms of student housing (i.e., Campus Residences and P3 housing), especially when upperclassmen are the intended residents. Lesson Five Students’ opinions should be solicited when planning access to space (both individual unit access and community places), design of social gathering spaces throughout the facility, and inclusion of other resident amenities. While student voices are vitally important in the design process, university administrators and P3 leaders should remain diligent in designing facilities that are attuned to student needs over student wants in an effort to maintain affordability. As researchers, we encourage continued dialogue and consideration of these lessons. We concur there is no universal plan that will ensure SOC development or enrichment, but we believe that strides made toward these practices will positively impact the lives of residents in on-campus residence halls and P3 student housing facilities.

In Summary We acknowledge the importance of SOC in student housing. We hope our study contributes favorably to an under-researched area of interest for student housing professionals and public partners. Of most importance is the need to consider ways in which we can positively develop and sustain community affiliations among students in campus housing (both RES and P3 models), as such efforts are related to increased campus connectedness and retention. Still, students highlight the importance of housing affordability, building location, first-year housing experiences, and building design as important factors that influence building choice and, in turn, SOC within a student housing type. As we continue to engage in public partnerships with private developers, our findings suggest that SOC should not be a concern preventing such mutual association. However, facility price remains a primary factor in student housing selection, even if removal from previous community circles is likely to occur. Lastly, school leaders are called to safeguard the institution’s mission and needs when working with external partners. The most desirable outcome is a relationship in which all stakeholders flourish, but most importantly, our students.

100 Women’s Voices: Strategies For Supervising Women in Higher Education (NASPA) PROGRAM TO ARTICLE As women everywhere tackle “the Confidence Gap” (Kay & Shipman, 2014), we questioned the role of the supervisor in preparing women to confront Imposter Syndrome, which plagues women more than men (Claunce & Imes, 1978; Jagacinski, 2006). We also wanted to address other forms of self-doubt and pursue opportunities for advancement and recognition. Looking forward to the next 100 years, it cannot only be left to women to better position themselves; supervisors also have the unique opportunity to create a culture where women feel confident, respected, and recognized for their work. “Understanding the pathways to and the pressures faced by senior-leaders contribute to understanding what needs to be done to open doors and create support for these leaders” (Hannum, Muhly, Shockley-Zalabak & White, 2015). The way we work with and supervise women can help prepare them for success. Advocates of women’s leadership need to prepare women for challenges, but also make clear the benefits and rewards of formal leadership positions (Hannum, Muhly, Shockley-Zalabak & White, 2015). In 2018, we shared our experiences in the workplace with each other regarding our own personal experiences and experiences of coaching female supervisees who encounter sexism in the workplace. Curious to see if our experiences were our own or part of a larger structural bias existing even in our incredibly inclusive profession, we set out to survey 100 female supervisors. In setting up the survey and collecting all the data, our goal was to focus on strategies for supervising women and for as many women’s voices to be included as possible. Our response rate was better than we could have imagined, 253 women opened the survey and clicked through it! This article will share the results of that survey and provide implications for supervision of women moving forward. In 1980-1981, women held 17% of the SSAO positions with a 27.2% lower salary than their men counterparts (Nidiffer & Bashaw, 2001). While research shows that the number of women in senior-level positions in higher education has increased, a study by the American Council on Education (2016) shows that despite women being prepared for leadership positions at a greater rate than men, the environment once in these positions can be isolating. The higher a woman goes on the academic ladder, the fewer female colleagues she finds and the problem of finding mentors and supervisors becomes more acute (Glover, 2010), which can lead to more challenges in the transition to senior-level positions. We chose to focus on the following areas: feedback, managing up and recognition, authenticity, and microaggressions and intersecting identities, because learning and understanding them can assist in success in higher education. We feel these areas impact our identities as women (whether because of our perception or that of those who work with us). For example, giving and receiving feedback already carries some power within it depending on if you are receiving or giving it, and when you add identity in the mix, it can potentially amplify that dynamic. Managing up is something that we are not necessarily taught to do, but some of us are better at it than others are. How we look at “managing up” can be impacted by how we view our gender identity and how others may view it. When it comes to recognition, it is no secret that men are typically paid more than women in most, if not every, field. This can be attributed to many things including perception of employees based on gender, perception of ourselves based on gender, ability and encouragement from our supervisors, etc. The idea of being your authentic self in the workplace can often be a topic of conversation. The three of us felt it was important to explore the idea of authenticity and what it means to show up as YOU in the workplace and how can supervisors support it. In shifting our focus to microaggressions and intersecting Identities, we want to speak specifically about the experience of women, from women, and we wanted to focus on that identity. Of course, we recognize our day to day, and how we are perceived is because of more than just one of our identities. As we started to brainstorm, we had all these ideas and questions we were excited to ask our women colleagues. At first, it was easy to get caught up in the challenges of being a woman, but we did not just want to focus on that. It was important for us to shift the focus on how to make environments better for women, more supportive of women. We want women to have more opportunities and be able to be authentic in their identities and be able to have good professional experiences and excel in the field. Supervision matters. It is may be difficult at times, but we owe it to those who we supervise to give them a good experience and help them make it to the next step successfully. As best as possible, we want to focus on gender for this particular article, but feel like more rich data can be obtained about our intersections and how they play out in the workplace. It is important to share that we did have limitations to our study. If being a woman is not your salient identity, it can be hard to view interactions with only that lens. We realize the intricacies of being a woman, with intersecting identities, may

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impact how people treat you. (Ex. being younger or older, being a woman of color, being a queer woman, etc. Understanding your identities and how they hold power.) The data we collected was overwhelming and validated that supervisors have opportunities to self-reflect and implement new strategies in their style. As we read the data, there were stories that each of us could relate to and there were stories that our women colleagues were sharing from across the country that made our chins drop and that we were not able to relate to because of our own identities. 81% of women surveyed stated they believed their gender identity impacts how they are viewed in professional settings. Let us shift our focus to more data and start in the area of feedback. 96.5% of respondents, regardless of level, indicated they would like to receive feedback weekly. When we broke down the position level of respondents and the rate that they received feedback, the data showed that mid-level women are receiving feedback more frequently than entry-level women. We asked our respondents to share examples of when they would make a conscious effort to change based on feedback they received from their supervisor. Here is what they shared: when trust is mutual between supervisor and supervisee; when support is offered to make the changes; when it is sincere and delivered in a clear proactive manner; when respect has been established; when they have been told or have personally seen that actions are affecting others, when they understand the why; and when the feedback is consistent and ongoing. It is important that we differentiate feedback from managing up as they are quite different. Feedback refers to directly informing someone of observed behaviors and making recommended changes. Managing up is much more subtle and requires more work on behalf of the supervisee. 43% of women surveyed believed it is more difficult to manage up as a female. Respondents also shared some reasons for why they do not feel comfortable managing up. The reasons stemmed from feeling that there were years of conditioning regarding their female identity and engaging in managing up conversations may make them perceived as being too emotional, angry or aggressive, too sensitive, or that they may experience sexism. Now let’s look at microaggressions. What are we doing or not doing as supervisors? The feedback we received focused on what supervisors and colleagues are doing that made women on their teams feel like they were not being supported. It is important that we are aware of the language we use in our workspace. Specifically, women talked about the use of blatant language being used in the office that included name calling and characteristics to describe them as being too sensitive. Women told us that when sharing exciting news about a life event (i.e. enrolling in a PhD program), male colleagues often made jokes related to gender (i.e. Oh, you are going to get your MRS degree). Women also expressed being the victim of name calling and assumptions that are typically used as caricatures of women for example, the Soccer Mom, the Cat Lady, the Basic B. Additionally, our survey results showed that women felt policed with their attire at work and that they are being questioned on their appearance. They were told what they can and cannot wear. The topic of facial expressions and appropriate ways to wear one’s hair showed up in an overwhelming number of examples. Women were told that they looked aggressive, some because of their body size. Overall, women’s voices stated that they do not feel comfortable expressing their emotions at work. There is this idea that they are always being watched and held to a different standard, and they feel obligated to prove themselves. When it came time to discuss the idea of tasks being delegated, women reported that they felt they were being called for nurturing tasks (i.e. helping a student in crisis) while their male identified colleagues are asked to move heavy items. We can all be a part of caring for students and setting up programs, it does not need to be based on gender. Women respondents shared that they are feeling unseen and invisible in the workplace. They feel that mansplaining (the explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing) happens on a regular basis. They also feel that when a woman says something, it is ignored or overlooked. Then a man can the same thing and they are recognized. Or that they are just being talked over during meetings. Women feel they are always having to prove themselves. 68% of respondents stated they feel adequately trained to address microaggressions, yet 87% stated that they never reported microaggressions they’ve witnessed/experienced. We work in a field where we create inclusive and safe spaces for students. What these numbers tell us is that we are not doing a good job in creating comfortable and safe spaces for women to report. The women's’ voices from our survey tell us that these things are happening and that as supervisors, we have work to do. You may be thinking to yourself that some of these things and examples shared feel intuitive. But these things are happening. When women to not feel safe and comfortable at work, they are not going to be able to perform to the best of their ability. Recognition won’t happen. It will be harder for them to show up as their authentic self. We also asked women what it means to be authentic and how supervisors can create a culture where it is present at work. We encourage you to think authenticity as a goal – something to strive for or help your supervises get to. We challenge you to think about how women on your teams are showing up to work. Are they wearing invisible masks to work? Women should not have to wear any invisible masks in the workplace; they should not have to hide pieces of their identity or intersections. Women should not feel pressure to be perfect. We must understand that being authentic does not equal being perfect.

