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LA AH HO New N wslletter – Dece D em mber r 20 010 0
See Y Yourself at LSU U…We e Do!
The Real R RA As of Lo ouisian na: ERA A 2011
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Sav ve! If you u're still buying g plastic bottlees of water, buy ya reusa able bottle insteead. Clean n your home wiith natural produ ucts, just aboutt anything can be b cleaned with vinegar, lemon n juice and bak king soda.
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Take a couple simplee steps to sav ve a lot of energ gy in your home. h Carry y a reusable ba ag and refusee plastic bags, no n more break king, tearing orr blowing in thee wind. Some sttores will give you y a credit if you y bring your own o bag.
Be well! 1
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Walk k or bike more. It's I not only good g for your health, h it's good for everyone else's e health th by reducing pollution. p
Julie Henrriquez
Lori Cou lter The Residentt Assistants at co olleges and universities aacross Louisiana know drama, and ERA 2011 is h how they get to showcase their skills and unique eexperiences thro ough skits and performancees, presenting prrograms, roundttable discussions, and networking with their counterpartss across the state. This year’s co onference theme, ‘The Real Ressident Assistants off Louisiana’, a on ne‐off of the pop pular Bravo TV Sho ow ‘The Real Housewives’, was suggested an nd selected by th he participating students imm mediately follow wing ERA 2010. I personally caan’t wait for roll‐call and skit performancees to see how ou ur students portray the every‐daay drama they exxperience in their roles as RAs and through living in the residence halls. The LaHO executive board iss pleased to bring the nce back to Tall Timbers March 18‐ ERA conferen 19th, 2011. The conference ssite is a favorite of the o participate eacch year, and bettter students who suits the form mat of the confeerence. Delegation registration, program submission, and the ERA Scholarship aapplication are aall currently avaiilable on the LaHO website (http:///laho.org/era.httm).
Reegistration cost ffor ERA is $55 peer person. For pro ofessional staff tthere is a $25 ad dd‐on fee that th he LaHO body acceptted into policy to o support the SEAHO representaative’s attendancce at the SEAHO O usiness meetingss. conference and bu ne new and excitting change we aare pushing to On im mplement this year is a professional programmin ng traack. If you have aa program that yyou are presentiing at a national confeerence, considerr using ERA as yo our tesst run and get feeedback from yo our LA peers. If yyour school is tigghtening the bellt on travel fun nding, please co onsider applying for scholarship mo onies to bring a student delegattion. This moneyy is raiised each year th hrough the Silen nt Auction that go oes on throughou ut the conferencce, and hasn’t beeen used in several years. Our RA As bid on items knowing that the m money is earmarked specificallyy to briing more RAs to the conferencee. The more sch hools that we caan have represen nted at ERA, thee riccher the peer leaarning environment will be. onths of hard wo ork to put in Wee have a few mo beefore ERA 2011, but the payout iis always great. TTo sit in the hall at ER RA and feel the eexcitement and en nergy that 150 sttudents bring to the conference maake any amount of work worthw while! See you att Tall Timbers March 18‐19!
The Departm ment of Resideential Life at LSSU is currently accepting applicaations for professional and graduatee positions. Thee dent population n and facility diverse stud characteristics as well as o our nationally recognized rresidential college communitties make the Deepartment of R Residential Lifee the perfect oppo ortunity for graaduate studen nts and housingg professionals to begin theirr career in Stu udent Affairs. M Members of ou ur Residence Education team m have the opportunityy to network with a diverse group of individuals to develop their knowledgge, n the field. talents, and abilities within A Residencee Life Coordinator (RLC) is a professional live‐in staff m member in the Departmentt of Residential Life who is responsible for the qualityy of living in a or group of hallls. university reesidence hall o Reporting to o an Assistant D Director for Residence Education, RLC principle dutiees on of include stafff supervision, implementatio academic initiatives, studeent and commu unity nt, administrattion and buildin ng developmen managemen nt, and fulfillingg other generaal departmenttal responsibilitties.
