TRENDS: Spring 2023

Spring 2023

ABOUT TRENDS TRENDS is published twice times a year by Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers (GLACUHO) for members of the association.

GLACUHO is a non-profit organization that strives to: Better prepare housing officers to meet the diverse and changing needs of those we serve with primary concern for students.

Contribute to the improvement of dining services, residential life, residential services, and residential facilities provided by housing officers.

Sponsor activities and services which assist housing officers in the exchange and distribution of information and ideas.

Support the goals and purposes of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I)

Advance and communicate professional knowledge and standards in the field of housing.

Provide opportunities for the education and professional development of housing officers.

GLACUHO Communications & Marketing Committee Kellee Steffen

Patricia Nicandro

Miami University

Indiana University

DePaul University

Elian Mackey

Thomas Mannion

Nicole Von Drasek

Eastern Illinois University

Loyola University of Chicago

DePaul University

Kyra DeLoach

Elle McGary

Jeff Smith Jr.

Southwestern Michigan College

Western Illinois University

Central Michigan University

Tim McCue

Meg Wallaker

Brandon Perjak

Illinois State University

Indiana University Bloomington

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Amanda Mientus

GLACUHO Board of Directors & Committee Chairs President Steve Herndon Past President Quiana M. Stone Governors State University

President-Elect Jeremy Alexander Eastern Illinois University

Secretary Nathan Tomson Saginaw Valley State University

Technology Coordinator Greta Dieter

Professional Foundations Chairs Cynthia Moberly Amy Fitzjarrald

Western Illinois University

University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

Committee Chair Delegate Zac Birch Northern Illinois University

Conference Host Chair Dave Arnold University of Illinois

Health and Wellness Chair Tresa Barlage Zianno Miami University

Treasurer Shavonn Nowlin

Student Learning Bradford Peace

Saint Xavier University

Ball State University

Exhibitor Liaison Eddie Nguyen-Koelzer

Inclusion & Equity Chair Robert King

Michigan State University

Oakland University

Franklin College

Campus Safety & Crisis Management Chair Kevin Krauskopf Elmhurst University

Conference Host Assistant Chair Lovey Marshall University of Illinois - Chicago

Facilities & Operations Chair Jeremy Miracle DePaul University

Communications & Marketing Chair Sara Kennedy University of Cincinnati

Contemporary Issues Chair Alison Sinadinos Indiana University

A LOOK INSIDE THIS ADDITION OF TRENDS...

4

Get to Know the GLACUHO Committees

6

Reflections from the 2023 Mid-Level Institute Elyse Holguin - Dominican University

8

Dear T.I.M.

9

Partnering with Parents, Families & Support Systems of Students Bob Beyer - Baldwin Wallace University

13

Submit for TRENDS

14

Spring into New Habits Alex Astiazaran & Catie Witt-Danner - Northern Illinois University

18

Tips & Hints for a Successful Interview Season

19

Developing an Inclusive Community for Residents Cory Harlan - Southern Illinois State University - Edwardsville

20

Neutrality: A Call to Action Cynthia L. Moberly - Franklin College Jennifer Imel - Ball State University

22

GLACUHO Presentation Information

23

Article References

GET TO KNOW

GLACUHO

committees Facilities & Operations

Reviews facility trends and sustainability options for housing operations.

Contemporary Issues TOPIC: Promoting the Health of our Educators and Association This year, the committee will examine Promoting the Health of our Educators and Association.

Inclusion & Equity Provides resources and opportunities on various multicultural and diversity-related topics.

Student Learning Researches trends and provides resources and best practices in the area of student learning.

Health & Wellness Creates resources for students and staff members in the area of Health and Wellness.

Communcations & Marketing Creates our GLACUHO publications and is responsible for the marketing and social media of the association.

Professionals Foundations To provide resources and opportunities for the education and professional development of Residence Life professionals in the foundational skills of the housing profession.

Campus Safety & Crisis Mgmt.

