ACUHO-I News Blog

Ever challenged with a new project – creating and implementing a style guide, recruiting new professional staff, or launching a branding campaign – and knew you remembered hearing about another institution that did something similar?

The ACUHO-I Marketing and Communications Committee recognizes the need for resources to be your fingertips. Fellow professionals and their experiences are invaluable resources. The ACUHO-I Online Resource Library will provide just that; a showcase of successful communication strategies among its members. Our hope is to share examples of the following types of publications: view books, brochures, on-line promotions, media advertisements, direct marketing collateral and much more. Each example, whether a design or campaign, can be labeled under specific topic areas such as staff recruitment, room selection, branding documents, job descriptions, and marketing campaigns.

Everyone has an experience to bring to the table. We need you to provide examples of your publications, campaigns, media strategies and more. If you have examples (and we know you do!) that you think would be helpful to your fellow professionals, please submit to the online library. The submission form can be found here. Please submit your submission form and electronic publication sample to mccresource@gmail.com. If you are submitting multiple publications, please submit separate e-mails for each piece and/or campaign. The deadline to submit material is March 1, 2010.

We look forward to reviewing your submissions and appreciate your time in providing details of your work and/or campaigns.

U.S. News & World Report recently released a story on the cost of housing for various colleges & universities. This story reports that when looking at the total cost of a school, the cost of housing should also be carefully examined. By looking at the cost and the amenities, families should be able to weigh their options with housing.  The story acknowledges various reasons for the discrepancies in prices around the country. These range from real estate costs to the type of housing provided (apartments, suites, etc.).

The story also acknowledges it is not only  amenities  such as fitness centers and computer labs that add value, but programmatic offerings such as living-learning communities. So, this makes me ask the question, should buildings with amenities such as faculty-in-residence and living-learning community cost more than residence halls without those amenities?  Can we put a monetary value on the residential experience itself? Should the bricks & mortar be the determining cost factor? What are your thoughts?

See the full story here.

ACUHO-I members understand the benefits that accompany that status. Or do they?

In recent years ACUHO-I added several new features, resources, events, and programs while also striving to reach a greater number of individuals at member institutions. In the process we discovered not everyone was aware of all that ACUHO-I has to offer. To correct that perception, we have created a new online publication, the ACUHO-I Member Guidebook.

This online resource details the programs and services ACUHO-I offers as well as instructions on how to best take advantage of them. Presented in the same convenient format as the online Talking Stick magazine (free to all members, don’t forget!) the guidebook covers ACUHO-I publications, online resources, member services, and professional development opportunities.

Please spend some time with this overview of ACUHO-I and the available resources. Share it with your staff members so they might discover a new opportunity to get involved or further their professional development. And then, use the comment section of the blog to spotlight some of your favorite (and possibly overlooked) ACUHO-I member benefits.

See the ACUHO-I mentions — and member Steve Gilmore at the University of Arizona — in Match at First Site on Inside HigherEd.

Michael Schultz, the ACUHO-I president and the director of University Housing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is interviewed this month at HigherEdCareers.com on the subject of emergency preparedness.

Having already experienced an apartment fire on his campus during move-in week, Schultz stresses the need to expect the unexpected. In the interview he also discusses campus roles and responsibilities for emergency preparedness, improvements in technology, changing legislation, and more.The interview also provides links to a number of emergency preparedness resources, valuable for anyone reviewing existing plans.

Is your campus prepared for the unexpected emergency? Post your comments and share your thoughts.

The main ACUHO-I Web site may experience temporary outages between 10 pm tonight (August 6) and 7 am on August 7 due to regularly-scheduled maintenance. Our apologies for any inconvenience it may cause.

The conference presentations made available to us by presenters are now in the ACUHO-I library catalog.  You do not need a user name and password to access it at this time. Simply select a time zone and head on in, as a guest. Search the words “2009 Annual Conference” and all the presentations available from this year’s conference will appear. The program guide is available as a PDF too, so you can look through that to identify specific titles you want to view. There were a lot of useful and informative presenters this year, and we appreciate their contributions to the ACUHO-I library and our organization’s storehouse of knowledge.

Questions? Ask librarian Emily Glenn: emily [at] acuho-i.org.

If you’d like to re-live the days of June 27 – 30, visit our Flickr album of conference photos. There’s nothing incriminating there, we promise.

The Talking Stick magazine is the authoritative source for campus housing. The latest edition is now available online and we are excited to share version 3.0 of the NxtBook interface. New features and design will make the experience even smoother and more valuable than before.

This issue delivers the information you need to succeed as a college and university housing professional. Check out stories such as:

• Courting Change in Judicial Affairs: Is a kinder and gentler approach to judicial affairs the secret to improving student conduct?
• The Other Side of the Street: When the need for new housing spills past a campus’ traditional boarders, careful planning can successfully blend town and gown.
• Six Degrees of Separation: Real-life social networks show how students connect.
• Balancing Values and the Bottom Line: When and why should you consider outsourcing your maintenance?
• Budget 101: Learn to wisely navigate the budget-making process.