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Jackie Cetera She/Her/Hers Director of Residential Education Bucknell University MAPC Employer Chair jc088@bucknell.edu

Jessica Fred She/Her/Hers Assistant Director for Residential Life California State University at Northridge jessica.fred@csun.edu

Sue McNeilly She/Her/Hers Senior Assistant Director of Career Development New York University School of Professional Studies sue.mcneilly@nyu.edu

References: American Council on Education. (2016). New report looks at the status of women in higher education. Retrieved from https://www.acenet.edu/newsroom/Pages/New-Report-Looks-at-the-Status-of-Women-in-Higher-Education.aspx Gores, C. (n.d.). Women leaders in higher education: context, challenge, and courage. Retrieved from https://www.acenet.edu/newsroom/Pages/Women-Leaders-in-Higher-Education-Context,-Challenge,-and-Courage-.aspx Glover, S. (2010). An empirical study investigating the key success factors amongst women in higher education. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 71. Hannum, K. M., Muhly, S. M., Shockley-Zalabak, P. S., & White, J. S. (2015). Women leaders within higher education in the United States: supports, barriers, and experiences of being a senior leader. Advancing Women in Leadership, 35, 65-75. Nidiffer, J. & Bashaw, C. T. (2001). Women Administrators in Higher Education: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. SUNY Press. The Almanac of higher Education. (2013). Distribution of president and senior administrators at 4-year institutions, by age, gender, race and ethnicity. Washington, DC: The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Reconsidering The Concept of “Fit” in Staff Hiring JOB SEARCH - ADVICE For many of us in Residence Life and Student Affairs, we have become accustomed to hearing the term “fit” during recruitment season. While there are definitely some elements that can be essential when building a healthy team, I want to start by sharing some of the dangers of this catch-all term. Fit should not be a subtle way to discriminate. Throughout my career and when discussing various search processes with colleagues, I have heard an array of horror stories regarding interviews and an overall lack of understanding with regards to Human Resources procedures and federal laws. At times, these stories compare public and private schools, often giving a pass to small private colleges who may have more flexibility to suit their needs. While it is true that with less structure comes more opportunity to exploit unknown procedures, there are also many small, private institutions that readily confront illegal HR practices and adhere to core principles, not just in recruitment, but in many aspects of their work. Likewise, many have shared with me instances during which a potential employer expressed how they have satisfied their number Brian Medina of professionals of color or of women or of LGBTQ staff members. Ze/Hir/Hirs They may not say it so explicitly, but when search committees Associate Dean of Students invite finalists to campus, any objective measure would identify who Marietta College was invited and a potential why. Other ways this happens comes Archives Coordinator down to a quota system for finalists, where some senior leaders brianmedina1@gmail.com may say “We need more of X in our pool, so make sure that happens before inviting anyone on-campus.” While this may not be pervasive for all, it happens enough whereby more studies are being conducted about blind résumé reviews and some campuses are deciding to outsource initial candidate vetting to search firms who know the ins-andouts of human resources. This can not only be a form of lightening the load on an overworked team, but also deferred accountability away from Residence Life staff who most often do not have backgrounds or have taken courses in Human Resource Management. Many years ago, I attended a placement conference and had been openly applying to a variety of institutions before narrowing it down to top picks. At the end of one interview, the interviewer pulled me aside to explain how they really thought I was a quality candidate, but that he would not be allowed to bring me to campus because I had too much LGBTQ student development on my résumé and would not “fit” into the campus culture or leadership. While I appreciated the honest heads-up, it concerns me that some institutions would make abundantly clear their unwillingness to vet a candidate because they worked with one student population or another. Certainly, I understand that campuses have their own cultures and values, but we need to be careful about how that can be exclusionary and discriminatory in advance of refusing someone’s candidacy. Fit is variable and often changing. If you asked me whether I would have applied or worked well with certain campuses 10 years ago compared to now, the answers would be very different. Public policy, specific state dynamics, major world events, life experiences, and even specific incidents on a college campus may have profound impact regarding how recruitment and hiring adapts over the years. The very fact that marriage equality was declared legal by the Supreme Court in 2015 altered how staff might have live-in partners or benefits allotted to their now-legal spouse. Trans rights have ebbed and flowed in recent years, causing colleges to adjust internal procedures, whether the federal government provides adequate direction or not. Likewise, Title IX guidance instituted or rescinded by the Department of Education may foster more or less welcoming environments for survivors of gender-based violence. These and many more examples mean that some institutions who are on the leading curve of social justice efforts may attract a different set of candidates, but even those who follow at various speeds will see changes in their staff recruitment. I previously worked for a predominately White institution (PWI) where the student population transformed from about 15% students of color to near 47% students of color in 10 years. Not only did this impact the culture of students, faculty, and staff already on campus, it dramatically improved the ways we were able to recruit staff members within Residence Life to meet the needs of residents on campus. While there are still tensions

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regarding race at the institution, there is definitely more attention given to staff hiring than prior to this dramatic shift in student demographics. What should also be obvious is that we as individuals change throughout our lives. Perhaps we had a traumatic or very positive experience. This may trigger a reassessment of our values and what we need to be successful as professionals. Maybe our evolution is more incremental, whereby we learn more about acceptance and embracing others’ identities, creating an inclusive work environment and adjusting some of our language during interviews. This will likely mean that staff members working with us after such transformation will see a different “fit” into their work environment than in the years before. I like to use the example of clothes when it comes to fit. At different times of our life, we can “pull off” specific clothing, or certain styles are more in or out of fashion. Some, like me, try to push aside gendered perceptions around my wardrobe, thereby broadening professional attire for the workplace to allow for a greater variety, regardless of gender. And yes, there are also times when we outgrow our favorite dress or pair of pants and need to accept that we can no longer wear it anymore. If fit is so variable when it comes to clothes, then why do we rely upon the concept so heavily when hiring new staff? Fit can also be a way to describe complementary values and mission. Other veterans in the field remind me that not every staff member will be successful at every institution. If you know that you need more structure and precise direction regarding your work responsibilities, then you may reconsider working for a place that openly espouses this as a weakness or not a long-term interest. There is a need for people who understand structure to implement it responsibly, but it should not be an exercise in futility. At various points in my own career, I have found campuses with more or less structure, more or less adherence to principles, and more or less of a clear mission that drives decisions on campus and, therefore, in my department. Instead, you may really thrive at an institution that affords you broad creativity, ample resources, and leadership challenging everyone to think outside of the box. For these campuses, a staff member’s push for structure may very well be the hindrance to success, as too much rigidity can maintain the status quo and limit the ability for the institution to develop and meet the needs of their student population. Many of my colleagues have voiced that there are some campuses where they know it would be very difficult for them to make any meaningful impact or for them to live their authentic selves. I will occasionally hear that a faith-based campus won’t allow for staff members who openly identify within the LGBTQIA community or from other faith traditions. This is incorrect. I have many peers at faith-based institutions that readily engage in their intersectional identities and welcome ecumenical approaches to student and staff development. Sometimes, we need to explore institutional culture that emboldens difference despite a core philosophy or set of principles. Stating that faith-based (or HBCU, HSIs, etc.) institutions only support one population negatively stereotypes and presumes all institutions operate the same way. It is not only false, but discourages qualified individuals from applying to positions based on identity alone. It is important to know the strengths and opportunities of a department. If you are missing key characteristics or skill sets within your staff, then it may be beneficial to seek out candidates who can augment and strengthen your existing group. In this instance, “fit” is less about having a specific identity and more about balancing and broadening the larger team dynamic to be more inclusive. It has the additional value of demonstrating to your students that Residence Life staff members are not all one and the same. I will often hear this when referring to introverts or those less excited about icebreakers and team builders. There are many of us who identify as introverts that can still turn it up for a training workshop, even if it does tire us out more than our extroverted peers. When recruiting and interviewing staff, it is important to disclose and describe how you live out your departmental mission and what skills you seek in a successful candidate. It provides context to candidates and thoughtfully engages them as they decide whether to apply and interview with you. I would challenge candidates to explore new opportunities, even if an institution may not fulfill your every wish and desire, largely because no job can satisfy anyone completely. At least, if it does, then we aren’t learning and growing to encounter some of the necessary challenges within our work. I hope that this article empowers further reflection with the concept of “fit” as you conclude this recruitment season and review your processes for future years. In a future article, I will explore the concept of partnership to connect ourselves to others within our departments, throughout campus, and the field. Until then, best wishes toward the summer months ahead as you prepare for another amazing academic year.

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Proud recipient of MACUHOʼs 2017Business Affiliate of the Year Award!

