Talking Stick - March/April 2014 - 17

strategies and assessment that
should be incorporated in the
residential curriculum, as well as
outlining specific requirements
for staff. According to ACPA
(College Student Educators
International), the curriculum for
this model is tied directly to the
institutional mission, is based
on the development of learning
outcomes that can be assessed,
and recognizes that RAs have
an important role in the process
but are not educational experts.
A less structured approach is the
community development model,
which provides more flexibility for
staff programming efforts. Unlike
the RCM, this model emphasizes
more local connections - to
departmental priorities rather than
the institutional mission - and can
more easily adjust its programming
based on the changing needs of
the community and residents.
Most current programming
models appear to fall somewhere
in between the two poles, since
each institution selects the model
that best meets the needs of their
student population, a goal achieved
by the four institutions highlighted
here.
Clemson University in South
Carolina is in the first year of
implementing their Residential
Experience Model, a version of the
Residential Curriculum Model. Like
the RCM, it prioritizes learning
outcomes and is grounded in
research on student development.
The curriculum - which is based
on the values of the university
and rooted in what they believe
students learn from living on

campus - sets forth four critical
learning goals: global citizenship,
intellectual engagement, living in
community, and self-exploration.
Student learning outcomes are the
core of the model and drive the
interactions that staff have with
residents. Events and interactions
that are designed to connect
students to resources and experts
on campus are structured and
outcomes-based and are based not
only on information gathered about
individual student experiences but
also what is known from student
development theory.
Suzanne Price, associate
director for academic initiatives,
specifies that one impetus for
changing the model at Clemson
was recognition of the shifting
role of resident assistants. Though
student staff viewed themselves
as leaders, residents did not
always share that perception,
tending to view them instead as
enforcers of policy and regulators
of community standards. As a
way to create more positive and
intentional interactions between
residents and RAs, Clemson
implemented an outcomesbased model for the residential
curriculum. Doug Hallenbeck,
executive director for university
housing and dining, explains that
"the focus is on relationships and
conversations rather than formal
programming, and as a result the
student outcomes are deeper and
more thoughtful. The number of
programs has decreased; however,
they are more powerful and better
aligned with intentional activities."
Though the model is still new, it

Photos courtesy of college of William & mary

Students at the College of William & Mary are actively
engaged in building their community.

March + april 2014

17
Talking Stick - March/April 2014

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