Talking Stick - July/August 2018 - 33

may have appeared at the end of the
list, many noted its importance. The
SHOs interviewed used the following
phrases to define fit: congruence between personal and professional values, ability to mesh with two or more
of the cultures (campus, division, department), alignment of philosophies,
and a match between a candidate's
skills and experiences and the needs
and opportunities of the role. Josh
Hartman, associate dean and director
of residence life at Whittier College in
California, said he looked for "a high
sense of collegiality" and "a really
positive relationship among faculty,
students, staff, and alumni."
New senior housing officers described fit in a position as something
that included quality of life issues,
adequate institutional resources for the
area they oversee, and being comfortable with the personnel that work within the organization and division. Torry
Brouillard-Bruce, senior director of student housing and residential education
at the University of San Francisco in
California, provided one example. "The
fit concept was less about fitting in the
role of the director and more about
finding an institution that would allow
me to be physically and mentally well.
Last year, a student posted a Facebook
post about concerns regarding [the university's] gender-neutral housing. At
my previous institution, I would have
had to call the vice president, so I called
my current VP on a Sunday, and she
said, 'Let's talk about it on Monday, go
enjoy time with your kids.' You don't
have to do it all on a Sunday, you can
do it on a Monday. Finding a place that
fit with how I wanted to be a director
and role modeling that you don't have
to be on 24/7 was a big change." Leah
McCormack-Smith, from the New College University of Toronto in Ontario,
Canada, also described fit in terms of
support. "I had worked at two previous

NEW SENIOR
HOUSING OFFICERS
DESCRIBED FIT
IN A POSITION
AS SOMETHING
THAT INCLUDED
QUALITY OF LIFE
ISSUES, ADEQUATE
INSTITUTIONAL
RESOURCES FOR
THE AREA THEY
OVERSEE, AND BEING
COMFORTABLE WITH
THE PERSONNEL THAT
WORK WITHIN THE
ORGANIZATION AND
DIVISION.
colleges and was used to working with
pretty limited resources. I was very
cognizant of coming in and taking my
time before making any changes. I had
the support from my supervisor to take
time to dig into data, programs, and
when I came to them about justification for more resources for staffing, I
got the support."
An increasing number of institutions are utilizing search firms to
select senior housing officers. Of
those SHOs surveyed, 20 percent said
they were recruited by a search firm.
The companies help the institution in
writing job descriptions, cultivating
a deep candidate pool, and serving

as the liaison between candidates
and the hiring institution. In this
role, search firm representatives also
grapple with the definition of fit when
evaluating candidates. As Ponneh
Varho, principal at Isaacson, Miller,
stated, "I must confess that the word
'fit' in a search context sometimes
gives me pause. There is a danger
of 'fit' serving as a euphemism for
'sameness.' So while it is important to
identify someone who demonstrates
the potential to be a good, compatible
colleague, we caution search committees from using fit to search for
sameness. It's easy to be drawn to
that which is similar and assume that
which is different is not a fit."
The idea of sameness was
discussed by a number of survey
participants in terms of balance,
role authority, identity (gender
and diversity), and philosophy. As
McCormack-Smith shared, "My
previous supervisor had a very similar
style as I, and now I'm her peer.
Lots of people in the organization I
learn from have styles that were very
similar. I use my former supervisor's
and now-new colleague's differences
to bounce ideas." There is also a
negative side to seeing fit in terms of
similarity, which can create problems
for candidates who feel they are part of
a minority. James Bridgeforth, director
of housing at the University of South
Alabama in Mobile, noted that there
were a number of staff of color when
he interviewed for the position, but
he had no peers of color by the time
he started the job. Jeremie Middleton,
director of residence life at Houston
Baptist University in Texas, spoke
of the importance of having a real
openness when transitioning from
a public institution to a religiously
affiliated institution where "decisions
are embedded in a particular valuebased philosophy."

JULY + AUGUST 2018

33
Talking Stick - July/August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - July/August 2018