Sometimes You Need A Change: Transitioning Out Of Residence Life JOB SEARCH - ADVICE Jacqui Rogers She/Her/Hers Coordinator of Transfer and Articulation College of Southern Maryland jacquir16@gmail.com For some people, Residence Life is THE life. These people avoid burnout and feed off the energy that comes from the field. These individuals are able to shape their entire career within Residence Life. To those people, you have my greatest respect. However, for me, I knew Residence Life was not the life for me. Once upon a time, I enjoyed the experience and even gained valuable skills from it. I had always heard from people that you’ll know when it is your time to transition out of Residence Life. I never quite understood what they meant until the moment when I realized that I knew it was my time to transition to a different career path. For those of you who are ready to transition out of Residence Life, I wanted to offer a few tips to make this transition as smooth and successful as possible. Do an assessment of where you want your career to go. For me, I spent some serious time reflecting on what I wanted out of my career. I knew my passions were within equity issues and working with low-income, first-generation college students. My passion was helping students successfully navigate a system that was not designed for them. I also knew that I wanted a position that would allow me the opportunity to have an organic work-life balance. As you start thinking about what types of positions would interest you, consider these questions: - What are your passions? - Do you want a position where your hours may include nights and weekends, or do you want a 9 to 5 position? - Do you want a position that allows you to maintain a high level of contact with students on a daily basis, or do you want to transition to more of a “behind the scenes” position?

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For me, I knew that I was interested in working in a position such as TRiO or working at a community college. However, I realized that this would require me to gain some experience working in academic advising, career services, and with transfer students. I started to volunteer with a TRiO program at a local community college to gain new experiences outside the residence halls. I also started to look for ways to gain these experiences within the parameters of my current position. I decided to do research and initiate a project within my Resident Assistant staff to support career development within their positions. Consider the areas in which you want to grow. Get involved in professional associations such as MACUHO, NASPA, or ACPA so you can volunteer for opportunities that will allow you to grow while also expanding your network. See if there are departments on campus you can collaborate with in order to develop some of these skills. Ask your supervisor about being placed on institutional committees that are geared towards your area of growth.

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Prepare your budget. One downside to transitioning outside of Residence Life is having to move off campus. This can often be a jarring transition both for you and for your bank account. It is important to start saving early for this transition. If you do not do so already, budget out your consistent monthly expenses. From there, consider the new expenses you will have during your first month living off campus. To make the transition easier, put enough money in your savings to cover a deposit and your other expenses for that first month while you are waiting for your first paycheck to arrive.

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Residence Life has so many transferable skills as we always discuss with our Resident Assistants. Now you need to practice what you preach. Look at the skills you have in your current position and translate them to your desired career path. Don’t make the interviewers look for the connections; show them how your skill set will be an asset to them and to their position. There is no one strict career path that you must follow from day one within higher education. People often change careers and positions numerous times throughout their lives. By properly preparing for this transition, you can allow yourself to find new passions and skills while personally preparing for the transition ahead. MACUHO | 23

Eight Tips For Entry Level Professionals in Residence Life

supervisor of RAs, you can work together to create a community that allows all students to feel included. Building a community starts by setting the tone with your student staff early because you want student staff to buy into the importance of creating a welcoming environment. Resident interactions and hall programs are effective in establishing a community where all students thrive.

JOB SEARCH - ADVICE

5. Professional Development

David Shanks He/Him/His Area Coordinator Hood College Graduate Level Engagement Coordinator shanks@hood.edu You have finally secured your dream job. The long hours spent completing your course work has come to an end. Your thesis or capstone project has been turned in, or maybe you completed a portfolio or some comprehensive exams. The work doesn’t stop there. If you are anything like me and many others in the field, you had to find time to update your resume and apply to jobs. You had phone interviews, Skype interviews, and on-campus interviews. After all this is completed, the next step of your journey begins. You pack up and move to start your live-in position as an entry-level residence life professional. Now what? It’s time to apply everything that you learned during graduate school. You jump into work, and by the time you learn everyone’s names in your department, RA training is right around the corner. As an entry-level professional myself, I have so much to learn. This article is intended to help those who are in entry-level positions in Residence Life. I will begin by sharing how I gathered all of this meaningful advice. I started the gathering process by creating an Office 365 form with just two questions. The first question was “What competencies should an entry-level residence life professional work on in their first two years?” The second question was “Do you have any practical examples of things that you did to develop during your first two years as an entry level professional?” I sent this short survey to personal contacts, colleagues, Higher Education GroupMe chats, and email lists. After I collected the responses, I wrote this article to share the feedback that I received. These eight tips from seasoned professionals should help create a roadmap during those critical early years in an entry-level position. 1. Time Management We all want to be perfect at our jobs. At some point early on in your career, you will realize that our work is never complete. As much as you may want to stay caught up, your to-do list can grow legs and take your day or week in an entirely new direction. Manage your time wisely. Be able to identify what is urgent and what can be put on hold to finish at the end of the day or later in the week. Put things on a calendar, use a planner, and make a daily to-do list as you adjust your priorities.

Figure out your areas of interest. Attend regional and national conferences. Take advantage of webinars and online trainings. Capitalize on any free training that is available to you. Taking the opportunity to present on campus and at conferences will also help you develop in the profession. Take the time to read books and articles on various topics; there are so many contributions to our field, so it’s common that you could find information to support your development. Find a mentor and ask questions. It is also equally important to get out of the office and get to know your campus partners through coffee and meal dates. If you have the option to join campus committees, you should. Attend campus programs and staff-organized activities. Shadow offices that you are interested in, but who you may not interact with often. 6. Supervision Learning your supervisory style is critical because you will be working with student staff and maybe even graduate level staff. Everyone has different needs. Therefore it is crucial to be a flexible supervisor and understand that what works for one person may not work for the next. Everyone has methods that could be useful, so don’t get stuck just doing things your way. Observe the feedback from your staff and direct supervisor and try to adjust where possible. This will allow you to grow professionally and support your team in the process. 7. Crisis Management When working in Residence Life, a crisis could occur on any given night or day. Most live-in job descriptions list crisis management as a primary responsibility of the role. These crisis situations come in many different forms. They range from student injuries or mental health matters to building and facilities issues like power outages and broken pipes. Learning the communication protocol and available resources should help you manage the level of stress that you face when handling a crisis. 8. Work-Life Balance To be able to sustain long-term success, you must find some work-life balance. We all want to continue to have great relationships with family members and friends. Sometimes being able to work on a hobby or catching up on a book is important. Working in residence life demands a lot of personal interaction and administrative responsibilities. The hours can vary daily. Depending on what point in the year you are in, the time commitment required to complete projects may change. Always make time for self-care through meditation, exercise, or whatever else you enjoy, so that you are still living your best life. If you can implement any of these eight suggestions, you are helping to set yourself up for long-term success in the field. Keeping a journal to document your journey can also be useful. This way you can see where you are, how far you have come, and in what direction you are heading.

2. Learn the Campus Culture Each institution has a unique culture of its own that you will have to learn. The experiences you had in undergraduate or graduate school likely won’t be the same at your professional institution. The students, administration, staff, and faculty will be different, as will the resources and facilities for students. Therefore you should take a step back and observe what is going on. Then determine where you fit within the grand scheme and how you can make an impact. 3. Diversity If you haven’t noticed, diversity is highly valued in Higher Education. It is essential to embrace and demonstrate your appreciation of the differences that everyone brings to the campus. Get familiar with the diversity initiatives on your campus. Stop by the diversity office if you have one. Get to know who makes up the campus and how so many people from different walks of life ended up at the same place. 4. Community Development As a live-in professional, you will likely be responsible for overseeing one or more residence halls. Each hall or floor might be separated by class level or themed to serve a specific community of students. As a

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My TPE Experience JOB SEARCH - REFLECTION Picture This: You’re waiting in a cold warehouse-shaped convention center, waiting for your interview with other people interviewing for the same job. Now also picture this: in the same waiting room that you’re in, the other candidates are cheering you on hoping that you get the same job. What an experience. This March, I had the opportunity to go to The Placement Exchange (TPE). I had a great time overall, and would recommend it to anyone who is job searching in Student Affairs. Before registering for TPE, I kind of knew what I was getting into. During my senior year of undergrad at Morgan State University, I had the opportunity to attend the Mid-Atlantic Placement Conference (MAPC), so I had some expectations about how TPE was going to be operated. From past coworkers, I was told that TPE was MAPC times ten. I didn’t really believe them, but I should have. The last day of early registration, I contemplated if I should attend TPE or not, only because I did not know what I wanted to do once I graduated with my master’s degree from Salisbury Winston Branch University. After talking with my parents, I soon realized that He/Him/His attending TPE was the best option for me at that moment. Resident Director Another plus of attending TPE is that I would be in Los Angeles Salisbury University with my cousin who I had not seen in years. Overall, it was a wbranch1@gulls.salisbury.edu win-win situation. After registering, there was an option for attending a boot camp the day before TPE began and I decided to register to get more hands-on experience so I could be well prepared for my two days of interviews. I believe the TPE Boot Camp helped me out tremendously. I met a number of individuals from different institutions around the US who were in the same boat as myself; job searching for a full-time job for the first time. It was great to network with individuals who had the same mindset as me and loved their job in Student Affairs. We learned about our personal brand, researching jobs, and had mock interviews with employers. I believe all topics were important, but my favorite session was the mock interviews. Because of those interviews, I believe I was well prepared for the actual interview day. I would recommend attending the boot camp to any candidate who is registering for TPE next year. Two of my other coworkers decided to attend TPE too, so I felt much better about going to LA. Although we did not travel together, we still met up on interview day. We went into the candidate work room and instantly felt comfortable. We were welcomed by other candidates singing R&B hits and preparing for their interviews. After preparing for my first interview, I decided to check my candidate mailbox and saw that I had some packets from institutions in my mailbox waiting for me. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see that other institutions were interested in me. While waiting for my interviews in the waiting room, I was nervous, but those nerves soon changed once other candidates started wishing me luck and acted extremely happy for me. The positive energy that they were giving me made me feel confident in my interviews and made me believe that I could conquer the world! Like I stated before, because of the boot camp and mock interviews, I was well prepared for my actual interviews. I even got a couple second round interviews that I was really excited about. Overall, I had a great TPE experience and would recommend it to anyone interested in a full-time job in Student Affairs. I don’t know any other place where you can interview with over 600 institutions in one location. To me, I got my money’s worth and am happy with the results that came from my time at TPE.

