THE PULSE THE NEWSLETTER OF THE ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY HOUSING OFFICERS
MARCH 2016
ANNOUNCING THE HOST OF THE 2016 RESIDENCE LIFE CONFERENCE TRENT UNIVERSITY PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
THE PULSE
Board of Directors PRESIDENT
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
Julie West
Sara Wills
University of Guelph jwest@uoguelph.ca
Carleton University sara.wills@carleton.ca
PRESIDENT-ELECT / FINANCE DIRECTOR
CORPORATE PARTNER RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Daryl Nauman
Jordon McLinden
York University dnauman@yorku.ca
Carleton University jordon.mclinden@carleton.ca
PAST PRESIDENT
SENIOR-LEVEL MEMBER AT LARGE
Laura Storey Carleton University laura.storey@carleton.ca
Chris Alleyne
COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
MEMBER AT LARGE
Brian Cunha
University of Windsor rawlin1@uwindsor.ca
Western University calleyne@housing.uwo.ca
Diane Rawlings
University of Toronto brian.cunha@utoronto.ca
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
MEMBER AT LARGE
Melissa Steadman
Humber College meaghan.mcneil@humber.ca
Western University msteadma@housing.uwo.ca
Meghan McNeil
MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATION MANAGER
Andrew Quenneville
OACUHO info@oacuho.com
Western University aquennev@housing.uwo.ca
Carol Ford
The Communications Committee DIRECTOR Brian Cunha
SPECIAL PROJECTS Meaghan McNeil
THE PULSE EDITORS Rebecca Mudge Andrea Pape Cory Coletta Jonathan Amanatidis Brittany Reifenstein
SOCIAL MEDIA Mary Stefanidis Brian Millado RESEARCH Aman Litt
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
T
his is the season of endings and beginnings. March brings with it the end of winter and beginning of spring. Residence Life staff are winding down the year on a positive note, helping students to prepare for final assignments and exams. Our conference group is gearing up for the next season of life in housing. Our facilities staff are preparing for renovations, new carpet, new furniture, paint and maybe even new buildings with a target to have everything done by end of August (or earlier). The admissions and assignments group is looking to the deadline (June 1) to get a final tally on how many students you’ll have next year. No doubt our business operations staff are looking at yearend with the same anxiety as many of the rest of us at tax time (hard deadline). Whatever your area March/April is transition time.
opportunity for professional development through the plethora of conferences – OACUHO (May-June – Western University), CACUSS (June – Winnipeg), APPA (July - Nashville) ACUHO-I (July – Seattle) to name a few. Getting involved with many of these associations is a learning opportunity in and of itself and meeting others who participate, engage and share what they learn. Last summer I tweeted a pic, from ACUHO-I in Florida, where a number of us gathered and shared what we had learned, who to contact for more information and of course our plans for socials later in the day. The conference was a great opportunity to share some moments with like-minded individuals from around the world who understand that the greatest impact we can have is on bettering the lives of individual students through what we offer. Be ‘present’ for this transition time – welcome the change and enjoy the ride.
Transition always brings with it sadness over what we’re leaving behind and excitement over what it to come. The summer will bring lots of
OACUHO President THE OACUHO PULSE FEBRUARY EDITION
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in house

RESEARCH 
 with Research Writer Aman Litt
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Having a Mentor
graduated from university six years ago. Since my graduation, I have been employed as a teacher, an administrator at a private health sciences college, an advisor in the Registrar’s Office at the University of Alberta, and now, the Student Success Specialist within Residence Services. There has been a lot of transitions for me and I hope that the next six years have a bit more consistency, but that is never a guarantee or always a good thing. According to Bureau of Labour Statistics, the average millennial, someone born between 1982 and 1994, stays at one job for 4.4 years, and over our lifetime, we are expected to have over 15 jobs (Miester, 2012). Millennials are not replicating the professional footpath of baby boomers at all; staying in the same job to celebrate our ten years or twentyfive years of service is quickly becoming a thing of the past and employers are recognizing this. Professional transitions are nothing to be feared by employers or employees and are typically promoted positively within Residence Services departments across Canada. Whether you are in your first professional job or have been in a few roles, finding the niche best suited for you can be a big and exciting challenge. Dependant on the institution you work for, your department could be a handful of individuals to hundreds of people and the upward movement potential, maneuvering obstacles and opportunities is contingent with where you are and where you would like to be. Within our field, moving up has its pros, but moving laterally also can help in your long-term success (Homari, 2010).