A Grad duate Residencce Director (GR RD) is a live‐in graduaate assistant in n the Departme ent of Residential Life. U Under the supeervision of a full‐time professsional live‐in R Residence Life Coordinator, tthe GRD’s primary respo onsibilities inclu ude the supervvision and deveelopment of sttudent staff memb bers, basic adm ministrative management of aa residential community, coordinatio on of programs and acctivities, and paarticipation in campus‐wide rotatin ng on‐call scheedule. Candidattes for the GRD D positio on must apply to the LSU Graaduate School for consid deration. Candiidates pursuingg degrees in th he Higherr Education pro ogram are prefferred. The prioritty deadline for graduate scho ool applications is March h 1, 2011; howeever, we encou urage candidattes to app ply early.
Tu ulane Ressidential Collegge 2 Con nstruction n Update e Constru uction of the se econd residential college at Tulane Univversity is well way. The new hall, which is underw scheduled to open Au ugust 2011, is a 269 bed d complex with h suite style restroom ms. The additio on of this residence hall will brin ng the overall ono o over 3800 bed ds campuss occupancy to (3700+ billable beds). The community will be comprised c of upper-class studentts who are a pa art of the Honors college program, or w who have a GPA A
Our grraduate and prrofessional stafff team has severaal professional development opportunities availab ble to them. TThese opportun nities include advisin ng student gro oups, serving ass hearing officeers for thee departmentaal conduct proccess and presen nting at trainin ng and conferences. Opporrtunities to serrve on and chair committees are alsso available.
of 3.6 or o higher. Stude ents will apply to t live in th his new hall, Fe ebruary of 2011. Residen nce hall room ffurniture will be e supplied d by Southwesst Contract and d the loun nge furniture iss currently unde er review. The architectss for this projecct are Han nbury and Evan ns. Additional featuress include: a two o story faculty in residence apartment, which will be
Eat more m locally gro own food. Seasonal produce that hasn't
over 20 000 square feett; a seminar
flown half-way arou und the world d will be fresherr, tastier and cu uts down on the pollution that ca auses global warming.
study ro ooms; social lo ounge spaces,
Buy organic o when you y can particcularly peachess, apples, bell peeppers, celery, nectarines and sttrawberries, which w conta ain the most pessticides.
room with w smart techn nology; multiple e one sta aff apartment, a and a multifunction nal courtyard sp pace. Converrsations concerrning Residentiial College e 3 have begun n, with an estimated opening date of August 2013.
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LA AH HO New N wslletter – Dece D em mber r 20 010 0
Facebo ook, You uTube an nd Twitter, Oh M My! ‐ Em mbracingg New Media to Reach Parents & Stu udents Catherine Da avid, LSU Resid dential Life Com mmunications C Coordinator The LSU Deparrtment of Resideential Life is engaging in new meedia to reach mu ultiple audiencess with great succcess! LSU Res Liffe chose three social media servvices to give an insid de glimpse of lifee on campus and d engage in convversation with students and fam milies. First, find LSU ResLife on FFacebook! The LLSU ResLife pagee features frequent status updates about activitties in the halls aand on campus, photos of resideent events, conttests like Name tthat Res Hall, an nd links to Res Life ogs. In its short two‐year existen nce, the page hass facilitated greaat conversationss and become Rees Life’s “living w website.” See thee excitement at videos and blo www.facebook.com/lsureslifee. ought the voice o of a current LSU student to the m masses through the Girl in the P Purple Polo Blog.. This semi‐ anon nymous studentt blog Secondly, LSU Res Life has bro ming student likee 10 