We’re All In This Together: Being Supported in The Job Search JOB SEARCH - REFLECTION I never planned on going to The Placement Exchange. The past year people had asked me multiple times if I was going, and the answer was always “No way”. I didn’t think I would like the hectic environment that I was imagining TPE to be, but I also knew that realistically, I wouldn’t be able to afford the trip. So I carried out my plan of looking at the schools that I was interested in online and started applying to them. I don’t think I realized until I started my job search how much emphasis was placed on candidates who interviewed at TPE. I was applying to jobs, and a lot of the emails I got back after I sent in my materials said that they were focusing on TPE, and after they returned from LA, they would get back to me about whether they would still want to offer me an interview. I was crushed! I knew I would never be able to afford to pay for a flight and a hotel by myself. Emily Maggio She/Her/Hers Resident Director Salisbury University emilymaggio410@gmail.com

Still, I pressed on and continued applying to jobs in the hopes that someone would want me. A couple of weeks later, I was on the phone with my dad and I mentioned what TPE was to him. I honestly was not even thinking that he would offer to pay for me to go. I was just telling him about what it was and about all of my peers who were going. But when I told him about the emails,

without missing a beat, he said “Well, why don’t I pay for you to go? This is about your future and if you think you could get a job out of this, that is worth it to me”. After some back and forth with my parents over the next couple of days, and a friend telling me he would be mad at me if I didn’t take my parents up on the offer, my trip was booked. If I didn’t have my incredible parents, I would be paying off the trip to LA for months. I realize that I have this privilege of parents who are not only willing to, but are also able to pay for me to fly to LA and then get a hotel room downtown. I realize that this is not something that everyone has, and for that I am forever grateful to my amazing parents. Because I was given this new opportunity to go to TPE, I threw myself into preparing for the trip. I was not going to waste this opportunity. I set up interviews, bought a new blazer and a padfolio, and did all the research I could do in order to prepare. I sat down with supervisors who had been through the process before and got tips from them so I could be more prepared for what to expect. I made a friend sit through a fashion show of interview outfits, even though that was probably the last thing he wanted to do. Luckily, I have an amazing support system who helped me in more ways than I could ever ask for. Finally, I was ready to go. Before I left, I was told about the support that you receive from everyone at TPE. I just didn’t expect the amount of support I would actually receive, and from people I had never met! I don’t think that I passed a single person in the convention center who didn’t smile at me in encouragement the entire time I was there. I have never made as many fast friends as I did in the Candidate Work Room. Every time someone would leave the table to go to the waiting area downstairs before an interview, you would receive a “Good luck!” or a “You’re gonna do great!” before you left. It was a wonderful feeling to be in a room with so many young professionals who were all supporting and genuinely excited for each other to do well. It didn’t matter that someone might have been interviewing for the same school as you. The reality is that not every job you interview for is going to end in a job offer. There are going to be other candidates who fit better for that job and that school. The important thing is that we are in a field that has prepared us all to be the most supportive people we could be, no matter the situation. Now, just like many of my other candidate friends, I am in that terrible waiting game. For the past few weeks, every time my phone rings, I jump, hoping to see a new area code and not just the obvious spam calls from my hometown that I get 50 times a day. I’m sure I am not the only one who is starting to feel a little defeated about not getting on-campus invites yet. It can be hard to see peers getting on-campus interviews and jobs already, when you may not have even gotten a call yet. I have found that I have to manage the balance of trying not to stress about things I have no control over, while also staying positive for the people around me who rely on me. I still have a job to do, even though behind closed doors I often find myself terrified that I am never going to get a call from a school. I still have to be a support system for my RAs and my residents. I still have to do my committee work and prepare for the craziness of the school year ending. I still have to go to class and complete my last homework assignments. We all know that April and May are some of the craziest times on a college campus, yet it is our responsibility to continue doing our job the best we can, even when it is hard. The job search is not the only thing we as candidates worry about! We still have jobs, and school, and personal lives. Relationships end, students need us 24/7, homework builds up. It is hard to manage everything. But we do it, because we are strong, and we know that this crazy difficult time will pass. And even though it may not seem like it now, we will all get a job in the end. It may take time, and we may need to start over again and apply for more positions, but we will do it because we are resilient new professionals who knows the hard work will pay off.

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Why Firing Me Was The Best Thing For Me JOB SEARCH - REFLECTIONS Tim Moran He/Him/His Director of Housing and Residence Life Seton Hall University Housing & Facilities Operations Committee Co-Chair timothy.moran@shu.edu In 2014, I found myself approaching four years in my first Director of Residence Life position at a very small institution in Illinois. As happens with too many small liberal arts institutions, the college was in turmoil; there were never enough students or resources and certainly no raises during my tenure. When I took the job, my wife and I lived on campus and were provided a meal plan, which helped compensate for the less than competitive salary. After our third year on campus, we were expecting our first child, so it was time to move off. My meal plan was rescinded, and I was not provided any additional compensation. As difficult as the additional financial burden was, we understood that it was our decision to leave campus.

procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as assemble a really terrific team. Things were going great, but I started to feel that there was something more. I had worked hard over the previous three years to get the staff where I wanted it and felt that the office was heading in the right direction, but I could not shake the feeling that I was being called elsewhere. It is difficult to explain, but I knew that there was something else that would provide a better opportunity than the one I was in. With my VP only slightly ahead of me in age, and no plans to leave, I knew that my growth opportunities were limited if I stayed where I was. With my wife secure in her job, and my now three-year-old settled in a great school with plenty of friends, starting another job search wasn’t an easy decision. I just felt that there was something bigger planned for me. With my strong faith in God, I trusted that He would lead me where I needed to go, just as he had led me before. I was strategic in my search, only applying to a handful of schools that met my criteria. I knew I wanted a larger campus population, a more notable name and the ability to live off campus. After not too long, I was offered the position at my current institution, where I’ve been blessed to be a part of the family for two years now. This position has afforded me the opportunity to build another wonderful staff and to continue to grow as a professional and as a supervisor. It hasn’t been easy by any means, but I’ve seen each challenge as a learning opportunity. While I still keep in contact with some people from the Illinois school, I can see now that I never would have experienced the development that I’ve been blessed to be presented with if I’d not been fired from that job. As a Christian I believe that worry ends where faith begins and that “in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him”. We must do the legwork, but there is a plan for us. If I had not been fired, I would not be where I am today. So often we only see the negative, letting it control us and get us down. But when we have faith and lean into the opportunity that comes from each situation, one day we can look back and realize that the heartache and struggle was all part of our journey to becoming who we’re meant to be.

In August of that year, we welcomed our baby girl into the world, right in the middle of RA training. My wife went into labor on a Thursday night, so I spent Friday by her side, while multitasking on the phone with my staff, Googling how to hold a baby and helping my wife breathe. With our little girl arriving at 1 a.m. on Saturday, I returned to the office on Monday to my Dean documenting me for supposedly failing to allocate enough time for RCRs. Given that I had spent three years as an RA, two years as an RD, one year as an RLC, and three years as a director, it seemed a bit of a stretch that I would not have allocated enough time for RCRs. Therefore, I started to wonder if this was a sign of things to come.

Four Daily Principles to Unlock Student Success FOR OUR STUDENTS

With most of our family 1,000 miles away on the East coast, I began exploring openings back east in the spring. Believing that I owed my supervisor (VP and Dean of Students) the courtesy of letting her know I was considering a move, I chose to let her know about my scheduled interviews. I specifically scheduled the interviews after RA selection, and before housing selection. To ensure that I would never miss more than one day of work, I would fly out late the night before the interview, and fly back late the night of the interview. It was brutal, but I was committed to minimizing the impact on my department.

Matthew Brown He/Him/His Residence Life Coordinator Rutgers University – New Brunswick Mdbrown2923@gmail.com

One day during an individual meeting with my supervisor, we were discussing the upcoming fall and I updated her on my job search, indicating that I had decided to discontinue the search, not wanting to leave in the middle of summer, putting staff training in jeopardy. As soon as we finished discussing the fall, my supervisor informed me that she was not going to renew my contract when it was up for renewal in June, and that she was going in a different direction. I was shocked and disappointed, to say the least. I had worked for her for four years with positive performance reviews, had been open and honest with her, and, in return, I was left with no job, nothing lined up and a wife and an infant to support. Shortly thereafter, I began to let people know that I would not be returning, but it was difficult when I had no answer when they asked where I was going. So I intensified my search by expanding the areas that I would be open to. I was mostly concentrating on NJ, NY and PA, so I expanded to as far south as South Carolina and as far north as Maine. After some time, I received a call from a school in Central PA, right where I wanted to be. A phone interview led to an on-campus interview, and everything was falling into place. During the dinner portion of my on-campus interview, the VP asked me if I was still at my school in the Midwest. I told her that I was still receiving paychecks from them, which was true as I was still expecting one last paycheck from the college.