Researches trends and provides resources and best practices in the area of campus safety and crisis response.

Conference Host The annual conference planning and coordination will be performed by this committee, taking the place of host institutions under our old structure.

Reflections from the 2023 Mid-Level Institute Elyse Holguin Dominican University

On February 3-4, 2023, GLACUHO hosted 18 professionals from 15 institutions for the 2023 Mid-Level Institute at Indiana State University. The Mid-Level Institute (MLI), which was established in 2015, is a two-day professional development seminar featuring a range of activities for professionals who are currently in mid-level roles and are considering a move to the next level and/or searching for opportunities to improve their skills in their current positions. The 2023 Mid-Level Institute was generously sponsored by Southwest Contract, which provided participants to be able to attend the institute at no cost.

This year’s MLI Faculty and topics covered were: Nathan Thomson, Director of Residential Life at Saginaw Valley State University, who presented on University Politics; Michelle Sujka, Assistant Director of Housing, Facility Operations at University of Cincinnati, who presented on Facilities Management and Construction; Sasha Masoomi, Assistant Director of Residence Life at Miami University, who presented on Purposeful Professional Development, Lindsay Faulstick, Associate Dean of Students/Director of Residence Life & Leadership at Hanover College, who presented on Managing from the Middle; and Robert King, Senior Director of University Housing at Oakland University, who presented on Change Management.

After leaving MLI, I reached out to participants and faculty on behalf of the Professional Foundations Committee to ask for feedback on what made them apply for MLI, what the biggest takeaways were, and what they would tell someone who was on the fence about applying for MLI.

Octavia Hubert

Octavia Hubert, Resident Director at Miami University explained her rationale for applying to MLI and her takeaways: I applied to MLI to get more involved in GLACUHO and meet colleagues in higher education. My experience has prepared me for my future; there’s value I can bring coming from a career outside of higher education and connecting those transferable skills to my current role. Making time for your own professional development is so important to stay connected to the field, colleagues, and it also benefits those you work with. MLI creates a cafe space to do this and ignites your “Why Flame”. We are all very busy doing the good work, but the MLI experience is a great way to pause and remember where it all started and why you are driven to do this work.

Continued from Reflections from the 2023 Mid-Level Institute Jake McLean, Assistant Dean for Campus Life at Knox College explained: I applied to MLI because I was looking for a professional development opportunity to help build my competency in supervising staff. One of my team members participated in [GLACUHO’s] Professional Development Institute and walked away with great experiences and a solid peer network. I was hoping to get the same out of MLI (and I did!). The biggest takeaway for me was navigating organizational politics—the strategic thinking necessary to leverage information, collaborate with campus partners, and ultimately make changes. It was all great, but those elements stick out to me.

Jake McLean

When asked what he would tell someone who was on the fence on whether or not to apply for MLI, McLean answered: It is absolutely worth it. If for no other reason, you get to leave campus and network with other people dealing with similar challenges and opportunities. MLI helped me build relationships with others, so it doesn't feel so isolating being in a mid-level role.

This is not to say that the only benefits from MLI were for the participants. MLI Faculty member Michelle Sujka explained that she also learned a new approach to supervising her supervisor. To the more seasoned staff who might be on the fence of applying for faculty, Michelle explained: You have time to serve as faculty. There is a perception that it takes a lot of time, but like anything we do, it is what you make of it! I have enjoyed previous faculty roles at various institutes, and through a little push from a friend and colleague, I decided my experiences were ones that others could benefit from.

MLI Faculty member Lindsay Faulstick was encouraged to apply for the faculty by one of the staff members she supervises. Faulstick’s advice for those considering being faculty at an institute in the future: Absolutely do it. I hadn’t realized how much the institute would impact me. The renewed sense of excitement for the field from working with mid-level professionals was critical for me. I also made new friends that I already connect with both personally and professionally. A win/win all around!

I learned how important it is that you connect with colleagues from various institutions that share similar roles with you. The community of knowledge and shared expertise is invigorating and transformational.

