The experience of parents dropping off their students offers less distraction, and more difficulty. In today’s world of GPS trackers in cell phones and moms and dads adding sons and daughters on Facebook, it’s widely accepted that this generation of parents is more involved in their childrens’ lives than ever before. This creates a challenge for university personnel, who must ensure that both the incoming crop of students and their parents feel cared for and comfortable with the move-in process, while still allowing for the inevitable separation that will occur.

According to this LA Times article, more and more colleges and universities are offering “parent orientations” to help parents adjust to the idea of leaving their children on their own. These workshops address nearly every detail about the college experience that might give a parent anxiety, including dorm life, financial aid and alcohol abuse. Some schools are even hiring new staff to serve as full-time parent liaisons.

And this NY Times article (with the accompanying ‘Letter to the Editor’ responses!), looks at approaches taken by universities designed to “punctuate and speed the separation,” including formal departure ceremonies and official check-out times for parents.

Any personal or professional stories from members? Over-anxious parents, attending seminars for first-year students? Or sneaking into freshman book discussion groups? What changes have been made (if any) to manage those parents who have a tough time letting go?

For housing departments at colleges and universities across the country, the next couple of weeks mean the stress and strain of new and returning students moving in on campus. They’re bringing with them anxious families, increased traffic, and all the comforts of home (and maybe a semi truck or two). Here’s a round-up of campus move-in news from around the nation:

The ABCs of Moving the Kids to College : From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, common (and not-so-common) mistakes parents make as they help their kids with the big move.

Vanderbilt Students Return to Campus Aug. 21, Move-In Goes Green: How one university is attempting to reduce the environmental impact of move-in day, one cardboard box at a time.

Residence Hall Move-In Starts Sunday: At Texas A&M, Residence Life has designated August 22 as “Residence Hall Move-In Assistance Day,” with teams of move-in volunteers there to assist and welcome new and returning students.

New Vaccine Requirement for Incoming College Students: A new Texas-wide state law addresses the dangers of bacterial meningitis. Though it went into effect January 1, the incoming freshman class moving in this fall will put it to the test.

Dorm-It-Yourself: In the video below, a student from Ryerson University School of Interior Design  gives tips and tricks for sprucing up a student residence (on a student budget!)

How about you, members? Any crazy stories, interesting initiatives or new tricks you’ve discovered this move-in season?

More and more, theme housing is what students make of it, not what the institution thinks they should do. What themes have your students selected and executed? Were you surprised by the success of some of them?

What famous persons have lived on your campus? Does your institution make the students now occupying those rooms aware of that?

If you’re in a more academic mood, below is a sampling of research on the effects roommates have on each other.

What were your college or university roommates like? Do you have any good stories from your campus?

Roommate Effects on Grades: Evidence from First-Year Housing Assignments. McEwan, Patrick J.; Soderberg, Kristen A. Research in Higher Education v. 47 no3 (May 2006) p. 347-70

Judging Roommates by Their Facebook Cover. Farrell, Elizabeth F. The Chronicle of Higher Education v. 53 no2 (September 1 2006) p. A63-A64

College Living: Issues Related to Housecleaning Attitudes. Ogletree, Shirley M.; Turner, G. Marc.; Vieira, Ana. College Student Journal v. 39 no4 (December 2005) p. 729-33

At dinner on a summer night, I announced to my parents that I was going to attend the local Walsh College (now Walsh University) after high school. I explained that I would ride my bike between home and the school, a distance of 1.7 miles. My mother asks how I intend to get there in the winter when the lake effect snow is too deep for bike riding.

“Won’t you drive me?” I asked.

At five years old, I made the decision that I was not going to live in a dorm. This was fueled by my understanding of what a dorm was. My older, wiser brother (he was seven), told me that a dorm was like underneath the deck attached to our house. I was terrified of the area underneath the deck. It was dark, dank, and there were frogs who emerged from there occasionally.

Almost 25 years later, that conversation is laughably ironic and a family favorite in light of my career path, which has included not only living in dorms but also participating in their design.