Things I wissh I knew as a Freshman and Miccrowave Cooking g in the Res Hallls. Read her new w by an LSU seniior covers topicss for every incom posts every Th hursday at www..thepurplepolo.b blogspot.com. hort videos highlights Lastly, to truly show the rooms to incoming sttudents, LSU Ress Life filmed, edited and produceed the LSU Res LLife Cribs series. The series of sh h episode, with rresidents giving vviewers a tour o of their “crib.” M Moving forward, Res Life hopes tto produce moree videos for stud dents a different residence hall each more traffic to itts YouTube Chan nnel www.youtu ube.com/thepurrplepolo. and generate m municate with mu ultiple audiences have been extremely positive for LSU Res Life. As the world o of social media co onstantly grows and These three avvenues to comm changes, so must housing dep partments’ new m media approach hes and policies. pand your comm munication into tthe new media w world? Rememb ber all new mediia is a two‐way cconversation, so o be prepared! H Here are a few tip ps Looking to exp LSU Res Life haas pickup along tthe way. • • • • • • • •
Wheere is your audieence in Web 2.0?? Figure that outt and go to them m. Most of who LLSU Res Life wan nted to reach waas on Facebook, so that is the heeart of ou ur new media co ommunication efforts. Don’’t do it all; do a ffew and do it we ell. With new services popping u up daily, don’t ovverwhelm yoursself and try to do o it all. Find the ffew that are mo ost relevvant to you, your audience and yyour message and do them well. Partiicipate. Setting u up a Facebook p page isn’t a one‐and‐done item. It has to be consistently updateed with relevant information to become a viablee sourrce of informatio on for your audie ence. Again, participate. W Web 2.0 is based d on conversations. You have to be ready to reply to questions, pose questions and respond to positive and negaative feedback –– all in a public fo orum. Most importantly, be hon nest and sincere in all communiccation. Inclu ude your social m media outlets in your crisis comm munication plan ns. Social media o often breaks new ws stories, so bee prepared to usse and monitor yyour sociaal media sites du uring crisis situattions. Claim m your residencee halls and aparttment complexees on Facebook P Places and Fourssquare. Location n based marketing is a rising trend, and you don n’t wantt a freshman to commandeer yo our virtual building, now do you? Claim them no ow even if you h have no plans of what to do with h them. Twitter – Is it worth it? Don’t feel co ompelled to jump on a service iff it’s the “next biig thing.” Focus on if it’s the nexxt big thing for you and your audience. We weigh hed our options, and Twitter wass not worth the time investmen nt…yet. Yes, a lot of these seervices are free, but be prepared d to spend a lot of human capitaal setting up, maaintaining and fo ostering these W Web 2.0 services.. It can b be very time inteensive. See poin nt #2.
Co onsequences of Suicide On‐Cam mpus and d Helping Stu udents A Affected d Kyle e Smith, ULL C Community D Director Late into the Fall 201 10 semester, a rresident of our o on‐campus aparttment‐style living facility, Legacyy Park, decided tto end her life in nside her apartm ment. The expeerience was one that will alwayss be with my student staff, the reesidents, and me. The Director of Counseling & & Testing and thee Licensed Profeessional Coun nselors worked w with everyone th hroughout this eentire process, aand in dealing with this situation n and its aftermaath. Their guidan nce and expertisse taught our stafff much about ho ow to handle on‐‐campus tragedies and their con nsequences. Firstly, seeing the diffferent ways thaat the different sstudents were dealing with their own subjective e emotions show wed that there iss no one correctt way to nts and three Co ommunity Advisors at the complex were ones of