SEAHO Report - Holiday 2020 - 11

FEATURE ARTICLES
able to establish a strong rapport
during the summer leading up
to the RA staff arriving, which
allowed for a clear, unified front
when assisting with staff details
throughout the semester.
During this time, the Lockmiller/
Stagmaier complex shared a
Building Assistant when there
is normally one per building.
This brought forth its own set of
challenges as the AD and RD served
in a joint supervision capacity of
the full-time Building Assistant.
The RD was the primary contact
for any approved time off that
the Building Assistant submitted,
while they would submit frequent
sick leave and long-term absence
requests to the AD. While the one
Building Assistant was out of the
office, the AD, RD, and ARD had to
work together with contingency
plans for the office to be staffed and
for someone to be available to help
residents who came to the office for
needs such as packages, lockouts,
and maintenance concerns. It
was important for the AD and RD
to ensure that the ARD was not
working more than their contracted
20 hours per week, causing a bulk
of the office coverage to fall on the
RD, RAs, student workers, and the
AD as necessary.
The Lockmiller and Stagmaier
staff of the previous academic
year had been supervised by a
single RD with no ARD in the
role. The staff reported having a
very close connection with one
another and saw themselves as
one complex unit. However, under
the circumstances in which the
Lockmiller/Stagmaier staff had to
share a full-time RD, even with an
ARD in the role, the staff demeanor
fractured along building divides.
The four RAs in Stagmaier and the
nine RAs in Lockmiller began to see
themselves as separate units, and
this sentiment was stronger from
returning RAs.

AT YOUR INSTITUTION

We know that every institution
is different and that supervisory

styles vary, but these are the things
that worked for us at the University
of Tennessee Chattanooga when
not fully staffed. Our hope through
this article is to provide insight
into some ideas for addressing
the concerns that come with
this challenge that we know is
common within the field of housing
and residence life. Through our
experience we have put together
a list of things to consider when
approaching a similar situation at
your institution:
1. Establish a strong relationship
between professional staff
members involved. The strong
united front between the Assistant
Director, Resident Director, and
Assistant Resident Director was
crucial in this experience. The
ARD having the experience of
taking ownership of their staff was
something of importance for both
the AD and RD.
2. Intentionality behind

relationships built with the
Resident Assistants. At the
forefront of every decision was the
RAs and ensuring that they did not
feel like an " add on " to the staff
the RD already was responsible for
before the vacancy. We wanted to
ensure they felt cared for and that
they mattered.
3. Transparency with all staff
members. This came from
leadership specifically and was a
priority for the Assistant Director.
The student staff members were a
part of hiring discussions for who
their new supervisor could be in
the spring and were always kept
abreast of any updates pertaining
to the search process. Also, the AD
kept the RD and ARD in the loop of
all decisions that could impact their
work.
PICTURED ABOVE: Resident Director,
Aramis Douglas, with both staffs he
supervised over the course of the Fall 2019
semester.

11
SEAHO Report - Holiday 2020

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