Talking Stick - July/August 2015 - 23

director of operations, oversees
a housing initiative intentionally
designed to complement the
university's new comprehensive firstyear experience. "The whole concept
stemmed from all of the salient
research that exists regarding how
much more successful students who
live on campus their first year of college
are in matriculating and eventually
progressing towards graduation," says
Magura. Students commuting from
their homes tend to be less involved
than those living on campus and are
less likely to persist to graduation.
While the benefits of involvement and
persistence may seem straightforward
to housing professionals, Magura feels
that "it is not universally known to
people who work outside of housing,"
which is why "it is critical to engage
in dialogue with partners throughout
the university when implementing a
live-on policy to ensure stakeholder
buy-in." Fortunately, she adds, "many
of our external partners have been our
biggest champions in helping people
understand why a first-year live-on
policy is beneficial to students."
Even if everyone agrees, a major
housing policy shift can be null and
void if the infrastructure isn't in place
to support the policy. Even if all the
stakeholders involved in the issue
of residency requirements are in
agreement, the costly nature of the
endeavor could still pose significant
problems. With price tags reaching into
the millions of dollars, constructing
new residence halls can prove too
expensive. Renovating old halls to
create new bed spaces may also be cost
prohibitive. Therefore, it's important to
be strategic in the timing of any policy
revisions. At UNA, Jacques was able
to garner more support for a first-year
residency policy after also gathering
support for newly constructed residence
halls. "With a live-on expectation, there
is a desire to have new, modern, and
up-to-date residence halls," Jacques

says. Magura feels similarly in that she
has "felt a lot of pressure personally to
ensure the housing environments [they]
provide are in alignment with the vision
behind requiring students to live on
campus."
Implementing a housing policy can
be multifaceted and involve many areas

decisions than originally apparent,
there also may be more resources
available in a university or college
setting. For example, academic
departments provide content-area
specialists who might illuminate
a particular sub-area of concern.
"We partnered with the geography

A MAJOR HOUSING POLICY SHIFT CAN BE NULL
AND VOID IF THE INFRASTRUCTURE ISN'T IN
PLACE TO SUPPORT THE POLICY.
of an institution. At times, though, the
decision-making authority rests with
someone else or may involve a topdown approach. At Lake Forest College
in Illinois, Stacy Oliver-Sikorski,
associate director of residence life for
student success, notes that the housing
policy that began in the fall of 2014
was decided upon "at the president and
senior staff level." The duty to enact
that policy then fell to the professionals
tasked with residence life and housing.
While there may be more
viewpoints to consider in housing

department to determine [an
exemption] area," Jacques explains.
Ultimately, the geographic
argument became too confusing for
implementation and a simpler policy
came out of the discussion. Had it
not been for engaging the content
specialists, though, this discussion may
have gone on longer than needed.
In considering changes to existing
policies or entirely new requirements,
it will be crucial to identify key
stakeholders in the success of the

Lafayette Honors Hall
COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA

JULY + AUGUST 2015

23
Talking Stick - July/August 2015

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