The next Mid-Level Institute will be held in February 2025, as it is a biennial institute.

Additionally, the Professional Development Institute will be held in February 2024.

The Professional Development Institute is aimed at developing leadership qualities and skills in entry-level professionals with at least one year of full-time experience who are passionate about the field, interested in growing their network, and considering exploring mid-level roles. If you are interested in participating as either a faculty member or a participant in future GLACUHO institutes, please visit the Professional Foundations Committee page of the GLACUHO website or email ProFound@glacuho.org.

DEAR T.I.M. TOGETHER IN MARKETING

You may remember the newspaper column called Dear Abby. Well, Dear T.I.M. is the new evolution of that column for the GLACUHO association.

You can ask T.I.M. about your job, work relationships, how to have tough conversations or even advice on job searching. T.I.M. is here to answer all the questions you may be holding onto.

T.I.M. will receive the anonymous questions and will answer them via the GLACUHO social media accounts. Be on the lookout for questions you may have asked and one you may find helpful to your own success!

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS HERE:

BEE BRAVE, ASK T.I.M.

Partnering with Parents, Families & Support Systems of Students

Bob Beyer Senior Director, Residence Life and Housing Baldwin Wallace University

As a twenty-two year and counting housing professional, I am closing in on an infinite number of interactions with parents, families, and support systems of students (affectionately referred to as the PF group moving forward).

Admittedly I have experienced an increased heart rate and mild sweat sometimes when names pop up on the caller ID, anticipating a heated conversation. This has been an added stress to an already stressful workload, and I do not anticipate this slowing down any time soon. Recently, however, my department shifted its approach to working with the PF group; changing our mindset has brought us positive results.

In higher education we regularly reflect on the pandemic, thinking about the lessons we have learned. For the past two and a half years my department recognized we need to be connected more than ever, relying on collaborations, partnerships, and relationships to be better at our work, both within and beyond campus. As a result, Residence Life and Housing at Baldwin Wallace University (BW) made the decision to focus more intentional work on the PF group moving forward.

As an institution we had regular communication with the PF group during the 2020-2021 school year to update our COVID-19 planning and response. I was in communication daily with individual parents and families, responding to student needs while in quarantine and isolation. As the school year ended and we planned for the upcoming year, we realized that we needed to increase our work with the PF group with the intent of being transparent and hopefully decreasing the stress of the PF group. With that in mind, we focused on improving in these areas with the PF group: communication, programming, assessment, recognition, customer service, and future planning.

COMMUNICATION For 2021-2022 one of our major goals was to increase our communication with the PF group. This goal aligned well with the vision for our new VP, Dr. Timeka Rashid, as she was planning a new position in our division for Parent and Family programming. In my welcome letter to the PF group in July 2021 I invited the PF group to virtual “Director Discussions” on a regular basis.

We also made it a point to increase our presence on social media. We heard about a Parents of Baldwin Wallace Students Facebook group, so I asked to join during the fall 2021 semester. Although I was nervous to take the plunge into this scary pool, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Once I introduced myself to the group (it has a large membership) it helped move quite a bit of the “Rumors of Res Life” to be debunked and the PF group started redirecting concerns to proper channels. My presence on this page also nudged the PF group to approach concerns in a different fashion since they “met” me and could put a name with a face. Every few weeks I will post updates from our department, sharing upcoming events, things to look out for, and photos.

We ran into some hiccups that we did not anticipate when we joined the page. Due to my consistent presence on the page, members started tagging me in posts with work-related questions at odd times of the day. Although I posted often, asking members to contact us via work communication, this practice continued. If you are going to join/create a group like this, you will want to be extra clear about the funnel of communication as it relates to issues.

If you are going to join/ create a group like this, you will want to be extra clear about the funnel of communication as it relates to issues.

PROGRAMMING When BW officially created the department of Parent and Family programming in January 2022, we jumped in to collaborate immediately.