We all entered the field as student affairs professionals with the understanding that at the core of our work, students are our top priority. We commit ourselves to be a part of their educational journeys, to provide guidance and light when they feel lost and hopeless, and to celebrate their accomplishments. As professionals, we often do not get to choose which students we will work alongside, but regardless, we become a part of their stories, and we support them unconditionally. When every fall draws near, new and returning students flood college campuses looking to begin or build upon their college careers, all with the potential to learn, persist, and unlock their student success. As educators, I believe we need to apply four daily principles when working with college students. Regardless of each individual’s walk of life, these daily principles can aid students in achieving their goals. 1. Individualization

After dinner, we headed two and a half hours hours east to visit my wife’s family. By the time we arrived at her grandparents’ house, the VP called me to ask if she could check references. There was only one problem - my current supervisor was not on that list. She asked me about it, so I came clean, letting her know that my contract had not be renewed. To my surprise and relief, she was empathetic, and even shared a similar experience.

Most student affairs professionals agree that when a student matriculates into a university environment, they go on a journey that encompasses self-exploration, discovery, and enrichment. With almost certainty, their stories will include various challenges, those which they will triumph over, and those of which they may fail. Individualization is the concept of treating each student as their own person, using an array of strategies and techniques to support the holistic student. Incorporating individualization into our daily interactions can empower students to achieve the next level of success.

This new position and my new supervisor turned me around professionally. I had a larger staff, a larger on-campus population and was even invited to present at cabinet and board of trustee meetings. My supervisor became not only my boss, but also my mentor; I knew I could go to her with any question. The difference between the two VPs was night and day. Little by little, she helped me build back my confidence through guidance and support of my ideas. In three years, I was able to implement various new processes and

Take, for example, when students receive the news of obtaining their "dream internship." Most of us are proud of and excited for our students’ achievements. However, in moments of success, we often neglect the opportunity to encourage self-reflection and learning regarding how they achieved this success. Opportunities to foster our students’ individualistic and holistic development are tangible during all chapters of their collegiate careers.

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3. Vulnerability During celebratory moments, asking questions such as, "Can you tell me about the experience from start to finish?" will guide students through reflection and provide insight into how they perceive their strengths. From there, we can individually craft questions circling back to the concept of unlocking their fullest potential, refining what the next chapter may look like and what learning can occur from this experience. This can empower them to grab ahold of their dreams and make them a reality. While it would be ideal, every challenge a student faces will not end in success. During these hardships and moments of vulnerability, practitioners can utilize the concept of individualization to guide students back to defining success, persisting, and learning from their shortcomings. Whether students are facing hardships, challenges or breakdowns, practitioners are uniquely positioned to transform negative experiences into moments of learning and personal growth. The opportunity to provide hope, empowerment, and education should not be wasted. In these moments, individualization is key to enhancing the student’s learning and reflection. We as practitioners can assist students in the process of experiential learning – that is, learning from hardships while maintaining resilience and growth. Incorporating a few questions will reassure the students that you are present and invested in them. Some of these questions may include, "How can I best support you?", "What’s next? How can I help get you there?", "What do you need from me?", or even "What excited you about this particular opportunity and how can we continue to look for similar experiences?" We have the opportunity to be with our students when they are at their lowest points. Whether students are navigating new identities, hardships or transitions, the field of student affairs possesses professionals who are dedicated, invested, and willing to aid students through challenging times. Using the concept of individualization in conjunction with empathy and understanding will lead to students feeling supported and empowered. This concept of individualization is not a new ideology. Understanding how best to support and challenge our students takes time. Incorporating individualization means knowing their experiences are similar, but not comparable to the experiences of others. If we incorporate a higher level of individualization into our interactions with students, it will lead to greater student self-exploration and resilience. Regarding individualization and best practices, remember that the art of reflection takes time and training. Always remember to start simple. Some students will need more guidance from mentors, supervisors, and peers, while others will be more self-sufficient. Lastly, customizing reflective questions and prompts for our students is beneficial. Invest in their stories, reflect on specific experiences, and foster an emotional connection through empathic listening and vulnerability. 2. Empathic Listening It is so easy to become distracted with upcoming meetings and an ever-growing email inbox. Unfortunately, these distractions are present when we are meeting with students as well. Taking the time to engage completely with students during these interactions is essential in fostering their success, demonstrating support and, most importantly, affirming your investment in their success. In these moments, using the skill of empathic listening will serve as the perfect key to unlock a student’s fullest potential. This technique can cultivate mutual understanding and trust between you and your students, staff, and colleagues in all daily interactions. First, be sure to provide your undivided attention. We are all guilty of occasionally multi-tasking, balancing a full day of meetings, administrative work, and replying to those endless amounts of emails. However, taking the time to be present and listen to our students when they are navigating challenges or celebrating their success will show your support and encouragement. Ask questions questions such as, "What’s your next goal?", "How are you going to celebrate?" and "What are you going to do for yourself?" Second, when someone is actively listening, they should remain quiet and non-judgmental. Normalizing our students’ hardships is essential for them to feel understood as you help them re-establish goals. In these moments, students are brave and vulnerable, sharing their difficulties with someone whom they admire. Just listening and supporting them might be all they require. As professionals, we are trained to be problemsolvers. However, listening to understand and not to respond is fundamental when practicing empathic listening. An immediate reply or solution is not always indicated. An affirming non-judgmental approach allows students to express a multitude of other emotions while processing their experiences.

As students are navigating their new identities, academic challenges, and demands of a college campus, they are unfortunately pressured to move on to the next task without proper closure or self-reflection. This hinders our students’ overall success. As mentioned earlier, we are physically present with our students in some of the most challenging moments they experience. In these times, we can build connections with our students through vulnerability. When utilizing this powerful tool, we can unlock our students' success and fullest potential leading to a greater sense of confidence and fulfillment. Take for example, when a student passes a final exam that they thought for sure they’d fail. We can use vulnerable phrases to connect with our students. These phrases may include, "I always love when that happens," or "I’ve been there too." These phrases drive connection with our students. Being vulnerable with students encourages self-reflection. By continuing the conversation and sharing your story of when you experienced a similar challenge can turn an experience into a teachable moment on study habits, exam preparation techniques, and academic success. On the opposite end of the spectrum, when students are at their lowest points and experiencing hardships, using statements such as, "I know how hard it can be when something like this occurs" can satisfy the same connection with our students. Normalizing, sharing, and teaching from our own experiences reassures students’ sense of self-worth and drives persistence. Let your students hear your stories. Role model to them how grit and persistence, along with many other positive attributes, are characteristics that will lead to their success. Allowing our students to learn from our triumphs and failures will provide them with an assurance that wherever their collegiate careers take them, there will always be individuals to provide resources and support. Sharing your regrets and failures can help build connections, leading to a greater sense of understanding, and encourage openness for selfreflection. Through vulnerability, we can demonstrate connectedness to our students, guiding them through their self-exploration. 4. Investment and Commitment Fulfilling the role as a student affairs educator can be rewarding, but simultaneously exhausting. It is essential for us to be invested and committed to the growth and enrichment of our students through all of our interactions. From welcoming them on their first days to celebrating their graduations, our work does not typically end at 5:00pm. When unpacking this concept of investment and commitment, prioritizing our students’ success is at the core of our work. Showing up completely for our students is not an easy task. Student affairs professionals will not always achieve this level of commitment. Responding to questions such as"Who am I?", "Am I worthy?", or "Are my dreams even realistic?" is not easy to navigate. Relying on the connection that we have built with our students demonstrates our investment and commitment to their educational journeys. It provides students with a sense of belonging, which historically correlates with higher graduation rates. The foundation we build with our students is established with connectedness, relatability, authenticity, and trust. It is through our daily interactions that we deepen our student relationships by treating them as individuals, genuinely listening to understand while sharing our own stories. However, to truly make an impact, we need to first commit to the needs of our students. Only then can we utilize these principles and invest in their future. In turn, this will provide students with the empowerment to be successful in all aspects of life - academically, personally, and professionally. The role we play as student affairs practitioners gives us the invaluable opportunity to aid students in their collegiate journeys, to help them achieve their aspirations, and to facilitate their growth. By incorporating these four principles into our daily interactions with students, we have the incredible ability and influence to let our students’ stories come alive - empowering them to discover who they are and unlocking their fullest potential.

Lastly, reassure students that you are listening and understanding them by asking clarifying questions and prompts. These type of questions and statements may include, "I am hearing that you are frustrated that…", or "I understanding you are feeling hopeless because…” Summarizing what is being shared is fundamental for empathic listening. As a professional, by utilizing empathy and active listening, we can form bonds with students that demonstrate trust, commitment, support, and understanding. Students regain a sense of belonging and empowerment through empathic listening when used intentionally and authentically.