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Depending on the structure of your department, c o n t r a c t u a l t i m e l i n e s a n d s t a ff t u r n o v e r, opportunities for peak jobs may be few and far between. Millennials are much more concerned with positive work environments than bigger paychecks, so before taking that large leap, they weigh out their options (Miester, 2012). If you are in an environment which you enjoy, where the cultural values of your department are parallel to your own and your colleagues are a pleasure to see everyday, sometimes it is beneficial to make lateral moves, to attain a variety of skills, until that key promotional opportunity arises (Homari, 2010). The first thing to ask yourself is, are you happy with your job? Go through the roles and responsibilities of your job. Are you adequately covering all aspects of your job? Are you being properly supported to do the best you can in your job? If the answer to any of these questions is no or unclear, make a meeting with your supervisor. Scheduling a sit down with your supervisor should allow you the occasion to discuss your interest in advancement; bettering yourself professionally should never be a secret, and you should confide in your supervisor and colleagues or friends you trust or look up to. By opening the discussion with your supervisor, it also allows them the chance to connect you to opportunities they hear about, which you may be well suited for. Also, they might be so kind as to recommend specific professional development steps you should be taking to get to your desired goal.
IN HOUSE RESEARCH
Finding a mentor to help you in your process is extremely useful. I personally find one or two people’s sound advice is better than a crowd’s criticism. Everyone will have an opinion and suggestions as to what to do, but everyone’s career story is different. The other benefit of having a mentor is that they indirectly force you to set and meet specific goals. For example, if you set meetings with your professional mentor seasonally, this allows you four clear benchmarks throughout the year by which you should be completing some goal(s) to update them on or to discuss with them.
Is there a job in your department you would like to know more about? Try and find an opportunity or create one, to job shadow the position or schedule a coffee or lunch to hear more about the position. Is there another organization that is always doing new and exciting things? Ask your supervisor or research around independently and get to know the organization better and see if that is your desired niche. I have never been afraid to invite someone for lunch, coffee or a quick phone chat, if I know I am not overstepping my boundaries, and if I have clearly researched what I want to speak with them about and am not wasting their time, most people are more than helpful.
When hiring, employers will typically choose to hire a less skilled person over an individual who does not have the right attitude for their team (Cole, 2015). Hiring based on the right attitude over all the required skills has been proven to be the better choice because positive people have been proven to deal with change better, are easier to train, and a great attitude within the workplace is contagious (Cole, 2015). Having a positive personality is the key. Even if you are not in your dream job right now, or if you feel underutilized, overworked or are frustrated with your job, Residence Services departments in Canada are a close knit niche and having a positive attitude and strong work ethic will help you find that right fit job versus dwelling in what your current job is not providing you. It is not fun to hear, but negative comments travel much faster than praise, so make sure the attitude you are putting out there is the attitude you want people talking about; make sure you are the type of person you would like to work with and make sure that you are your best self in the workplace.
because I find it so easy to fall into the trap of day to day work, but that is not the be all end all of being good at your job. Put it in your calendar to meet one colleague from campus every two weeks to a month for a coffee. These conversations not only allow for a nice break from your office routine, but allow you to get caught up on their programs, share current projects you are involved with and foster relationships. It also helps you stay abreast of what is happening on campus and can create even more opportunities for you, your department and students.
There are a lot of theories as to how to attain your ‘dream job’ and after doing much research, in my opinion, it is much more of a career success path, than a solid end ‘dream job’. Careers, for this time period are about changing, expanding, diversifying, and not about standing still or staying put. When diversifying and growing within the field of Residence Services, there are a specific things to keep in mind. Start making socialization a priority. Personally, this is an area of needed improvement for me
Carve out time to update your resume with your work accomplishments. When I have helped people build their cover letters, I have learned that you can be your own worst enemy. Sell yourself! Do not be shy and let people THE OACUHO PULSE FEBRUARY EDITION
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IN HOUSE RESEARCH
know what you have to offer, but be realistic with it and do not to fabricate your skills. With all of the programs and committees we tend to be a part of, making it a biannual task to update your resume can be a very useful goal, to ensure you do not forget to display all the hard work you do everyday.
positions in your department, but are requirements for general management positions. Knowledge on current affairs, political culture, long-term departmental plans, strengths and areas for improvement in administration, and the organizational goals and perspectives are areas to research and fully understand. This makes you an informed shopper as well and once you are done researching you will know if you even want the job you are trying so hard for.
