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Introduction to the Special Issue
on Staff Well-Being
S
taff are the backbone of the campus housing and residential life (HRL) experience.
These professionals are given immense responsibility for the care, safety,
and personal development of thousands of young adults. Depending on their
role within the organization, these individuals are often young adults themselves.
In addition to the typical administrivia of maintaining a campus housing program,
staff frequently find themselves acting as community builders, policy enforcers, crisis
first-responders, and event planners (Belch & Mueller, 2003). Unfortunately in recent
years, this list has grown exponentially to include managing public health oversight,
meeting expectations for customer service, and acting as a brand manager (Boettcher,
2020; Mintz, 2021). Much of this work is conducted behind the scenes and often goes
unrecognized and unrewarded by the campus at large. Despite this, staff continue
to come to their roles with an intense passion for student support, but this too can
have negative consequences-they may end up burned through (Marshall et al., 2016;
Mullen et al., 2018) or traumatized (Lynch, 2022; Lynch & Glass 2018) due to unreasonable
demands within their role and lack of meaningful preparation to sustain a
career in this helping profession.
In order to meet the demands of a quickly evolving 21st-century higher education
landscape, housing leaders must develop a new set of skills that balance the needs
not only of students, but also those of staff, and this includes helping to support and
maintain their well-being (Thomas, 2018). While there is no consensus on what constitutes
the term well-being, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge
that " in simple terms, well-being can be described as judging life positively and
feeling good " (CDC, 2018, p. 2). Additionally, scholars acknowledge the multiple and
layered experience of well-being, which has physical, emotional, social, and economic
dimensions (Kruger, 2010). This special issue seeks to shed light on the experience of
staff well-being within campus housing and residence life departments, as well as offer
insight into how departments and departmental leaders may shift policies, practices,
and cultures to support career sustainability within the field.
In addition to the typical administrivia of maintaining a campus housing
program, staff frequently find themselves acting as community builders,
policy enforcers, crisis first-responders, and event planners. Unfortunately
in recent years, this list has grown exponentially to include managing
public health oversight, meeting expectations for customer service,
and acting as a brand manager.
Volume 49, No. 3 * 2023
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