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Advising The Residence Hall Associastion at West Virginia University FOR OUR STUDENTS Johnny Kocher He/Him/His Residence Life Specialist West Virginia University Vice President/President Elect Johnny.Kocher@mail.wvu.edu One of the most time-consuming and frustrating tasks for a student affairs professional is serving as advisor of a student leadership organization such as a Residence Hall Association (RHA). This is often an assignment that is often delegated to a new entry-level professional or a graduate staff member. However, serving as a student leadership advisor is also one of the most rewarding experiences you can ever have in the student affairs field. At West Virginia University (WVU), our RHA recently finished another incredible year of programming, philanthropy, and advocacy. As I conclude my four years of involvement in the organization as its staff advisor, I wanted to share some of the often-requested information about the operation of the RHA at West Virginia University in hopes that a brief outline of our model can help guide other advisors in the MACUHO region with the management of their student leadership organizations for the upcoming year. WVUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residence hall community is comprised of 12 residence halls with a oneyear live-on requirement for all incoming first-year students. The RHA executive board is responsible for the planning and day-to-day operation of the association. The executive board includes one to two professional staff advisors, as well as a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and a national communications coordinator (NCC). For those not familiar with this acronym, the NCC is the student responsible for the communication and affiliation between the institution and the regional and national associations. The regional and national associations include our wonderful friends in the Central Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (CAACURH) and the national organization for the separate regions, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH). I have always found a great deal of value in explaining both the regional and national associations to my RHA executive board each year to make them aware that they are part of something bigger than their small group of students on campus. The regional and national associations are also a good starting point for any RHA advisor. The CAACURH and NACURH websites provide an incredible wealth of information for both new and experienced student organization advisors. The following link on the CAACURH website is a great source for Advisor Resources: https://www.caacurh.nacurh.org/rha-resources. Attracting students to our leadership positions in RHA has always been a challenge. Resident Assistant (RA) and Student Government Association positions tend to be more attractive leadership positions for students for various reasons. Our RHA president receives a room and board waiver as compensation, must live in a residence hall, and may not serve as an RA. The other executive positions (secretary, VP, NCC, treasurer) receive a $500 credit to their housing accounts and may serve as RAs. I have had an annual debate about RAs holding RHA executive board positions and have remained solidly of the opinion that our situation at WVU requires that some positions be open to RAs as well as traditional residents. We have recently started to market the leadership development opportunities for conference travel as part of the advertised compensation for our RHA positions, as we have been able to support our RHA officers to travel to conferences at no cost. This typically consists of one national NACURH conference and the CAACURH Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) each year. The desire to travel to other schools, meet new people, and network has proven to be a great advertising tool for students to run for election for our RHA executive officer positions. 32 | MACUHO

In addition to the leadership positions within the RHA executive board, we also have a community council that consists of first-year student leaders from each of our 12 residence halls. Hall Coordinators will typically advertise an open meeting at the beginning of the school year to invite students throughout the hall to gather and discuss ways they can advocate for their residence hall communities and plan events to benefit the hall population throughout the semester. Joining this community council is advertised as the first step for new students interested in resume development, leadership training, preparing for an RA application, and making friends in the hall. By advertising in this way, we are typically able to recruit 10 to 30 students per community council. These councils elect officers and are requested to send a president and two representatives to bi-weekly RHA meetings to represent and advocate for their hall. The Hall Coordinator of each Residence Hall is the advisor for each community council, and the community council meetings occur at a frequency determined by the Hall Coordinator to meet the needs of their own community. Our leadership activities as an RHA start with a leadership retreat one to two weeks after the election of community council officers at the beginning of the fall semester. This retreat is for all elected community council officers and the RHA executive board. At this meeting, we try to hype up the students by stressing that they are now part of something special and that they can make a positive impact in their hall. We spend a lot of time focusing on the importance of programming and the amount of programming money each hall is allotted for the year. Our contract with On Campus Marketing (OCM) allows us to give each hall a budget of a few hundred dollars they can use for the year on whatever they choose. If a community council needs more funds than they have in their hall budget for a larger event, we allow them to write a program proposal that is then presented at a general RHA meeting and voted on by all the representatives from all the halls on campus. I have found that providing a budget to each community council allows the residents to gain confidence in themselves as leaders by planning small events with the direction of a Hall Coordinator advisor. After a few successful small events, this motivates them to request larger sums of money later in the year. We market the program proposal writing and subsequent presentation to the RHA assembly as one of the highest levels of professional development that first-year students can get in the residence halls. This process allows them to plan the logistics of an event, present in front of a body of their peers, and defend their proposal. Aside from marketing the RHA Community Council positions and involvement as the first step to becoming an RA, we also focus heavily on philanthropy and try to impress upon the students that being involved allows them to make a difference on campus and in the lives of other students. We try to have a guest speaker from a different department on campus at each meeting to talk about campus issues such as inclusivity, mental health, blood drives, food insecurity, and other topics. The RHA Executive Board will typically also choose several passion projects throughout the year to do as RHA officer programs, and they invite students from the community councils to join the planning groups for these larger philanthropic events. This has traditionally sparked the interest of the freshmen community council officers to do events of their own after they see and learn from the events being hosted by the RHA officers. Our RHA at WVU currently relies on a partnership with OCM for 100% of its funding. The funding we obtain from our linens and care package fundraisers is what makes our program proposal process, conference travel, and hall budgets possible. Throughout the year, we constantly stress to the students the fact that 100% of our budget comes from linens and care package purchases by the students and parents of the current freshmen class. Therefore, it is their responsibility to make certain that these funds get used in the best possible way for the advancement of the current freshman class at WVU. This has been a great motivator for our freshmen students and the responsibility they feel to use funds has resulted in an explosion of program proposals and funds going back into the residence halls for the past four years. The graphs below show this increase in both number of programs and funding being used by our RHA and community council leaders after I started to change the motivation of the Residence Hall Association to one of responsibility to the current termâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students (the black line indicates the shift in communication strategy). My time as an RHA advisor at WVU has truly been a wild ride. The late nights, long days, extra travel, frustrations, headaches, and tears have all been worth it when I am able to reflect on the incredible student leaders I have met along the way. The professional development that I have obtained through my involvement in CAACURH, NACURH, and with OCM as a part of the RHA advisor community has been invaluable to me as a professional and has led me to many incredible experiences and friendships. It truly is a privilege to have served so long as an RHA advisor, and I would encourage everyone out there who has not yet had the privilege to be a student organization advisor to strongly consider this incredible opportunity. RHA has been my passion project for four years, and if any part of this article as sparked a question or a desire for more information, please let me know. I am always happy to talk student leadership organizations and can be reached at Johnny.Kocher@mail.wvu.edu.

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Short-Term Study Tours Make Study Abroad Accessible FOR OUR STUDENTS

Another IUP SAHE graduate, Amanda (Loeffler) Farkus ’17, traveled to New Zealand for a summer study abroad trip with Bowling Green during May 2016. Much like other graduate students, Farkus said the financial considerations were a huge factor. “I paid extra money for (the trip), but I thought it was worth it,” she explained. “It was an experience I’ll never forget.”

When she was an undergraduate student at Susquehanna University, Maeve Kirby ‘14, studied abroad twice – once to Northern Ireland and then to Nicaragua. “I am definitely a person who has FOMO – fear of missing out,” Maeve said. “And so I wanted to definitely study abroad.” She explained that both of her study abroad experiences were during the summer months. “I didn’t think I could part with the University for a whole semester. My trips were over the summer. I appreciated the flexibility. I didn’t have to miss out on campus life, and that was a factor for me.” Kirby, who now works as a Residential Case Manager at Western Carolina University, earned a master’s degree in 2017 from the Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). While some students in the IUP SAHE program do participate in study tours, Kirby said her summer

Farkus, who currently works as a Student Services Specialist at Penn Highlands Community College in western Pennsylvania, said her assistantship at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg paid for her summer credits. However, she had to pay for her flight and other travel expenses. The air fare, she said, was the most expensive part. But, like the other students also explained, Farkus noted that a trip such as hers would have been “significantly more expensive” if she were to try to do it on her own. She said she took out some extra loan money to help afford the trip. As an added bonus, Farkus earned three elective credits after completing the trip and its requirements. On top of learning a lot and visiting a number of Universities in New Zealand, Farkus also went on a few excursions that she loves to talk about. “I got to swim in the ocean with dolphins, which is something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. Farkus explained that she had to learn how to snorkel in preparation for this experience. It was indeed a trip of many firsts for her. Not only did Farkus bungee jump while on her trip, but her flight overseas was also a first.

commitments for her graduate assistantship didn’t allow for her to do so while in grad school.

“I had never been on a plane or out of the country,” she said. “The idea of being able to study abroad and explore another part of the world was intriguing to me.”

Kirby is among the growing number of college students in the United States who are studying abroad. Most of this growth is attributed to the increasing popularity of short-term abroad experiences, according to the Institute

While the initial intrigue and excitement exists for most students who go abroad, Mueller explained that going abroad can be a stressful experience for most people. “When you (study abroad) for the first time, you start learning about yourself. You learn how to manage your emotions a little better…and you learn how to respond to stressful situations.”

of International Education’s (IIE) latest Open Doors report. Although these numbers do not show the same growth at the graduate student level, many Student Affairs master’s and doctoral students have started to opt-in to study tour opportunities as they become more accessible.