the first on the e scene, and the weight of emottional trauma that would be grievve. A few studen with them in the com ming weeks could not be overesstimated. Their symptoms weree similar to that of PTSD or acutee stress disorderr: irritability, acu ute stress, anxieety, depression, nightmares, losss of sleep, loss o of appetite, etc.,, and these symp ptoms could posssibly last from o one day to as lon ng as a few weeks. One of the Commun nity Advisors who o was close to th he victim was veery vocal and open in expressingg his emotions and actively sougght counseling, w while two ne of those two would eventually give notice that she would no ot be returning otheers would not speak of the incideent after that nigght and refused counseling. On the ffollowing semester due to the emotional trauma that the incideent had caused h her. I am very p protective over m my residents and d over my studen nt staff in partiicular, and seein ng them strugglee to cope with th he troubling thou ughts and emotions that they w were experiencin ng was the hardeest part. Though h I made myseelf open and em motionally availab ble to my studen nts, I was very animate about seeeing to it that th hey got the proffessional help th hat they needed.. However, one of our wonderfu ul counselors at our counseling ccenter advised m me that forcing aan individual to counseling could d turn him or heer off to the expeerience ng open and read dily available forr when they deccide to go themselves. forevver and that thee best course of aaction is simply keeping the opttion of counselin Students should be aaware that neveer again in their llives will they reeceive free menttal therapy. One e of the CAs wou uld eventually seee a counselor and has made much noticeable pro ogress. As a concerned professional staff member, it is of th he highest importance to alwayss have an open d door and try to iinitiate healthy cconversation about the incid dent, preferably in private so as to not put the sttudent on the sp pot. Students m may feel like theyy do not know ho ow to bring it up p but may want very badly to speaak with someonee about their feeelings. If you aree not sure aboutt how to bring up p a discussion ab bout the inciden nt, a good idea m might be to begin n with a neuttral topic as a segway. Do not asssume that becaause they are qu uiet that they have nothing to saay. The most important thing that you ccan do as professsional staff is to o be a resource ffor the students in need. Professsional staff musst remain strong themselves he department aand for the studeents that we serrve. Work with ccampus police, ccounseling centeer, and other stu udent affairs to seerve as emotionaal anchors for th depaartments in a collaborative efforrt to ensure thatt the issue is han ndled in the bestt possible way fo or all parties invo olved.
L HO Ne LAH ewslettter – Dec D cem mbe er 2010 2 0 Do I rreally n need to o go gre een? LAHO O 2010‐2 2011 day Sustainabilitty and Housing Tod Execu utive Bo oard
The Executtive Board for thhe 2010-2011 year is madde up of the folloowing people and institutiions: Past Presid dent: Anthonny Jackson, Grambling State Universityy (jacksonaan@gram.edu) President: Celenaa Trahan, Tulane University (ctrahann@tulane.edu)
President - Elect: Steve Waller, Louisiana State S University (swallerr@lsu.edu) Member att Large: Marciia Louis, University of Louisiana Laffayette (mml1072@loouisiana.edu) Business Manager: M Moniica Adams, Xavier Univversity (mmageee@xula.edu) Newsletterr Editor: Joshuua Coco, Centenary College C of Louissiana (jcoco@ceentenary.edu) State Reprresentative: Jolaanda Taylor, Grambling State Universityy (taylorj rj@gram.edu) Tech. Coorrdinator: Rennee Richard Snider, Louuisiana State Uniiv. (rsnider@lsu.edu) ERA Coordinator: Lorri Coulter, Tulane University (lantoni@tulane.edu) Any questioons, feel free to contact them!
