Talking Stick - September/October 2009 - 56

SNAPSHOT BONISHA TOWNSEND THERE IS SO MUCH FULFILLMENT IN WHAT I DO THAT AT THIS POINT I KNOW I AM IN THE FIELD I AM SUPPOSED TO BE IN… What’s the ﬁrst thing you do when you get into the ofﬁce each morning? I say hello to my team and see how their day before went, and then I check e-mails and messages. When was the last time you awoke to a phone call from work in the middle of the night? Last night because a smoke detector malfunctioned and set off the ﬁre alarm. What do you wish was different about your job? That everyone in our university community fully understood housing and residence life and the complexities of the operation. What’s the biggest issue for the students on your campus right now? Ha! How to make the most of their last days of summer break! On a serious note, they are most concerned with being able to afford their education and its complementary necessities. New social technology like texting and Facebook: Good or evil? Both: like most things, it depends on how it is used and managed. What’s the biggest issue you see facing the profession right now? Maintaining mental and physical health amidst economic hardships. We expect more students to have more symptoms of depression as they recognize and face the real impacts of a slowing economy. Many of these students are also expected to “act out” and create an increase in adjudication and counseling. Most of these students are not expected to just come out and say it, but they will express their troubles in varying ways. What’s your biggest challenge on campus? The economy and balancing our rising expenses with student affordability. Best session, speaker, or book you’ve been impressed by? The best recent session and speaker was “Becoming the Totally Responsible Person, Enhancing Personal Success” with Sanford Danzinger and Thomas White. This session put into simple practices ways that you can be successful on all levels, professionally and personally. It simply depends on your attitude and your ability to escape the victim mentality. The best recent book was Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope, mainly because it is written with humility and great insight into the political realm. What makes your campus unique? Our campus is a hidden jewel. We have an extremely safe and beautiful campus. We also have a family type of community where the classes are small and everyone knows one another by their ﬁrst names. But, most of all, our campus operates with the words “Potential Realized” in mind. Last meal at a campus dining hall? About two weeks ago before they vacationed for the rest of the summer. What resource can’t you live without? My guiding principles. Name the individuals who made the greatest impact on your career. Charlene Townsend, my mother. All that she instilled in me at home is what has driven me in my career. What made you decide to work in housing? If you hadn’t chosen housing, what would your job be? I actually made a transition from the shopping center management ﬁeld to housing and residence life, positions that have very similar responsibilities on the business side. I started out as a residence life coordinator working on my Masters degree (MBA) at ASU and later unexpectedly became the director of the department. I also have always volunteered for youth development programs/activities, so this ﬁeld blends both worlds — business and youth development. There is so much fulﬁllment in what I do that at this point I know I am in the ﬁeld I am supposed to be in, but if I were not, I would be back in the shopping center industry. 56 TALKING STICK Favorite campus traditions? The singing of our alma mater, when those who can’t sing still sing with pride; our student/staff retreats where I get personal and lengthy time periods with our student leaders; and the RAM Buck — those Golden RAMs know what that is! BONISHA TOWNSEND is the director of housing and residence life at Albany State University in Albany, Georgia. Tamara Atwater, a student at Albany State, recommended Bonisha Townsend for Snapshot. Who would you like to see featured? Send your suggestions to camille@acuho-i.org.

Talking Stick - September/October 2009

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