We have a representative from our department who sits on the Parent and Family Advisory group, and we will have a presence as BW reinstitutes a Parent and Family weekend. We will host a table during the weekend fair to continue to connect with the PF group.

We also recognized that our move-in experience for students and the PF group needed a facelift.

We added more experiences, offering Hydration Stations and photo frame opportunities. It was important for us to give the PF group a positive experience as they were working through their

emotions of the day. This year, we held our second annual Open House for the PF group at our office at the end of first year move-in day. We provided light refreshments for parents, families, and friends (not students) so they had an opportunity to see our physical office and to connect with important staff members. We excluded students from this event intentionally because we wanted to offer parents and families a space where they could ask us some of the “embarrassing questions” that they might not want to ask in front of their students. It gave us an opportunity to offer reassurance that we will look out for their students, and we will help them with their transition.

ASSESSMENT Our department has fully embraced the need to assess, so we made the decision to add the PF group to our assessment strategy. During 2021-2022 I gave homework to the members of the Parent and Family Facebook page to review our department’s website. During a later “Director Discussion” the PF group re-affirmed the gaps in our site that we could share with University Relations.

For August 2022 we already included the PF group in a more formal assessment opportunity. We shared a link to a survey for move-in and we have collected some valuable feedback to improve that experience. We will add opportunities throughout the 2022-2023 school year for the PF group to weigh in on department procedures and policies.

RECOGNITION

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Our department is highly active with National Residence-Hall Honorary (NRHH), submitting Of the Months (OTMs) regularly to recognize the work our students, colleagues, and other partners do for BW or higher education in general. I was so proud of the positive involvement we had from the PF group at BW last year that they were recognized with an OTM.

Residence Life and Housing departments are highly skilled when it comes to customer service and our team challenges each other to be excellent in this area. The little steps we take go a long way with the PF group. Our goal is to approach each situation with kindness and our PF group has recognized this approach. This was affirmed by the results of our recent PF group move-in survey.

FUTURE PLANNING Prior to the pandemic we had a great connection with the PF group of Resident Assistants (RAs) because we would recruit families to provide a home-cooked meal for RAs during training in August.

This was always a big hit with the staff, and you can feel that this experience is missing. We are looking into how we can include the PF group of our RAs back into training. We are looking into creative ways to give the PF group the opportunity to “be an RA for a day.”

We have recognized that our website and external communication need work, so we have allocated resources to enhance this work.

Over the years it has been a lesser priority, and this added to concerns from our PF group.

Our website was lacking information that people want to find immediately instead of asking for it. Our proposed changes should continue to increase our positive relationship with the PF group.

We already have plans to use our PF group for more and more assessment. The PF group definitely has opinions, so we will have more focused opportunities to gather information from them and then tell stories about the changes we made because of their input.

We recognized that we need to strengthen our partnerships with key offices on campus. The plan is to have more consistent messaging between our groups. The PF group regularly shares that, “this is not what I heard from another office,” so any way we can be on the same page ahead of time will work to our advantage.

RECOMMENDATIONS Our department is highly active with National Residence-Hall Honorary (NRHH), submitting Of the Months (OTMs) regularly to recognize the work our students, colleagues, and other partners do for BW or higher education in general. I was so proud of the positive involvement we had from the PF group at BW last year that they were recognized with an OTM.

Challenge your team to do the following as you work with the PF group: Listen. We want to defend decisions we have made (and they are usually good decisions) but try to pause and really listen to what they are saying.

Make sure your website and other external communications are up to date and accurate.

Be transparent where you can.

Assess the PF group. We are already doing assessment, so offer up informal and formal opportunities for the PF group to give suggestions.

Strengthen key partnerships (dining, facilities, admission, athletics, counseling/health). At times, these groups may give inconsistent messages despite good intentions.

Pic-us to publish your work!

SUBMIT FOR FALL TRENDS We are accepting submissions for the Fall 2023 TRENDS publication.

Deadline:

Monday, September 11th!

