SEAHO Report - Summer 2023 - 20

HE/SA grads, consider either what you may have learned in grad school; or common themes one
would undergo within a HE/SA program. This would include discussions on development theory
(please consider those past Maslow/Schlossberg). On an almost everyday basis, we see students
making decisions that only 18-20-year-old students would make; this is pretty consistent. We can
educate our staff on this, even without needing to be in the classroom or diving deep into all things
theory.
Something else to consider is what our non-HE/SA grads are learning and how they may know
theory by a different name or theme. For example, a graduate student working on their degree
in Marketing/Business might learn a lot of similar theories or ideas without having the Student
Development Theory headline we may have learned in class. Meeting our grad students where they
are helps us to better move forward in the best possible way to be student centered.
Open the communication door
Working in higher education, we make a lot of assumptions. We assume that our grad students,
after training, know what they're doing. We assume that our grad students will know we are there
to support them and answer their questions. We assume. Instead of making these assumptions,
open the door to these students (well, all students). We need to explicitly state that we are there
to support them in their roles. We are there to back them up when they are lost in the process.
We are there to answer questions, no matter how silly they might be. Grad students, for the most
part, are less than two years out from some of the students they oversee. They're still growing and
developing. We need to support them.
There are ways we can do this as a group. Something I like to do is have open and transparent
conversations with those I supervise (directly and indirectly) about the mistakes I have made in the
past, or the ones I am still making. Most of us in this field agree that we are life-long learners. Being
new in a role, whether a Director of Housing or a first-year grad student, we are learning. We need to
be more transparent about this process.
Intentionality within the agenda
As you are creating meeting agendas, or planning out your goals for the semester, see where
you can be educational for your grads. Explain the " why " of what we're doing; how they are an
invaluable piece of the puzzle that is Housing and Residence Life. Without having to write it down,
we all know there are going to be roommate conflicts between the 4-6th week of classes; Students
are going to partake in the October " I hate my roommate awareness month " ; They will inevitably
struggle with time management as they head into Midterms and we WILL get phone calls right after
Thanksgiving from parents letting us know how their child's roommate may or may not be the child
of Satan. Let's think about these pretty consistent events and support our non-HE/SA grads.
On the same line - The Housing Calendar
* Training (Coordinator, Grad, RA)
* Opening
* Room changes
* Fall break closing
* Winter closing
* Health and Safety Inspections
* January training (Coordinator, Grad, RA)
* Academic ineligible
* Spring new arrival move in
20

SEAHO Report - Summer 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Summer 2023