Cajun n Country Faccelift: M Major C Change es to UL Laafayette Houssing Kyle Smith h, ULL Commu unity Director
Catherine Da avid, LSU Resid dential Life Com mmunications C Coordinator Did you know w that today’s prrospective studeents are two times more likely to o make a collegee decision based d on sustainabilityy efforts? It’s tru ue according to tthe research and d engineering firrm the Brendle G Group and ACUH HO‐I. Sustainabilityy or “going green n” has moved beeyond a trend and can now affeect universities’ aand housing departmentss’ bottom lines. partment of Ressidential Life hass defined stewarrdship as one of its core values aand main Recognizing tthis, the LSU Dep strategic direection in its 2010 0‐2012 Strategic Plan. The Department seeks to use resources rresponsibly and creatively to benefit preesent and futuree members of th he community. W While it has enggaged in recycling and other effo orts in supporting environmental go oals, the Departm ment is making aa more sustainable environmen nt through educaating nmental residents on how to modify ttheir daily habitss and behaviors,, building new Leeadership in Eneergy and Environ D) certified facilitties, and activelyy participating in n University‐widee sustainability p programs. Design (LEED 010 energy conservation competition received ttop honors from m the Southern Public Residential Liife’s UNPLUG 20 Relations Fed deration (SPRF) aat its annual con nference this falll. The prestigiou us Lantern Award d recognized UN NPLUG as a top regionaal, short‐term pu ublic relations caampaign for yield ding an average 14 percent redu uction in energyy consumption n in on‐campus h housing, an estim mated $10,368 in savings, over aa one‐month tim me period in Marrch 2010. By educatingg and motivatingg students on how small adjustm ments in their daily routines can positively impacct the world around d them, the orgaanizations involvved in this competition sought to o help the LSU ccommunity practtice energy efficieency in everydayy living. With two new w residence halls under construction, one existiing hall being co ompletely renovaated, and contin nual construction plans through 2 2020, achieving LLEED certificatio on is a top prioritty for Residentiaal Life. The Depaartment will work tow wards securing LEED Gold certificcation on the neew residence hall starting constrruction in 2013, and will work to certify existing buildings through LEEED post‐construction certificatio on. ustainable practtices, including real‐time monito oring in on‐camp pus LSU Residenttial Life’s many eefforts toward su housing, increased recycling efforts, a paperless check‐in and check‐out process, eco‐friendly fabric choicess and motion activaated lights, are b beginning to payy off their long‐term dividends.
Ambitious would be an undeerstatement desscribing the prop posed changes to o the housing facilities here at ong anticipated m metamorphosis the Universitty of Louisiana at Lafayette. Wee are excited to aannounce the lo to our on‐cam mpus communitty as we say fareewell to five trad ditional residencce halls (Denbo, Bancroft, Evangeline, B Bonin, and Baker‐Huger) to makke way for four n new co‐ed, suite‐style residence halls. These halls will featture fully furnish hed, double‐occu upancy student suites with privaate bathrooms aand all the amenities neecessary for estaablishing studentts' "home away from home." One hall will open n Fall 2011; one more will open in Spring 201 12; and finally, tw wo more will open in Fall 2012. At the request of housing staff, the architects of these buildings paid eextra attention to increasing thee amount and sizze of the pes of providing residents with m more "hangout" space and common areas within these buildings in hop ous locations forr programming. The facilities will be card‐accesssed and have allowing hall staff more vario oughout. wireless internet access thro phases of construction are comp plete, we expectt to increase ourr current capacity of around After these p 1,800 residen nts to around 3,500. Also in thee plans is a seven n‐story parking ggarage across th he street from the Student U Union to providee ample parkingg for the increaseed number of reesidents that the e new facilities will be able tto accommodatee.
M Meet th e Ne ews Edittor! Hey LAH HO! My name’ss Joshua Coco o and I’ve been working at Centenary as the Director D of Residence Life for 2 and a ha alf years. Last year was Centena ary’s first time b back at a LAHO O conferen nce, and I guesss I got the bug g. I was no ominated to be on the Executivve Board this yyear and am looking forward f to an a amazing year. If there are e things you w want changed in n the new wsletter or have ideas and justt do not have h time to wrrite, please e-
In recent yeaars, many areas o of campus have been graced with renovation or reconstruction n, while campus housing has had to make do with simple red decoration. Finally, our patiencee has paid off ten nfold as we d on this huge project. Merely aa few weeks afteer opening the d doors of three ne ew apartment break ground complex buildings at the student learning co ommunity, Legaccy Park, the announcement wass made that wo years. For tho ose familiar with h UL Lafayette’s these changees would also bee taking place wiithin the next tw campus, checck back with us in the coming seemesters and seee if you can reco ognize the halls and grounds here in Cajun n country.
mail me at jcoco@centenary.edu and d
again att ERA in March h. Hope
I will do my best to gett something u or at least find someone written up who may be interested d. This is my firrst time as a newsletter ed ditor, so please e bear with me! I’m lookiing forward to an amazzing year and tto see everyone everyone is having an amazing breakk, a great holiday, h and an n even better New Year.