I love the debates over whether the buildings that house residents are dorms or residence halls. It’s an issue that people in student affairs are extremely passionate about, both sides having endless resources to back up their cause. I’ve believed for a long time that while residence hall may be preferred, dorm is not a dirty word. Dorm happens to be the world that most people know to describe those buildings where learning and living happens 24/7. It is not used with disrespect for the work that we do or what happens on a daily basis.

The shift to residence hall came from within student affairs. We, as a profession, have made a cry to use language that seems more engaging and positive. But the stigma of the word dorm also came from within student affairs. We decry people who don’t use residence hall, failing to recognize that it’s trade-specific terminology. Dorm is the generic language that more people understand and to which they relate.

At Indiana University South Bend, where I currently work, we celebrate the word dorm. Our housing, which opened in August 2008, is very much apartment-like, though we prefer to call them suites. The use of the word dorm implies something bigger for us. It is acceptance of the residential experience, the learning, the teachable moments, even the policy enforcement. When people call our buildings dorms, they are making a connection between what we do and what they understand on-campus housing to be. And they’re right.

The debate will undoubtedly continue to rage on. Before you join in, consider this: Is it our job to change the name of the buildings, or is it our job to educate about what happens in those buildings? I would argue the latter. It wasn’t the word I was afraid of on that summer night; it was not fully understanding what it meant to be part of that community.

Please pass this on to anyone who can assist. There’s always a need for more research in student housing, and this is an easy way to help!

Happy Thursday, folks!

I’ve been getting a flurry of questions about RA hiring, evaluation and supervision lately. It’s RA-recruitment season, after all. Unfortunately, there’s no single resource that covers this topic thoroughly. (Hint, hint, if you’re in the mood to research and write a book or paper.) If you’re not up for that, post your tips and resources here!

One member asked about RA qualifications.  I looked at what others are doing. I searched for institutions who specified RA qualifications on their websites beyond the usual good-GPA-and-good-disciplinary-record stipulation.

Here are a few of them:

Brigham Young
Carnegie Mellon
Kent State University
Carleton College
University of Oregon
University of Montevallo
University of Central Florida
Towson University

I also found some scholarly articles on the topic. Here’s a a sample list of citations:

• Wu, M.B. & Stemler, S.E. (2008) Resident Advisor General Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Personality Dimensions, and Internal Belief Characteristics as Predictors of Rated Performance; NASPA Journal (Online). 45 (4); 528-59.

• Servaty-Seib, H. L. & Taub, D. J. (2008) Training Faculty Members and Resident Assistants to Respond to Bereaved Students; New Directions for Student Services 121; 51-62.

• Healea, C.D. (2005) Character Education with Resident Assistants: A model for developing character on college campuses. Journal of Education, 186(1); 65-77.

• Elleven, R. K.; Allen, J. & Wircenski, M. (2001) Resident Assistant Training: A southwestern perspective. College Student Journal, 35 (4); 609-15.

“And I will teach you everything you need to know about going away to college,” I told him. “If you need me to, I can also teach your mommy and daddy how to send their student away to college and maintain appropriate boundaries.”

His mother laughed, but as I regaled her with stories of parents and grandparents who have contacted me recently, she realized that in seventeen years, my expertise may be needed.

Only a few days later I was on the phone with a local travel agent booking my flights to the ACUHO-I Annual Conference and Exposition. He gathered the information from me he needed to make the reservation, including my department name.

“My nephew is going to school there next year, and is going to live on campus. Any tips I can pass along to him?” he asked. He finished making my reservation while I talked to him about involvement and community. Before we hung up, he thanked me and said, “I had no idea how much living on campus has changed since I was in school.”

As much effort as we put into educating students about residence life, I wonder what institutions are doing to educate parents and families about what we do. On my task list for my summer interns is creating a parent resource for our incoming residents. We have a visible presence at orientation and Welcome Week. But is that enough?

What are your institutions doing to include parents and family in the residential experience?

Some institutions are considering going co-ed for the first time. Others are looking for information on existing co-ed halls for administrators or parents. Some are thinking of moving from one form of co-ed (by floor) to another (by wing). Visitation issues have also been the topic of some questions lately. I did a search and found that at West Virginia University, students have been protesting against a rule that bans overnight stays by the opposite sex.

