journal_vol49no3 - 57

A Cog in the Machine
Over the past few decades, the core purpose of an RD
has remained consistent, but multiple responsibilities have
been added and have contributed to staff burnout.
core purpose of an RD has remained consistent, but multiple responsibilities have
been added and have contributed to staff burnout (Collins & Hirt, 2006). National
events, such as 9/11, mass shootings, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in
federal law (Title IX) have directly influenced the nature of staff's work with students
(Nguyen et al., 2018). In addition, data collected in the past decade show that college
students' rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues have continually
increased, and between 2013 and 2021 the number of students with at least one mental
health problem doubled (Lipson et al., 2022). While our work's purpose is to support
our current student population, we must also recognize how recent events influence
the experiences of our newer professionals.
Prior to the pandemic, residence life professionals were increasingly becoming
essential employees as they managed responses to natural disasters such as hurricanes
or blizzards that affected their campuses. The onset of the pandemic caused
higher education institutions to lean heavily on residence life staff as essential employees,
and they were suddenly tasked with coordinating campus closures in the
spring of 2020 and subsequently engaging as public health monitors in order to manage
isolation and quarantine housing. While the resident director position still involves
much of the traditional work of supervising RAs and facilitating programming
for residents, today's resident director is also likely to deal with far more stressful
situations on a routine basis. Thus, maintaining their well-being in today's climate is
more challenging than ever.
The idea of maintaining and prioritizing holistic well-being has gained traction
in both research and popular literature in recent years. Simply put, well-being is an
important part of mental health, an experience when " an individual realizes his or
her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively
and is able to make a contribution to his or her community " (World Health Organization,
2023, para. 3). Maintaining well-being is linked to many positive outcomes in
the workplace, including better performance, increased productivity, and greater job
satisfaction (Grawitch et al., 2006).
At a time when staff are feeling exhausted, burned out, and leaving the field, how
do university and departmental leaders cultivate a culture of well-being for their professional
staff while also tending to the needs of their students? This multi-site case study
examined specific practices that affect the well-being of live-in staff and how those
practices affect their experiences.
RESIDENCE LIFE PURPOSE AND STAFFING
The 1960s marked a dramatic shift for the housing and residence life profession,
from employing what were then called dorm mothers, who nurtured, counseled, and
warned of poor behavior when students were misbehaving to employing housing ad54
The Journal of College and University Student Housing
journal_vol49no3

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