Spring Into New Habits

ALEX ASTIAZARAN, HALL DIRECTOR CATIE WITT-DANNER, COMPLEX DIRECTOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

Now that spring is right around the corner, it is the perfect time to start practicing new personal and professional habits. Forming new habits can often be difficult as we struggle to maintain a new routine.

We want to highlight a few different methods to help you establish a new habit. Establishing a new habit can clean up your daily routine and lead to a healthier lifestyle. James Clear, a New York Times best-selling author, and author of Atomic Habits (2018), said “A habit is a lifestyle to be lived, not a finish line to be crossed.”

Clear talks about the key to creating habits that stick is using the habit loop. The habit loop consists of four stages: Cue, Craving, Response, and Reward. The habit loop can start with a good or bad habit.

One bad habit we might have is constantly checking our phone at work. The cue may be boredom after staring at a screen for an extended period of time. We crave stimulus, so our response is checking social media on our phone. The reward is the satisfaction of the slight entertainment from being on our phone. This bad habit can then be mapped onto other bad habits through the continued desire for satisfaction. You might first check a social media app, then watch a funny video, then send a picture to some of your coworkers, and now you have mapped various bad habits together and have created a routine for when you become bored.

Monitoring our cues and changing our responses can lead to healthier habits. Instead of checking your phone, try going on a walk around your building to check on your front desks or talk to residents.

STARTING NEW HABITS As

professionals

working

in

housing

does not last past two weeks. BJ Fogg

operations on college campuses, it can be

(2019), head of the Stanford University

difficult to find a routine, especially in our

Persuasive Tech Lab, suggests starting

personal lives. Each week may bring a

small to find consistency and simplify what

different challenge that not only affects our

you are trying to achieve. Being overly

work, but our personal lives. It is easy to

ambitious with your habit goals can quickly

give up on finding a routine when we are

lead to failure. Fogg (2019) suggests

always expecting the unexpected. However,

starting the habit of your choice and doing

this makes it difficult to break bad habits and

the bare minimum. If you want to go to the

start new healthy habits. You can create a

gym 4-5 times a week, you should start by

routine, while also remaining flexible and

going once a week. Once you consistently

giving yourself grace when the unexpected

go once a week for 3-4 weeks, try adding a

happens.

second day at the gym into your routine, and so on.

According to James Clear in his book Atomic Habits (2018), it takes 66 days to

One way to help you start a new habit is to

make a habit out of something. Often, we

make a plan, or simply write the habit down

feel motivated to start a new habit, but it

in your calendar or planner. If you have a plan, you are more likely to follow through and complete a task. For example, if you are trying to eat healthier or cook more at home, then planning your meals out for the entire week will set you up for success. If you do not have a plan, you are more likely to divert from the plan because nothing is keeping you on that path. Even if you are eating in the dining halls, you can look and see what is on the menu for the week on Sunday and plan where you will go and what you can eat.

Lastly, do not feel like the habit you are wanting to take on is all or nothing! If you stray from your plan, it is okay.

Recognize your shortcomings and try establishing the habit again. One way to prevent straying from habits is by rewarding yourself. For example, if you are trying to go on more walks or spend more time outside, but you want to read a book, try downloading the audiobook version and listening to it while you are outside. If you are trying to eat healthier and you accomplish one week, you can reward yourself with your favorite midnight snack or purchasing an item you enjoy like a new book or clothing item. This reward method can help keep motivation high.

Monitoring our cues and changing our responses can lead to healthier habits. Instead of checking your phone, try going on a walk around your building to check on your front desks or talk to residents.

Just like personal habits, professional habits can also be a challenge to break or start because of the random meetings that get scheduled on your calendar each week. We can still apply what we learn from James Clear and BJ Fogg when it comes to professional habits. Start small and be consistent. Maybe you want to find more of a balance between work and personal life.

For example, you could choose to break the habit of checking your emails after work hours.

We have all been there, where you can’t help opening the emails as you are notified. Try logging out of your email or turning notifications off after your workday. This is extremely important during your time off, especially when you are trying to enjoy vacation!