Plus, don’t miss the quick-hitting stories of Just In, a Conversation about curbing student substance abuse, the latest Transitions, and turning the spotlight on North Central College in Naperville, Illinois.

After reading the issue, you can share your thoughts in the comment section below, or on the ACUHO-I online network.

Last week saw the 2009 ACUHO-I Annual Conference & Exposition come to a close. For the almost 1,100 people who were able to be in Baltimore, they left with pages full of notes and minds full of ideas and inspirations. They also left with the memories of connecting with colleagues and friends: a sentiment captured in a photo slideshow that was shown at the closing banquet (and embedded below).

Because we know there were people who wanted to be in Baltimore but weren’t able, for whatever reason, this year ACUHO-I will offer a condensed, online version of the event. More details are forthcoming, but plans call for some of the most widely-attended and highest-scored sessions to be offered, as well as a video of the conference’s keynote address by environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Look for more details on the ACUHO-I Web site and e-mail announcements in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, you can download the conference program guide as a PDF, view a list of conference attendees, and enjoy the images from Baltimore. Plus, in the coming days, presentation materials from the conference sessions will be available in the ACUHO-I online library.

What were your favorite memories of the conference? Share in the comment section below.

Last week, with the 2009 ACUHO-I Annual Conference & Exposition, ACUHO-I completed its first “major” use of Twitter — the latest social-media craze. Before the conference was over we had more than 225 “followers,” many of whom shared their thoughts about speakers, sessions, travel, social plans, meeting colleagues, and more. For those following the Twitter-feed, it was like getting to eavesdrop on dozens of great conversations all at once.

In the future, ACUHO-I will continue to use Twitter to promote news, developments, new resources, and other information of importance to those in the college housing profession. In other words, we will use it like many of your campuses already are: alerting students to deadlines, news, and information.

Right now, we’d like to hear what you think about the use of Twitter at the conference. Was it useful? Did you participate? How could we improve it? Did you use it to follow the conference, even if you weren’t able to attend in person?

Post your thoughts in the comment section below. You can also e-mail them to James Baumann, the ACUHO-I director of communications and marketing. Or you can just Twitter about it — just be sure to use the #acuhoi hashtag so we can easily find your comments.

And for any of you still unsure of the Twitter phenomena, click the red box here and check out the video.

…but it’s fun! The Rolling Stones, before they were an international sensation, did a jingle for Rice Krispies. It’s the most rockin’ jingle I’ve ever heard.

Happy ACUHO-I Annual Conference, y’all! If you’re going, say hello to all the ACUHO-I staffers there and have a great time. If you’re not, we’ll provide the presentations in our online library post-conference.

Want a chance to be a part of an award-winning team? The ACUHO-I Journal of College and University Student Housing is looking for new reviewers.

Journal reviewers read and provide substantial feedback about manuscripts submitted to the Journal as a part of a three person review team. Reviewers will edit between four and six manuscripts each year. Reviewers will serve for a three year term beginning in August. No previous experience with a journal is required, just an interest and demonstrated skill in writing and research. The Journal looks for people with a variety of skills and backgrounds on the editorial board, but an understanding of housing/residential life practice is necessary.

To be considered for the Journal reviewer position, submit a letter of intent that discusses your interest and the special skills or abilities you could contribute in this role (research methods, content knowledge), and a resume or curriculum vita. Applications should be submitted electronically to Deb Taub, Associate Editor, The Journal of College and University Student Housing by July 17, 2009.

The May+June 2009 issue of the Talking Stick magazine is now out, available through the postal service or in its online format. The cover story, this time, is a photo essay from the ACUHO-I study tour of China as well as the ACUHO-I Global Housing Summit. Some amazing photos taken by ACUHO-I members as well as written reflections from those who were there capture the experience and shares it with the membership at large.

Other stories this issue include a piece co-written by ACUHO-I president Norb Dunkel and ACPA president Tom Jackson that addresses how campus housing and student affairs departments must work together to further the “international” missions of their campuses. Luke LaCroix shines the light on sophomore programs. Tonie Miyamoto looks at LEED. Plus much more news from ACUHO-I and the college housing profession.

Read the latest issue and share your thoughts about it either in the comments below, or in the forum of the ACUHO-I online network.

ACUHO-I will experience a planned server network outage Thursday, March 19 – Sunday, March 22, 2009 for a system migration. ACUHO-I staff will not be able to send or receive e-mail messages from 5:00 p.m. Thursday until Noon on Friday, but will respond as soon as possible when systems are restored.

There will also be some interruption to service with the ACUHO-I Web site, listservs, conference registration and Housing Internship Program site during this time of transition. The ACUHO-I online professional network and news blog will not be affected by the outage.

ACUHO-I apologizes for any inconvenience.