Go here to read the report from ACUHO-I’s Innovation Summit, held in October 2009 after our inaugural Business Operations Conference. Your colleagues contributed ideas that have worked to reduce costs and stress on their campuses, and there may be suggestions there you can use as well. What’s worked for you? Contribute more ideas, or brainstorm, in the comments.
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.
ACUHO-I kicks off its 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition tonight with its opening reception at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, for a picnic-style gathering followed by the game.
Watch for blog posts throughout the conference, reporting out on speakers such as keynote presenter Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Plus there will be news about other events and announcements throughout.
The conference can also be followed through Twitter. Go to ACUHO-I’s Twitter page and sign up to follow the conversation. Even if you’re not in Baltimore, you can join in and see what’s on peoples’ minds. Here’s to an exciting and productive event!
No, we’re not talking about golf; a post in Green, Inc., a New York Times blog about environmental issues, discusses some institutions’ addition of a “green fee” that will pay for environmentally friendly development or energy offsets. In a strange twist, there are student groups campaigning for this fee at colleges and universities. Most of the fees are well south of $10 per semester or quarter, though a few triple or quadruple that.
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (put more sustainably, AASHE) has a page devoted to news about green fees. Students at institutions featured on the page voted largely in favor of mandatory green fees.
Depending on the state in which an institution is located, a fee can be easier or harder to institute. In Florida, for example, legislators must vote on any state university fee increases. (Legislators, likely not wanting to be known for rising student costs, voted down green fees.)
As you can imagine, green fees don’t have fans in every corner.
Do you think Green Fees are a good idea or not? How much leverage does your institution have regarding its fees?
The Snuggie as a sustainable practice. ‘Nuff said.
The fact that students are also using the Snuggie as a pub crawl theme; perhaps not as beneficial.
Read more about the phenomenon here.
ACUHO-I President Norb Dunkel has prepared a video message that spotlights current and future ACUHO-I initiatives, particularly in the light of the current economic climate.
The video is available to view after the jump, on the ACUHO-I Web site and the ACUHO-I social network.
Also of interest should be the 2008 ACUHO-I Economic Impact Survey. Approximately 300 chief housing officers responded to questions regarding the conditions on their campuses and how they expect things will play-out over the next 12 to 18 months.
Today we have our third and final conference presentation to share with you. In this one, titled “Text Me Your Program Proposal by Midnight,” Dan Oltersdorf (Campus Advantage) as well as grad students Meredith Larrabee (University of Utah), and Karen Morian (Kansas State University) discuss existing and emerging online technology and how it can be used to interact with professional and student staff members.
There’s no question that online communication tools are affecting how housing staffs communicate with each other and the students, as well as the corresponding expectations (“What do you mean you weren’t checking your e-mail at 2 a.m.?”). As co-founders of the largest RA group on Facebook, Larrabee and Morian epitomize the “digital natives” that are quickly joining the professional ranks of college housing.
You’re reading a blog now, so you must be at least a little tech savvy. But are you truly ready to speak the Millennials’ language? What electronic resources are you utilizing? Improve your online credentials by posting your comments below.
Most any manager will tell you they are only as good as their staff. So what can you do to attract — and then retain — the best staff possible? That was the question a team of ACUHO-I members approached back in 2004. With the support of the ACUHO-I Foundation, they researched the topic and created a thorough report offering survey results as well as practical advice for better hiring and retention practices. An executive summary of the report is available in handy PDF format as well.
In Orlando Tom Schuermann from Oregon State University and Holley Belch from Indiana University of Pennsylvania took the time to prepare this condensed version of the session they did along with Tom Ellett of New York University and Stephen St. Onge from Clinton Community College of Plattsburg, New York. A good number of attendees turned out to hear about the research and discover what they can do to keep their best and brightest satisfied.
If you’re a manager, what tips and tricks do you have for keeping your staff motivated? And if you’re an entry level professional yourself, what are the elements you look for in a job and a campus? Is being allowed to keep a pet in your campus apartment enough, or are you more interested in professional development opportunities? Fill the comments section with your thoughts. But first, the presentation.
At the 2008 ACUHO-I Annual Conference & Exposition in Orlando, a handful of session presenters were asked to deliver condensed versions of their presentations for viewing on the Web. We’ll roll these out over the next few days as a means to deliver some of the conference information to those ACUHO-I members who weren’t able to attend.
First up will be Marc Salvador Hume, the assistant director of residence life at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. His team’s presentation, “Doing It All at a Small College or University: How to do Five Jobs at Once and Still Smile” was well attended and filled with information that touched on budgets, staffing, and more.
Check it out and then post a comment to let the world know how you manage to do more with less on your campus.
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