Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1 - 24

Working in Residence Life During a Pandemic
psychological well-being before the pandemic
compared to individuals in senior leadership.
During the pandemic, both entry-level
staff and mid-level managers reported lower
levels of social-psychological well-being than
did senior leadership. Interestingly, there
were no statistically significant differences
in group means for the change in socialpsychological
well-being from before to
during the pandemic. In other words, residence
life staff in entry-level, mid-level
manager, and senior leadership positions
all experienced a similar decrease in socialpsychological
well-being from before to
during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic
thus does not seem to have impacted
entry-level staff more than their counterparts
in mid-level manager or senior leadership
positions. Entry-level staff, however, started
off at lower levels of well-being, which supports
calls from previous studies for a need
to understand and address concerns related
to entry-level staff's job satisfaction, wellbeing,
and retention (e.g., Davidson, 2012;
Rankin, 2013; St. Onge et al., 2008).
Comparisons by housing arrangement
indicated no significant differences between
living on or off campus. However, for those
living off campus, respondents who lived on
their own reported significantly lower socialpsychological
well-being than those living
with family, a partner or spouse, and/or dependents.
This finding supports previous research
that highlighted the negative impact
on individuals' mental well-being of living
on their own during the pandemic (Gao &
Sai, 2020; Hwang et al., 2020; Pietrabissa &
Simpson, 2020). Interesting is the difference
between those living on versus off campus,
with individuals living alone on campus not
reporting lower levels of well-being. Possibly,
the on-campus community may have provided
enough social support for staff living on
24 The Journal of College and University Student Housing
campus to overcome the negative aspects of
living on their own. Important to note is that
in this study, living with family, a partner or
spouse, and/or dependents constituted a single
category. Experiences may differ greatly
for those living with only a partner or spouse
compared to those caring for dependents.
Previous research has highlighted the increased
stress that parents and other caregivers
have encountered during the COVID-19
pandemic but also emphasized how individuals
may have found positive aspects of their
situations such as being able to spend more
time with family (Lee et al., 2021; Lightfoot
et al., 2021). Future research should explore
how caregiving responsibilities shaped the
experiences of residence life staff during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Fostering the Social-Psychological
Well-Being of Residence Life Staff
The predictive model of respondents'
social-psychological well-being during the
COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance
of support by a supervisor. Previous
research has stressed the importance of
high-quality supervision to improve the retention
of entry-level staff (e.g., Reed, 2015;
Renn & Hodges, 2007; Shupp & Arminio,
2012). Good supervision and particularly
a supportive relationship with a supervisor
seem to be essential during challenging
times, such as a global pandemic, not
only for retention but also for individuals'
social-psychological well-being. Having a
supportive relationship with one's supervisor
seems to be more impactful than having
confidence in departmental or institutional
leadership to navigate a crisis situation, highlighting
the importance of the supervisorsupervisee
relationship.
While a supportive relationship with
a supervisor was a positive predictor of
social-psychological well-being, concerns
Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1

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