SEAHO Report - Fall 2024 - 32

such as occupancy, facilities, and residence life all had different reporting structures that communication had
to work through. Finally, add in the fact that Kennesaw now had two different campuses with staff divided
amongst both, something needed to change.
One night, after a particularly stressful day of managing this dynamic, Dr. Cotton sat down with her laptop and
developed the Hub structure. In January of 2019, the first Hub Leader was hired for the Marietta Campus with
the goal of piloting the Hub structure. After a successful semester, two additional Hub Leaders were hired to
lead the Kennesaw North and South Hubs.
What Is the Hub Concept?
In a traditional housing and residence life department, the functions of the department are managed separately.
Here at Kennesaw State, all functions of the department are distributed between our three housing areas and
report through the Hub Leader for that area. Each Hub has a full facilities team led by an Assistant Director
that works with the Hub Leader to manage the physical spaces of the community. A Facilities Coordinator that
reports directly to the Hub Leader that manages all work orders. A Housing Coordinator that reports directly to
the Hub Leader that manages occupancy for the community. A Business Operation Specialist that works with
the Hub team to manage programmatic paperwork and purchases. Finally, each Hub has a residence life team
of Community Coordinators, led by an Assistant Director that reports to the Hub Leader.
All functions residing in one office.
Overall vision and management of departmental processes and procedures is provided by our Functional
Leadership team. As for the day-to-day operations of our three residential communities, that is all handled by
the Hub teams. The way we like to describe it is that we have three mini-Housing departments.
Benefits of the Hub Concept
The housing and residence life Hub model at Kennesaw State University offers several key advantages. It
provides the Associate Directors of Housing and Residence Life with comprehensive oversight experience,
managing residence life, facilities, business operations, and occupancy for all day-to-day needs. While the
Associate Directors ensure these daily operational tasks are handled, functional Area Directors and their teams
can focus on big-picture goals and strategic initiatives for each functional area. This balance allows for both
immediate needs and long-term improvements to be addressed effectively. Each Hub fosters its own unique
culture that fits the needs of its students and staff, contributing to a stronger sense of community while aligning
with KSU's values.
The Hub structure allows for efficient inventory management, focusing resources on each area's specific
needs, and enables quicker responses to student concerns, with most work orders completed in two business
days or less. Having all functional teams in the same space also ensures faster, coordinated responses during
crises.
For residence life, the model allows staff to build deeper relationships with students, creating more
personalized programming. The proximity of each team member encourages collaboration and cross-training,
leading to stronger rapport and smoother decision-making, with many approvals handled directly by the Hub's
Associate Director. Overall, the Hub model promotes efficiency, fosters community, and enhances the student
experience at KSU.
Challenges with the Hub Concept
Every day is not always sunny in the NeighborHub. One of the more significant challenges is communication.
With our operations being so spread out, it can be a struggle at times to ensure that we are all on the same
page so that we can provide a consistently positive experience for residents. An additional challenge is the
unavoidable " dotted line " of supervision that extends from the functional areas to the Hub team. Our Hub
teams are still a vital part of large-scale processes such as implementing the residential curriculum, recruitment
and training, large scale programmatic initiatives, HRL committees, and other areas that are led by our
functional team. If expectations are not met by staff members in these areas, accountability conversations can
be complex. Finally, with one of our residential communities being in the Marietta Campus, it is difficult at times
to integrate Marietta Campus residential students into the overall HRL experience that we seek to provide for
our residents.
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SEAHO Report - Fall 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Fall 2024