SEAHO Report - Summer 2021 - 22

FEATURE ARTICLES
Taking a " Deeper Dive " into RELI 2021
Alex Drose, Kayla Harvey, Teddy Howell, Jenna Jeslis, Kaitlynn Orlandi,
Dylan Ruffra, Corey Ulloa, and Kaley Van Zile
Annually, SEAHO offers the Regional
Entry Level Institute (RELI) to
professionals who are within
the first three years in their first
professional position. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 RELI
experience had to be cancelled, with
many professionals who were in
their third year wondering what that
meant for them. Thankfully, the
2021 RELI co-chairs, Dr. Stephanie
Carter, Katrina Pawvluk, and Dr.
Anthony White, found a way to create
a unique experience for fourthyear
professionals that dove deeper
into the RELI Competencies. During
RELI, there would be one or two
presentations on the competencies,
then the 3+ year participants would
have a faculty member lead a session
that took a Deeper Dive into the
competency by having a case study
or an open conversation about the
competency. Having these " Deeper
Dives " was a beneficial experience, so
we wanted to share our takeaways.
Occupancy
Once the conference officially kicked off with cluster time and intros, we jumped head first into our initial
session covering occupancy management. After learning some of the occupancy management basics from Aubree
Adams, we participated in a 'Year in the Life of an Occupancy Management Professional' activity, which outlined
the priorities, partnerships, and plans that would need to be addressed in a future assignments role.
In the afternoon, Bree Gates led the Deeper Dive into occupancy, which allowed for the 3+ year members
to discuss a case study scenario in small groups: our on-call response to an after-hours flood that required
impacted students to be relocated. We talked about the importance of calling up for assistance, working with
various campus partners, and the challenges with implementing an all-hands-on-deck staff support scenario.
While working through our response plans, we discussed many priorities including the focusing on student
safety, communication, and organization, with an understanding that it is important that all who are impacted
are getting the resources and support they need to be successful. During the small group recaps, it was even
suggested that we reach out to campus recreation to see if they would be willing to donate tents. Talk about
capitalizing on your campus partner relationships!
All levels of housing professionals play a critical role in occupancy management. Working with assignments
means more than just putting in that room change request and waiting for a response. It's our job to build
relationships with students and our assignments team, to be an effective communicator, and to work to provide
the critical information needed to make informed decisions that directly impact our students' experience. We
were challenged to take ownership of this responsibility as this approach will only assist us in being better
partners and departmental leaders moving forward.
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SEAHO Report - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Summer 2021