Another great habit that everyone can strive for in the workplace is staying organized. Again, with the starting-small mindset, you can utilize your work calendar. Both Outlook and Google have a calendar that can serve as a useful tool if used correctly. Scheduling meetings, along with time in between as needed, can help keep you organized and on track throughout your day and week. This can also be beneficial when there are tasks that need to be completed by a deadline. Another small step that you can take to being more organized is showing up early to scheduled meetings. You can block off 15 minutes before each meeting to allow time to get there and get settled before the meeting begins. Whether you are leading the meeting or not, being early will give you plenty of time to be prepared to be as present as possible.

HABIT TRACKERS We want to empower you all to create new

you can mark how many days you have

habits and establish new routines that will

followed through on your desired habit and

lead to greater job performance. We have

cross off days as you succeed. The

talked

then

importance of the habit journal arises when

gradually increasing your behavior as you

you miss a day. You can make sure not to

become accustomed to your new routine

miss two days in a row and the habit journal

along with using the habit loop to help

will help keep you accountable.

about

starting

small

and

monitor your cues and develop a positive reward system to chain healthy habits

There are also many different apps you can

together. A great way to keep track of new

download to keep track of your habits. Habit

habits is by using a jar of small office

tracking apps can be used in place of the

supplies. Using two jars, one empty and one

habit journal and keep you motivated by

filled with a small office supply (paper clips,

providing some data for your progress. Here

candy, etc.), assign yourself a task and

are

every time you complete that task, move an

subscriptions: Habitica, Strides, Productive,

item from one jar into the other. This will

and HabitNow. One of the top paid apps is

create a visual stimulus for completing the

Streaks. Lastly, we recommend you check

task and encourage you to keep going.

out the books mentioned in this article,

some

free

apps

with

optional

Atomic Habits by James Clear and Tiny Another way to create a visual stimulus is by using a habit journal. Using a habit journal,

Habits by BJ Fogg.

Developing an Inclusive Community for Residents Cory Harlan Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville As we know, the students we support on campus range in identity and age. Students that struggle with the adjustment to life on a college campus, but it also can be the nontraditional age students, international students as well as students with families and children they support. I went back to college at the age of 29, I struggled constantly with feelings of loneliness and depression. From day one, it was expressed that I was too old to interact with the traditional-age college students and being LGBTQIA also wasn’t helping the situation. But I struggled through it for three and a half years before it finally became too much and I transferred my Senior year of my undergrad career.

The decision to transfer to my new institution is one of the best I've ever made. I was allowed to run and be involved because this campus recognized differences and didn't discriminate against them. I was even able to become a NASPA undergraduate fellow. I truly learned about diversity and inclusion and it helped foster my love of higher education and working with a diverse student body. Had I not had this experience, I would never have chosen to go on to get my master’s and I would not have been able to impact the students’ lives that I have up to this point.

So, to my readers I pose the question; What are you doing in housing to secure students who feel like they are not at home and aren’t involved? I also want you to ask yourself are you putting on programs that showcase true inclusion and equity for all students? Are you thinking of the food that you are serving? Are you being mindful of things such as dietary restrictions and cultural differences such as not serving beef or pork because of religious restrictions? Is your space where the event is being held ADA accessible and can everyone enjoy the event regardless of ability? Have you made sure you have a microphone? If you’re showing a presentation have you ensured the colors and design are appealing to those who may suffer from color blindness? As you can see, there is more that goes into preparing for an event other than finding a venue, marketing, and catering. As professional staff, we must do more with the help of paraprofessional staff and others to help our students feel like they are at home and have a place they belong. Students who come from backgrounds such as being first gen want to be here at our institutions and want to succeed, we just need to lay the foundation for them to be successful. Help them like I was helped to be a bird who can fly the nest and soar as high as an eagle.