The next job you land may not be your dream job, but it may be a smart move in order to attain skills in finance, supervision, hiring, or programming you need to move into management. Research the schooling and qualification for jobs you desire and make sure to do your best to fill any holes in your portfolio. Do not be shy to ask for help; speak to your supervisor and let them know that you are interested in, for example, budgeting, and maybe there is a project you will be able to help them with in the near future, but please be prepared that you might have to use out of work hours for these tasks sometimes. Be realistic about what you are lacking and determine a manageable timeline, calculate fiscal contributions and personal dedication required to fill these gaps in your professional background and see what you can manageably to add into your schedule.
Be honest, is there room for advancement in your department? And do you really want the advancement? Sometimes, people get so caught up with moving up that they forget what they are fighting for. Supervisors, who have moved up through Residence Services, discuss how their relationship with students has changed and how they often speak to student for negative reasons and rarely for good anymore. As you move up through management, collaboration is often more an assignment you give to staff, than you being part. Remember to make sure the goal you are striving for is intrinsic and not purely for the extrinsic reward of a well lusted for job title.
When determining your dream job, seek out what type of employee, supervisor and colleague you currently are; this is a tough thing to get via self-assessment, dare I say, impossible. Try and send out an anonymous survey for staff to fill out, or confide in close colleagues to get fair assessments of what your skills and areas of improvement are. This is an area individuals tend to ignore, but, in my opinion, is vital for success. Another thing to consider are items you may not know you are lacking; it is really easy to overlook mid level management requirements, which are not directly linked to supervisor
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Or...forget the linear ladder, find a gap in the system and create your job! Many individuals who I look up to or seek out for advice, have created their own jobs. Understand your department, get to know the system and research other organizations to determine if there are roles or duties which are being missed or missrepresented. A vocalized goal is statistically more often accomplished than an untold goal. Letting your colleagues, supervisors and friends know that you are interested in a different career helps them naturally think of you when opportunities arise.
IN HOUSE RESEARCH
There is no shame in wanting to better your professional self, but be prepared for failures along the way because success without failure tends to be luck. Also, do not confine yourself within Residence Services completely. Our departments are wonderful places to work, but you can impact student life on campus in a multitude of ways; sometimes taking a work term in another department helps your department more than a professional development opportunity multiple colleagues will also be taking. By taking these steps and making clear, logical goals, you are becoming a person who is seen as hard-working and motivated to bettering themselves. You are acting out your goals and verbalizing what you would like by starting to create a clear, logical plan to your success.
Difference. Mid-Missouri Marketing Blog. Retrieved from http:// info.zimmercommunications.com/blog/whyhiring-for-attitude-over-skill-can-often-make-allthe-difference. Homari, M. (2010, July) Managing Yourself: Job-Hopping and Other Career Fallacies. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/07/managing-yourself-jobhopping-to-the-top-and-other-career-fallacies.
Resources
Meister J. (2012, August 14). Job Hopping Is The ‘New Normal’ for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/ sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-isthe-new-normal-for-millennials-three-ways-toprevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/2/ #165d7890674f.
Belch, H. A., Wilson, M. E., Dunkel, N. (2009). Cultures of Success: Recruiting and Retaining New Live-In Residence Life Professionals. College Student Affairs Journal, 27(2), 176-184.
Minor, F. D., Kennedy, K. McCusky, B., Rydl, C. (2011) What We Wish We Knew Then: Reflections on Critical Knowledge for Senior Housing Officers and Wannabes. ACUHO-I, New Orleans, LA.
Cole, S. (2015, December 21). Why Hiring for Attitude (Over Skill) Can Often Make All the
Pelczarski, K. P. (2016). Performing your annual career checkup. Tribology & Lubrication Technology, 72(1), 66-68.
