SEAHO Report - Winter 2025 - 33

" Ripping the Band-Aid Off:
Developing a staff
who can ask for help "
Ainsley Hallenbeck, Virginia Commonwealth University & Kaitlyn Van Dyk, University of Richmond
Rendering aid and physically showing up for students and staff in the midst of small challenges or complex
crises is ingrained in the work that we do as housing professionals at all levels. Often first on the scene, we
step up to offset the mental, emotional, and physical toll that would otherwise weigh on our typically less
trained staff. We tackle large problems in stride, compartmentalize our own emotional response, and we
always find some kind of solution. What happens after the incident is over, the incident reports are written,
and we go home? As professionals who frequently encounter large and small scale traumas, many of us have
developed strategies that help us individually process the events that unfold before us and have learned to
" normalize " our responses. We carry heavy loads, and while we may appear to " carry it well, " it does not mean
that these situations have no impact on us as professionals and people. Far too often, we are bandaging
ourselves, the helpers who don't know how to ask for help.
Sometimes, band-aid solutions are necessary. It's 3 a.m. and we can send the RA home to rest, provide a
student with a temporary solution for the night, and make a list of things to follow up on in the morning as
we go to sleep ourselves. Some common band-aid solutions include: " My door is open " (if you can find time
on my Google calendar), comparison between difficult situations, one-off check ins and/or comp time with
no follow up, and, of course, a pizza party in the conference room. However, more than a one time band-aid
is often needed to support staff. We asked fellow housing professionals what impactful ways they had been
supported during and after crises. Responses included: " Handwritten thank you notes/acknowledgement " ,
" Being intentional with peer support " , " Director advocacy to higher up " , and " Encouragement to take time off " . It
is on us as the new generation of student affairs professionals to continue to develop and push for sustainable
solutions to support staff.
When we consider diversified approaches to problem solving, we have to consider all impacted parties. Nevitt
Sanford (1966) believed that college students, often the majority of our housing staff, should be challenged to
grow, while also balancing this with adequate scaffolding (Longerbeam, 2016). As student staff navigate their
multifaceted roles of community building, peer accountability, and crisis response, they are challenged to tackle
a variety of scenarios with unknown variables at play. They respond to situations in a solo capacity at times,
utilizing their training and any additional tiers of support to resolve issues. Support may come in the form of
a professional staff member answering questions on the phone or working with public safety or maintenance
staff. In escalated concerns, this may involve a more trained staff member physically responding to the
scene, lending support by being present, and removing a less seasoned staff member from a situation that is
perceived to be too much for them to manage. We should challenge ourselves to explore what support looks
like beyond the scene. Support should come in more forms than just a single check in or a removal from the
scene.
As a profession, we invest a substantial amount of time into training, altering our approaches to policy and
procedure to meet the needs of our students. We are relying on taking the input of our staff (students and
professionals), exposing them to an environment in which they will learn and grow through training and
practice, and yielding a positive outcome as a result of that environment. This ideology is tied to A. W. Astin's
I-E-O model, and can be adapted for a variety of settings beyond the college student development framework.
While we utilize training and practical framework to inspire positive outcomes for all employees, band-aid
solutions at times of high crisis without proper follow up can lead to secondary trauma and compassion fatigue.
The word " trauma " derives from the Greek word for " wound " (Merriam-Webster). Trauma can include a physical
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SEAHO Report - Winter 2025

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