The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 3 - 37

A Framework for Increasing Housing and Residence Life Staff Capacity and Confidence

using Backward Design to author lesson plans.
A pre/post assessment plan was created and
implemented as well to gauge staff learning as
a result of the series.

Based on lessons learned at UD,

LESSONS LEARNED FOR
CURRICULUM TRAINERS

a professional development series

Based on lessons learned at UD, four recommendations in the form of steps for those
seeking to create a professional development
series that incorporates the principles of a
Curricular Model, Backward Design, and empirically supported learning principles are presented below. These steps focus on providing
guidance specifically to the HRL staff who are
tasked with developing training to increase
professional staff members' competence and
capacity to author and implement CMs. For
the purposes of clarity, these specific HRL staff
are referred to as "curriculum trainers" in the
steps.

of a Curricular Model, Backward

Step 1: Ensure Staff Involvement in
Determining Unit Learning Goals
Before attempting to build staff capacity, it is
important that any HRL department be able to
clearly articulate what students should learn as
a result of engaging in the programs available
in their residence halls. Once the HRL unit has
explored the institutional priorities and considered how their unit will contribute to the broad
learning goals of the institution, staff should
establish their own educational goals for
student learning, including specific learning
outcomes that will become the foundation of
their CM. The educational goals should reflect
the unit's values, mission and educational
aims for students.

four recommendations in the form
of steps for those seeking to create
that incorporates the principles
Design, and empirically supported
learning principles are presented
below.

All levels of HRL staff who will author
the curriculum and implement the programs
should be engaged in determining the scope
of the unit's educational goals to foster their
investment in student achievement of the outcomes. Ample time should be devoted to this
process to ensure the HRL unit is completely
dedicated to the educational priority before
moving on to additional steps.
The UD curricular model is rooted in a
defined Educational Priority statement which
was authored to provide the UD RLH department with clearly defined learning goals for
students as a result of their residential experience. Strategically, curriculum trainers
engaged all levels of the department's professional staff in the authoring and editing process
of the Educational Priority through a series of
retreats and writing workshops including dialogue about the institutional context and the
UD RLH's unique capacity to contribute to the
institution's educational goals within the residence halls. By involving all staff in authoring

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 3