Chad Nuttall was the recipient of the OACUHO Mentor of the Year Award in 2015. The Award was presented by Brittany Reifenstein
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Past, Present, and Future: A Conference Update Sara Wills OACUHO Conference Director Carleton University
Reflecting on
the time that has passed since our Spring Conference at York University, there have been some very exciting conference initiatives that have changed the way we think about our professional development. The most significant was that for the first time, the Residence Life Conference (RLC) and Fall Business Meeting (FBM) were hosted together on the same campus by two different institutions, and the RLC was hosted in the fall term. Since then, the New Professional Training Institute (NPTI) Faculty Selection Committee was established, and intentionally have chosen to invite specific faculty to provide our new professionals with the best possible learning experiences. Knowing that there were a lot of questions around some of the changes, specifically regarding the Residence Life Conference and Fall Business Meeting, I wanted to take an opportunity to update the Membership and the results of feedback we have received. Over the past few months we collected, analyzed and discussed the data that we acquired from both the Residence Life Conference and the Fall Business Meeting delegates, as well as CHOs and Senior Level Members, particularly around the joint conference experience and the timing. Overall, the feedback was quite positive, but we were able to identify some areas of discussion for the future. Moreover, even if the two conferences are not held jointly in the future, this experience provided an opportunity for the host
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institutions to offer some insight on what worked well and what challenges they faced, should an institution ever wish to host a conference in the future on a different campus. This is particularly exciting because it now provides a framework for any out-of-province members to consider hosting within Ontario. The Collaborative Approach The Fall Business Meeting and Residence Life Conference collaboration was the first time that two institutions hosted separate conferences on the same campus, and overall it was a positive experience. After realizing that both conferences were being held two weeks apart in very different locations, the host committees thought this would be an ideal way to encourage various functional areas and levels of membership to come to one location for a weekend full of professional and student staff development. It also demonstrated the unique opportunity for two institutions to collaborate on one campus, and created new relationships between the two as members of each committee worked together to achieve a common goal. Furthermore, the collaborative approach provided the opportunity for both institutions to complete site visits of each campus to have face-to-face meetings, which was both an effective and fun experience! Given that this was the first year we combined the conferences, there were many opportunities for delegates to provide insight into their FBM/ RLC experience.
The Timing Once it was announced that the Residence Life Conference would be hosted in the fall term, there were a wide range of reactions. Some institutions were thrilled about the timing, while others still felt as though this conference should continue to be held in the winter semester. Knowing that there were mixed feelings headed into the conference, both the Host Committee and the Board focused a great deal of time and energy collecting feedback from delegates to gain a better sense of when this conference should be held moving forward. The Fall Business Meeting post-assessment outlined that delegates who attended the FBM shared some positive feedback on how having both events on same weekend impacted their institution – timing was convenient, better than having events 2 weeks apart, better due to hiring timeline, better travel experience. By the same token, the same number of delegates shared challenges – travel arrangements were more complicated (professionals attending RLC might not be able to also attend FBM), tiring for some to do both. When asked if RLC is held in fall, is it better to hold with FBM or alone, more (nearly 3 times as many) indicated they should be combined.
Based on the Residence Life Conference postassessment feedback, there were both positives and negatives identified by Members to hosting this conference in November. The pros that were noted by delegates included the benefits of not competing with student staff hiring, the ability for student staff to have more time to implement their ideas, it is easier to schedule in, and that the weather is more predictable. In contrast, some of the concerns
regarding the fall Residence Life Conference included it being a busy time of the year for student mental health and conduct, it being midterm season at many institutions, some staff do not feel as though they have settled in or are familiar enough yet with their role, and that it creates a tight proposal timeline. Feedback from senior housing staff was also collected on the collaborative approach. On a positive note, senior housing staff (CHOs and senior Residence Life professionals) noted the timing of RLC in the fall term avoids overlap with hiring timelines, provides a better opportunity for staff to implement new ideas on their own campus, and normally has better weather for travel. At the same time, it makes for a short timeline to meet deadlines or to prepare staff to present. Student staff are often busy with midterms, conduct and mental health concerns, and picking delegates is a challenge. There was no clear ‘winner’ on when to schedule the RLC as senior housing staff were split on whether it was better in fall or winter semester. As the Board recognizes there are still mixed feelings, we will continue to assess the Residence Life Conference over the next few years and are looking to keep it in the fall to acquire benchmarking data. We will certainly continue to keep our Members informed as well. With that, I am very excited to share that we are currently reviewing a bid for the 2016 Fall Business Meeting, and we have a confirmed host for the 2016 Residence Life Conference. While both will be formally introduced at the Spring Conference in London, I would like to congratulate Trent University on hosting the RLC this fall in Peterborough! THE OACUHO PULSE FEBRUARY EDITION
