SEAHO Report - Fall 2019 - 26

SEAHO Feature Articles
developing the community in which Solomon was placed. To ensure we were both supporting Solomon's
growth and learning, we communicated about our conversations with Solomon regularly to ensure he was
being supported holistically. For example, Erin shared with Stephen that she helped Solomon navigate
his role in health and safety inspections, which allowed Stephen to check in with Solomon to make sure
he understood his role. We replicated this communication with other staff members to ensure we were
centering their learning in our work as they navigated their own challenges and trials as undergraduate
student leaders.
Addressing Interpersonal Conflict
At the start of the year, we had the RA staff develop team expectations. One of those expectations was
that Erin and Stephen would directly address any team conflicts. There became a point in the year when
significant interpersonal issues arose on the RA staff. Blake and Susan2, the two SRAs, brought these
issues to Erin and Stephen during a Leadership Team meeting. The interpersonal issues were manifesting
in that there were two cliques arguing amongst one another. After that meeting, Erin and Stephen discussed
the staff dynamics. It was evident that we needed to resolve these issues, but how would we do that?
After hearing about the issues on staff, we discussed the root of the issues as well as how to best navigate
them. Because we had set expectations at the beginning of the year and made the commitment to address
conflict directly, we determined that we would bring up the interpersonal issues at the start of a staff
meeting and prompt them to discuss their concerns, feelings, and issues with one another. While this was
a risky strategy, we believed that, given the personalities on the staff, this was the only way to ensure that
everything would be brought to light and addressed directly and effectively, while also being consistent
with our predetermined expectations. Though we knew the staff would rather sit and watch paint dry than
discuss the interpersonal issues, it was vital that the strategy we used to address the conflict aligned with
their expectations to ensure buy-in and cooperation. Additionally, it allowed us to address conflict head on,
which we both preferred.
Consistent & Direct Personnel Management
On a large staff, it is reasonable to expect a variety of conflicts ranging from individual performance
issues to staff infighting. It is vital that co-supervisors are consistent in their approach to addressing
conflict and personnel issues. For us, we addressed anything from individual performance concerns to
large staff conflict quickly and directly. We worked to bring concerns and issues out in the open and
address them head on. Additionally, we discussed in our weekly meetings with each other how we were
handling individual personnel issues prior to addressing them, ensuring both of us were consistent; while
we were holding our team accountable, we held one another accountable to our expectations for personnel
management. This approach allowed staff to understand how they would be held accountable for the
standards of performance they agreed to meet and not be caught off guard when they were held accountable
for their actions and performance.
Challenging Partnerships
Virginia Tech has 16 living learning programs (LLPs), which include 13 LLCs and three residential
colleges. These LLPs bring faculty into our residential environments to enrich the student experience. Our
communities are both academic discipline-focused (e.g. engineering and entrepreneurship) and interestfocused (e.g. arts and creativity and intercultural engagement). Among the 1,000+ residents, this residence
hall also housed four LLCs, which required us to partner with four different program directors on a regular
basis. While the role of the RA is not significantly different in an LLC, there are a few nuances to the role.

SEAHO Report Fall 2019

SEAHO Report - Fall 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Fall 2019