Is this flurry of questions a fluke, or are co-ed arrangements and visitation up for debate? What have you noticed in your professional lives?

Unfortunately for ACUHO-I’s members, researchers seem to think as I did — that the co-ed question is over and done with. There isn’t much recent information on the efficacy of co-ed housing vs. single-sex; wings vs. floors; or strict visitation rules vs. liberal. This may also be because most students live in co-ed housing, so it’s hard to find a control group of students who are otherwise similar, but live in single-sex arrangements. I’ve posted a few sample citations here, along with the authors’ summaries. If you know of good studies I’ve missed, let me know: emily [at] acuho-i.org. Thanks!

Willoughby, B.J.; Carroll, J.S.; Marshall, W.J. & Clark, C. (2009) “The Decline of In Loco Parentis and the Shift to Coed Housing on College Campuses,” Journal of Adolescent Research 24(21).
Many universities have changed their policies regarding the nature of on-campus housing—shifting from gender-specific to coed dorms. This study examines the scope of that transition in the United States. From a sampling of 100 universities in the United States, including the nation’s 50 largest universities, it was found that the vast majority of on-campus housing is currently coed in nature. Anecdotal information provided by the housing offices at these universities suggests that this transition is largely driven by student demand and financial considerations. Implications for future research and university policy making are discussed.

Harford, T.C.; Wechsler, H. & Muthen, B.O. (2002) “The Impact of Current Residence and High School Drinking on Alcohol Problems among College Students,” Journal for the Study of Alcohol 63; 271-279.
This study examines relationships between type of (current) residence, heavy episodic drinking in high school and alcohol-
related problems among college students. Method: The study participants were respondents in the 1993, 1997 and 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) surveys of students attending 119 4-year U.S. colleges. Based on responses from 6,525 (55.6% female) students in the 1993 CAS, an exploratory factor analysis of the alcohol problem items was specified in a confirmatory factor analysis framework based on a four-factor solution, and related to study variables. The 1993 data were cross-validated with the 1997 and 1999 surveys. Results: When compared with students living in single-gender dormitories, students living off campus with parents reported lower alcohol-related problem consequences and a higher probability of drinking/driving. Students residing off campus without parents, compared with students in single-gender dorms, reported a higher probability of
drinking/driving. Associations between off-campus residence and probabilities for drinking/driving were mediated by frequency of driving. Students living in coed dormitories, when compared with students in single-gender dorms, incurred more problem consequences related to drinking but reported significantly lower probabilities associated with designated driving and drinking/driving. Heavy episodic drinking in high school was related to higher probabilities of problems on all outcome measures. Conclusions: The presence of direct and independent effects for both heavy drinking prior to college and high-risk environmental factors in collegiate drinking practices support targeted and diverse strategies for prevention activities.

Li, Y.; Sheely II, M.C. & Whalen, D.F. (2005) “Contributors to Residence Hall Student Retention: Why do students choose to leave or stay?” Journal of College & University Student Housing 33(2), 28-36.
Residence hall occupancy is of concern to housing administrators because higher occupancyleads to financial stability. While many areas are housing more students, some regions such as the Midwest ore experiencing enrollment declines primarily due to a decline in high-school graduates and a struggling economy (Meline, 2003). In the Midwest there are daily newspaper reports of declining enrollment, budget cuts, reduction in financial resources, and increased competition for government funding and private support.
When occupancy is low, it is especially desirable for housing administrators to learn more about what motivates students in their choice of housing. Fundamental questions posed by Upcraft, Schuh, and Associates (1996) help residence life departments assess program effectiveness and make use of educational outcome assessments to keep students more satisfied as customers and more productive. As much as on-campus living benefits students (Astin, 1985; Blimling, 1993; Tinto, 1993), it is also important to know what contributes to student retention in residence halls. This study, conducted during late fall semester 2004, asked students their likely living arrangements during the following year. This research examines contributors to students’ anticipated living choice for the following year at a major land-grant Midwestern university.