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we invite you to TRENT UNIVERSITY for RESIDENCE LIFE CONFERENCE 2016 October 21–23, 2016
Residence Life Conference 2016 | Hosted at Trent University 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, K9L 0G2
Sun, Sand, & Student Conduct: ASCA 2016 Jordon McLinden Residence Student Conduct Coordinator Carleton University
F
or the past two years, I have had the pleasure of attending the Association for Student Conduct Administrators (ASCA) annual conference, hosted in Florida. While the warm weather in February is certainly a perk to attending, more importantly, this unique conference provides any seasoned professional who manages student conduct in their day-today work or those who aspire to specialize in the field in the future with an incredible learning experience. As a second time attendee, this conference has provided valuable insight and extraordinary learning opportunities that I have been both inspired by and have improved the conduct program in my department. It also prepared me to be ready to drink from the fire hose – it is overwhelming trying to take in so much rich information and content! Although this conference in the past has been very U.S.-centric, I am part of a small group currently in the process of adding more Canadian content and being more involved in the Association. As an international presenter this year, it was an incredibly rewarding experience to be able to showcase to non-
Canadian colleagues the work we are doing in the field, and some of the unique laws and legislations that change the way we conduct our investigations and conversations. Based on my experience, I would encourage all my OACUHO colleagues who have great processes and programs to consider submitting a proposal in the future so we can continue to contribute to the field of work and showcase what we do. I certainly appreciated the opportunity to talk about the work on my campus, and how unique the Canadian landscape of student conduct is compared to my international colleagues, and I hope more members of our Association consider doing the same. Furthermore, there seems to be a sense among Canadians that attending ASCA may not be valuable or worthwhile, because so much of the content is American focused, or discusses Title IX. I actually have had a very different experience, and feel as though even the preconferences are a great learning experience and worthy of the trip. This past year, for example, there was a one-day pre-conference on how to implement a trauma-informed approach to sexual misconduct investigations
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STUDENT CONDUCT
by three representatives from the University of Indiana, and the material was captivating. While it certainly deserves acknowledging that the U.S. process related to sexual misconduct is significantly more legislated and as a result, more developed than our approach, if you’re able to look past that and find the transferable pieces, there is a lot to be gained. It is particularly helpful in reshaping how we think about the process of our conduct practices with the requirements of the newly passed Ontario Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan (Bill 132). As with the pre-conference, the educational sessions are also as transferable and inspiring. Topics spanned from campus safety, to working with other campus partners, to implementing conduct assessment, to positive masculinity, to exploring case manager models. There is a session relevant to just about any aspect of a student conduct program, and even opportunities that connect the field we are so passionate about to our interests or hobbies. For example, if you’re a football fan as I am, you would have also appreciated my favourite session of the week, ‘More Likely Than Not: Student Conduct, Tom Brady and the NFL’. Remember #deflategate? This unique session connected to the controversial incident and was very well done, encouraging participants to rethink due process, preponderance of evidence, decision rationales, and sanctioning. It took the concept of popular culture to explore key concepts
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related to the work we do every day, and encouraged delegates to think more objectively about their processes because the student context was removed. Additionally, this session provided a new lens in which to consider training staff in student conduct. If we can make connections to the world around them, we can make student conduct that much more impactful, interesting and appreciated. A final highlight of the conference was the initiation of Canada becoming an official region of ASCA. While the concept still needs some considerable thought and planning, I’m hopeful that we will be able to develop relationships between ASCA and our Canadian Organizations. We, in OACUHO, and our colleagues across the country do a lot of great work related to student conduct within our housing and residence life programs. As such, we have an opportunity to contribute to the conversation around student conduct and enrich the international content of the ASCA conference. Not only can we contribute to the Organization, we can also benefit our students by bringing back valuable content and best practices to our home institutions. As said by many before me “OACUHO is my professional home” and I will continue to visit my professional neighbours to the south to better myself and share resources with our home Association. I hope that people consider joining me next year in Jacksonville to do the same.
Ontario Association of College and University Housing Officers 312 Oakwood Crt, Newmarket Ontario, L3Y 3C8 
 Telephone: 905-954-0102 Fax: 905-895-1630