“You learn how to be better travelers and better citizens. You also learn a lot about the United States in part because you see how another country does something, and also how they view us in the U.S.”

Brian Root He/Him/His Assistant Director of Housing & Residence Life University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg b.k.root@pitt.edu

IUP Associate Professor Dr. John Mueller has joined several abroad study tours in recent years, and he often encourages his students to do the same. Although IUP does not offer its own Higher Education study tour program, students in the program will often partake in study tours offered by Miami University, Bowling Green, or Kent State – all in nearby Ohio. “These study tours get some people out of the country for the first time in their lives,” Mueller said. “While a semester away might seem daunting, a tour away for two or three weeks seems more realistic.” Mueller – who has gone on trips to Europe, China and South Africa as a participant – said he typically sets up a meeting during the fall semester to talk to his first-year graduate students about study abroad opportunities. These study tours are designed to help future Student Affairs practitioners gain an awareness of and appreciation for the differences between higher education and student affairs in other countries. This is often accomplished through reflection activities, tours of other universities, and interactions with other professionals while abroad. On the other side of Pennsylvania at Bloomsburg University (BU), Assistant Professor Dr. Mindy Andino led BU’s first graduate-level study tour trip to Ireland in May 2018. In fact, at the time of this article, Andino was preparing to lead a group of 18 students on BU’s second graduate-level study abroad trip to Ireland. They left for Ireland on May 13. A few of Andino’s students blogged about their experiences last year during the trip, detailing all of the things they were learning and experiencing while in Ireland. Graduate students like Nina LaCombe, who earned her SAHE master’s degree earlier this month from IUP, rave about their trips abroad. LaCombe was the only student from her cohort to take a study tour last summer. She joined the Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Bowling Green for their abroad trip to the United Kingdom. According to LaCombe, she walked 111 miles over a 17-day time period, while visiting ten cities and nine Universities. She called the experience “exhausting and overwhelming”, but very rewarding. “I’m so happy I did it… I absolutely loved it. It was one of my favorite experiences of grad school,” she said. “I feel like I grew a lot, and I didn’t even realize it at the time.” One of the notable differences between student affairs in the United States versus the United Kingdom, she said, were the lack of residence halls and community building through residential programming. “In the U.K., most students live off campus and even if they do live on campus, most universities do not have residence life departments to plan programs. Therefore, their relationship with the university is very different.”

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Amanda Farkus Dolphin Excursion

Maeve Kirby Northern Ireland

Nina LaCombe UK Study Abroad

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Language Matters FOR OUR STUDENTS According to the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, “there was an average of one paid mental health professional to every 1,833 students [in 2014].” As a direct result of this, residence life professionals and student staff members serve as the immediate response group for students living with mental illness on college campuses. Therefore, mental health response training plays a significant role in most residence life training sessions.

Joshua Snyder He/Him/His Community Director Rider University jsnyder@rider.edu

We bring therapy animals to campus for students; we train our student leaders to promote mental health awareness programs; and we spend considerable time supporting students living with mental illness. All of these programs are necessary because they help educate the campus community on the topic of mental illness and assist with removing the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Of course, more needs to be done, and one area of concern is the use of language used in everyday experiences. Language that goes unnoticed, for individuals not living with bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia or a host of other mental health illnesses.

The importance of residence life professionals to serve as first responders and support systems for students is compounded by the fact that “many college students display mental health symptomatology for the first time at college… [and] residence life professionals may be the first staff member to whom a student articulates an issue or concern, a tragic life event or mental health issue.” Students find themselves in a new environment and may have trouble adapting to the expectations that are now placed on them by their peers, staff, professors and family members. As such, residence life members are likely to recognize a change in a student’s behavior or temperament as the academic year progresses and provide mental health resources that the student can take advantage of. This information can be critical when faced with the reality that “38% of college students [now report] feeling depressed indicated by difficulty functioning at some time over the past year.” The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that 1 in 5 adults, roughly 44 million Americans, experience mental illness in a given year, and of those individuals living with mental illness, nearly 60% of them do not receive treatment. This lack of treatment stems greatly from the social stigma surrounding mental illness and the individuals living with it. Stigmas about mental illnesses are not limited to uninformed members of society, because even professionals in the industry subscribe to stereotypes and prejudices about patients with mental illness. These stereotypes can lead to negative feelings and fear towards those living with mental illness, which will inevitably lead to discrimination and avoidance. Inwardly, the individual will begin to form a type of self-stigma; they will agree with their negative feelings about themselves, view themselves as incompetent, and fail to pursue treatment, work, housing, and/or happiness. Like many stereotypes, stigma against mental illness starts from an exchange amongst peers or a joke directed towards a colleague. It’s not unheard of for a college student, upon entering a residence space that is clean and tidy, to refer to the resident as being “OCD,” or for a young couple that is going through difficult times to have their relationship labeled as “bipolar.” If you sit at a table in the campus dining hall, you might hear individuals stating that someone at their table looks “depressed” or describe someone they know as “crazy,” or a “schizo.” Someone who takes care of their belongings does not mean they’re obsessive. OCD is truly a debilitating disorder for those that are living with it. A couple who goes through ups and downs in their relationship does not mean they have split personalities or two minds. Someone who is feeling unhappy or down on a particular day does not mean they’re clinically depressed. Stigma against mental illness starts in these day-to-day interactions between people. Individuals who do live with schizophrenia, OCD or bipolar disorder are far less likely to receive treatment or talk about their situations if they hear this language and feel like they’re not surrounded by people that will understand and support them. When these students graduate and go into the workforce, many of them will become further alienated by colleagues who are only interested in the bottom line. They will not have access to an on-campus counselor or a health department for support. These individuals will become another portion of the $193.2 billion that Americans living with serious mental illness lose in potential earnings per year.

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A major factor that contributes to the use of language that stigmatizes mental illness has to do with the perception that those living with mental illness contracted their disease(s) as a result of their own action/faults. “When we believe a person has acquired their illness through no fault of their own, and/or that they have little control over it, we typically attach no stigma to either the person or the illness. Consider hard-to-treat cancers, for example. By contrast, many people mistakenly believe mental health conditions, including substance misuse disorders, are both within a person’s control and partially their fault.” Thus, the more the general public perceives a disease as the result of a person’s actions and something that is under their control, the most likely stigma is going to be attached to that person/disease. As residence life professionals, we’re given access to exchanges amongst residents that grant us the ability to intervene and educate our students and student-staff. There is a big difference in the tone and temperament of a community when we adjust our language to being more inclusive and empathetic. There is a big difference between someone being called “a psycho” instead of a person who is experiencing a psychotic episode. There is a big difference between someone being called “a lunatic” or “unhinged” instead of someone living with a mental health problem. Words have power and the choice belongs to us to reinforce those stigmas or remove the language that does. In 2007, a qualitative, cross-sectional study was completed in England that examined the words and phrases that middle school students used to describe someone experiencing mental health problems. In all, 472 14-year-old students participated in the study and were shown a vignette of a young person experiencing depression or psychosis. They were then asked how long the individual should wait to get help and what type of help they should seek out. Four hundred of the students participating provided 250 words/terms to describe the vignette they were shown, which was further broken down into 44 of the most frequently occurring words and terms. “Three quarters (33) of these terms are strongly negative, seven terms (16%) [are] broadly neutral, and only four (9%) could be described as at all empathetic or eliciting compassion.” Examples of derogatory words included ‘“nuts”, “crazy”, and “psycho”. Examples of neutral words included “confused” and “stressed”, while examples of empathetic language included “sad” and “isolated”. Their findings suggest that “help-seeking by mentally ill young people may be improved by interventions that address both their lack of factual information about mental illness, and those which reduce their strong negative emotional reactions towards people with mental illness.” Thus, when we intervene with factual information and improve the language surrounding mental illness, more individuals who are living with mental illness are going to get the help they need. Recognizing the language we use in everyday situations is the first step in creating a more welcoming and engaging campus community. One great place to start this is during annual training; ask fellow colleagues to hold each other accountable for the language choices they make and politely correct them if they make an error. Create bulletin boards or posters in the residence halls that provide students with alternative word choices that are constructive and positive. Replacing words such as “crazy”, “psycho” and “nuts” with “wild”, “bizarre” or “eccentric” can be the first steps taken in creating a more welcoming and connected campus climate. Additionally, referring to an individual with a clinically diagnosed condition as “living with a mental illness” instead of “suffering from a mental illness” restructures the way we begin to view mental health entirely. Ultimately, it is important for residence life staff members to bring attention to the language that we use throughout the day. It is important that we teach our staff members the importance that language plays in creating inclusive and equitable communities on campus. While scouring social media postings during our day, it is important that we speak up when we see an item that disparages the challenges that our students living with mental illness face throughout their lives. It is important that we set the example for our staff members and challenge ourselves to speak up when we hear language that stigmatizes mental illness, while also being very thoughtful in the words we use throughout our lives. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “as we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence."

Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (2014). The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey. Retrieved from http://www.aucccd.org 2 ibid 3 Vecchi, G. (2009). Conflict & Crisis Communication: Methods of Crisis Intervention and Stress Management.” Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 12, 54-63. 4 American College Health Association. (2016). American college health association-national college health assessment II: Undergraduate reference group executive summery Spring 2016. Hanover, MD. 5 “Mental Illness.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml. 6 Mental Health Facts in America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Infographics/GeneralMHFacts.pdf. 7 Keane M. Contemporary beliefs about mental illness among medical students: implications for education and practice. Acad Psychiatry. 1990; 14:172–177. 8 Insel, T.R. (2008). Assessing the Economic Costs of Serious Mental Illness. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 165(6), 663-665 9 “Words Matter: How Language Choice Can Reduce Stigma.” Https://Www.samhsa.gov/, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, www.samhsa.gov/capt/sites/default/files/resources/sud-stigma-tool.pdf. 10 Rose, Diana, et al. “250 Labels Used to Stigmatise People with Mental Illness.” BMC Health Services Research, vol. 7, no. 1, 2007, doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-7-97. 11 ibid

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Graduate Level Engagement Coordinators

MACUHO Engagement Coordinator Spotlight

Angela Delfine

LEADERSHIP UPDATES MACUHO prides itself on being a “family” and working hard to engage and develop our membership. In an effort to better do this, our association voted this past October at the Annual Conference to update our Regional Coordinator positions to the newly titled “Engagement Coordinators” or ECs. We now have eight ECs serving various levels of professional engagement within MACUHO. We have two ECs for each of the following populations: Graduate Students, Entry-Level Professionals, Mid-Level Professionals, and Senior Housing Officers. Over the course of their terms, each of the EC teams will not only be doing outreach to the membership, but will also be providing opportunities for engagement and development of our membership in the ways that are best suited for their particular areas. If you have any suggestions regarding how the EC can best serve our membership, please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on the team as well as the Director of Membership Development who provides overall guidance and leadership to this group. In an effort to reach as many members as possible, please take a few moments to update your MACUHO profile at macuho.org to select the engagement group you currently identify with. This will allows us to begin connecting and sharing updates from our EC team with you.

Angela is a Graduate Area Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and a graduate student in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania SAHE program (Class of 2019). In addition to her work with MACUHO, Angela currently serves as the Moderator for the SA Grad Chat account on Twitter. Angela wanted to get involved with MACUHO because she is passionate about Residence Life and the field of student affairs in general. She believes that involvement in MACUHO allows her to make a lasting impact on the lives of professionals in our field while also growing professionally herself. Angela looks forward to her new journey as a CoEngagement Coordinator for Graduate Level professionals and hopes that she can help bring new experiences to graduate students in the region.

David Shanks David earned his bachelor’s degree in Law and Justice and his master’s degree in Higher Education Administration at Rowan University. David currently works as an Area Coordinator at Hood College in Frederick, MD. David is involved in MACUHO because it provides him with a network of equally passionate professionals, and he enjoys being able to collaborate with others in the field. The experiences in MACUHO also allow David to stay up-to-date on new ideas and best practices. Engagement to David means active participation and ongoing support to a cause. As Co-Engagement Coordinator for Graduate Level professionals, David hopes to support future professionals by providing high impact experiences.

Entry Level Engagement Coordinators

Meet the Engagement Team:

Janelle Howey

Director of Membership Development

Janelle earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology from Albright College and her master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Scranton. Janelle is currently the Associate Dean of Student Life at Northampton Community College. In this role, she oversees Housing & Residence Life, Student Life & Leadership Development, and New Student Orientation. Janelle wanted to get involved in MACUHO to engage more with fellow professionals, help connect professionals, and to help make a difference in the field. Janelle is excited about the opportunity to work with entry level staff in her role as Entry Level Co-Engagement Coordinator.

Misty Denham-Barrett Misty’s roots within MACUHO stem back to her time as an RA at Philadelphia University where she received her bachelor’s degree in Biology. She continued her connection to the association throughout her graduate work at Rider University while getting her master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. Misty currently works at Rutgers University - New Brunswick and is eager to serve MACUHO in her new role as Director of Membership Development. Misty’s passion areas include the importance of living and leading wholeheartedly with empathy at the core of all she does. She is also a Game of Thrones nerd and will never turn down a run to Starbucks and/or Chipotle. Bonus Points if you go to BOTH in the same trip!

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Ashley Lillie Ashley is in her second year as a Residential Area Manager at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Ashley completed her master’s degree in Counseling, Student Affairs Leadership & Practice at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio in 2015. She then went on to serve as a Resident Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for two years before coming back home to the east coast, where she grew up. As an engagement coordinator, Ashley hopes to bring her creativity and ambition to engaging the membership of this wonderful organization.

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Mid-Level Engagement Coordinators Liz Ali Liz serves as the Assistant Director for Residential Education at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Prior to working in higher education, Liz received her master’s degree in Film Business from Syracuse University and worked at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. After a few years, Liz went on to earn her Masters in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Columbia University. A long-time MACUHO member, Liz was a 2012 RELI participant, a Host Committee 2014 member, the Regional Coordinator for NEPA, the co-chair of the Personal & Professional Development Committee, and now serves as one of the Co-Engagement Coordinators for Mid-Level Professionals. The connections and mentors she has made throughout her time in MACUHO are what drive her passion to “pay it forward” by volunteering with our organization.

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Senior Housing Officer Engagement Coordinators Colleen Bunn Colleen is the Director of Residence Life at Susquehanna University. She started her professional career in the MACUHO region at Washington & Jefferson College, then moved to the NEACUHO region as an Area Coordinator at Connecticut College. She then moved out to Ohio to be an Assistant Director of Residence Life at Miami University in Oxford, OH and was involved in the GLACUHO region too. Colleen is happy to return to her MACUHO roots and become involved in an organization she truly loves and wants to see succeed. She is excited about her engagement coordinator role and is ready to get more people invested in our wonderful region. Colleen received her bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, her master’s degree from Shippensburg University, and her Ph.D. from Miami University.

Isaiah Thomas

Krystyne Savarese

Isaiah serves as Director of Residential Communities at Swarthmore College, where he provides general vision and oversight of the student residential experience, which includes staff supervision, housing operations, and leading educational initiatives. Isaiah also serves as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Students, in which he works closely with the Title IX Coordinator on supporting students who have questions about Title IX or may have experienced some type of sexual misconduct. Isaiah has been active in MACUHO since 2016, and is ever grateful for MACUHO’s support of his doctoral research. A doctoral graduate from Northeastern University, Isaiah successfully defended his dissertation in 2018, which looked at how entry-level residence life staff make meaning of wellness in order to best support college students, with participants spanning across the Mid-Atlantic region.

Krystyne is the Senior Director of Residence Life at Rutgers University. She started her professional career in the GLACUHO region, serving as both a Residence Hall Director and an Assistant Director of Residence Life at Ohio State University. She went on to serve as an Associate Director in OSU’s Center for the Study of Student Life and the Policy Director in the Office of Compliance and Integrity. New to Rutgers Residence Life, Krystyne is excited to serve MACUHO to learn more about the region and to continue to engage its senior leaders. Krystyne completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Irvine, her master’s degree at Bowling Green State University, and her Ph.D. at Ohio State University.

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Save The Date, It’s A Shore Thing! LEADERSHIP UPDATES Get ready to experience a return to one of MACUHO’s most exciting conference destinations, Atlantic City, NJ! Atlantic City is the seaside gaming and resort capital of the East Coast, and with over 27 million visitors a year, it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. We are proud to call AC home to this year’s annual conference as well. From October 23-25, 2019, MACUHO will be at the world famous Harrah’s Resort & Casino for our annual conference. Your conference tri-hosts (Brian Pluchino, Steven Couras, & Tory Elisca), along with the past two executive boards, have been working on this conference since June 2017. We are now just months away from the big day! Save the date and get ready to experience excellent programming sessions, top keynote speakers, multiple networking sessions, and opportunities to get more involved in our field, all in an amazing location like Harrah’s Resort & Casino. Host 2019 Co-Chair Steven Couras Director of Residence Life Curtis Institute of Music steven.couras@curtis.edu

You’re probably wondering why we picked Atlantic City as this year’s conference site – well, here are just some of the reasons Atlantic City is the perfect destination for this year’s MACUHO conference:

- Atlantic City is home to Stockton University’s stunning brand new campus and residence hall that are just steps away from the boardwalk and the ocean. - Atlantic City was voted the #1 Boardwalk by National Geographic and has miles of beautiful, white sandy beaches. - Atlantic City is centrally located in the heart of the Northeast, making it an easy travel for many. It is only 1 hour from Philadelphia, 2 hours from New York, 3.5 hours from DC, 2 hours from Baltimore, 1.5 hours from Delaware, and 5.5 hours from West Virginia. - Atlantic City is the transportation hub of South Jersey with NJ Transit and Greyhound bus service, an airport, and a train service. Atlantic City is also serviced by Uber, Lyft, and various taxi companies.

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, please email magazine@macuho.org!

- Atlantic City is a prime location appealing to a wide variety of professionals with something to do for everyone! We hope you’re looking forward to enjoying the conference and all the amenities that Atlantic City has to offer. Be on the lookout for registration information soon. #MACUHO2019

Would you be interested in being a committee co-chair? Contact Kevin Gaughenbaugh at kgaughenbaugh@marywood.edu for the Personal and Professional Development Committee. Contact Katie Patschke-Maguire at kap293@psu.edu for the Program Committee

Learn about the opportunity to serve on the MACUHO Leadership Council!

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