SEAHO Report - Spring 2011 - (Page 21)

seaHo feature CONt. One such collaboration is that with the Shark Pride Committee. This is a student led initiative to promote pride across the campus. Shark Pride is a two-event system where student must attend one Shark Pride sponsored campus event such as an athletic event, career fair, or community service event. Student must then attend a second Shark Pride sponsored event as those listed above and to receive and exclusive Shark Pride shirt. The shirts are very popular on campus and are not sold in stores. The exclusivity of the shirts drives students to seek them out by attending events and therefore promotes the entire initiative. CSO and Shark Pride work together to increase student attendance at campus wide events geared toward commuter students. This allows commuter students to also have the opportunity to attend events and promotes school pride. The programs that are mentioned above are supported through the CAs and RAs. They are educated about the programs and help to promote the ideas and initiatives to both residents and commuter students. The office of Residential Life and Housing supports these initiatives and connects both residents and commuters to the resources and pride that the Commuter Assistant Program and Shark Pride provides, keeping the students engaged through different means. RoomBug at JMU By Kevin Meany, Associate Director for Housing, Office of Residence Life, James Madison University • Social networks and online communities impact the James Madison University residence halls before our students have even unpacked their first suitcase on move in day. Websites such as Facebook are one of the main ways new students connect with each other before arriving on campus. Each year when the acceptance letters go out, an excited student sets up a Facebook group for the newest incoming class. At last count, the Class of 2014 Facebook group had over 3000 members. These Facebook groups are maintained by individual students and are not affiliated with the university. However, many parents and stu- dents think that the university oversees these groups. We have had numerous students tell us in the Office of Residence Life (ORL) that they found their roommate through the Facebook group “that your office created.” Our students are using social networks to find roommates, so ORL thought it was the right time for us to explore this new arena. Our online room selection process seemed like it may be a natural fit with social networking and Facebook. Last year we moved from an in-person, paper room selection process to an online process using Residential Management Systems (RMS). RMS’ online room selection software required contents reports news awards features regions

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Spring 2011

SEAHO Report - Spring 2011
Table of Contents
SEAHO President
One-on-Ones: Where Are They Headed?
The Five Housing Love Languages
Boys-To-Men Mentoring Program
2011 SEAHO Awards
Commuter Assistant Program
RoomBug at JMU
Residence Life Experience Transferred into Business Acumen
Fighting Committee Frustration
Virginia Tech: Ut Prosim
Seeing the Light: The Case for Fluorescent Bulbs in Residence Halls
Alabama Updates
Florida Updates
Kentucky Updates
Louisiana Updates
Mississippi Updates
North Carolina Updates
South Carolina Updates
Virginia Updates

SEAHO Report - Spring 2011