Neutrality: A Call to Action

Jennifer Imel

In a recent opinion piece published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Holden Thorp Cynthia L. Moberly argues that the issues universities strive to Area Coordinator, Franklin College demonstrate neutrality in are “squarely in the wheelhouse of higher education” (2022). We see Higher education has a history grounded in white this in our professional competencies, in our supremacy. This history enforces power and committee work, our mission statements, and our privilege in the United States. Navigating daily interactions with students. Yet we are university, state, and national politics as student continuously asked to (or striving to) remain affairs professionals, we often may find ourselves neutral in difficult conversations that may impact upholding this power and privilege. This us directly or force us to marginalize our students contributes to and participates in a culture of in some way. Neutrality is antithetical to our past expected political neutrality among higher year’s contemporary issue of taking action and education professionals. This creates a barrier to social change. Change does not come from engaging in student learning and perpetuates the neutrality, but through genuine dialogue and systemic oppression that our profession should action. be deconstructing.

In 2018, ACPA published “A Bold Vision Forward: A Why do higher education professionals feel the Framework for the Strategic Imperative for Racial need to remain politically neutral? The Justice and Decolonization.” The authors of the unfortunate reality for universities is that our document highlight 9 guiding principles that success does not just rely on student retention would help the field work towards taking the and success, but also the support of state and actionable steps needed to deconstruct campus national stakeholders. Neoliberalism consistently policies and systems that perpetuate the field's impacts all levels of the university, contributing to past, rooted in white supremacy. At the center of performance-based funding, limitation of state this framework is the outcome of love and resources, and an imposition of political principles humanization. As educators, we know that we on the institution aligning with its stakeholders need to engage in problem posing, questioning (Dougherty & Natow, 2019; Saunders, 2010). The our knowledge, and embracing dialogue, but the navigation of systems to ensure the financial and framework also asks us to act: “To be clear, political success of an institution can result in our dialogue without action lacks power, and efficient —yes, even housing professionals—viewing action, or any action, without dialogue has the students as consumers first rather than learners, potential to reinforce negative systems,” (Quaye which takes our focus away from advocating for et al, 2018). our students and creating student-centered programs and initiatives.

Residential Learning Coord., Ball State University

Continued from Neutrality: A Call to Action We must first overcome the barrier of expected neutrality if we are to engage in genuine, productive dialogue with our peers, staff, and residents. When we approach these conversations through grace and room for disagreement with love and humanization in mind, we create an environment where neutrality is not necessary and perspective and lived experiences are valued.

As Stockdill and Danicko (2012) explains, there exists a, “rich legacy of utilizing education in the pursuit of liberation” across disciplines (p. 2).

Housing and Residence Life professionals should be contributing to this legacy. We have the tools to successfully shift our contributions from perpetuating oppression to actively fighting for liberation for ourselves, our colleagues, and our students.

Student activists continuously address issues of oppression on campus, including racism, homophobia, sexism, and more. Many of us have experienced the frustration that students who advocate for themselves face as they try to enact change, either within our own departments, institutions, or beyond. Linder et al. (2019) suggests that addressing such oppression is a role that student affairs educators should hold.

This suggestion is supported through our professional framework within the ACPA/NASPA social justice professional competency. One foundational outcome outlined by ACPA and NASPA (2015) states that student affairs professionals should, “Advocate on issues of social justice, oppression, privilege, and power that impact people based on local, national, and global interconnections” (p. 30). The competencies additionally suggest that we advocate for social justice values in our departments, reflect on our participation in systems of oppression, and take responsibility for our institution’s role in perpetuating such systems (p. 31).

How does the Social Justice competency influence the way we approach toeing the line of neutrality in our roles? We are compelled to take a serious look at how we allow the desire or need for neutrality to trickle down to our daily work with students. Avoiding taking a stance when it comes to oppression perpetuates university policies and practices that promote white supremacy in higher education. When we use the term social justice when we are not truly engaged in the work, we may be misleading students and causing more harm than we realize.

We challenge professionals across the GLACUHO region to consider the following questions alongside us: How does a commitment to remain neutral at a departmental level impact the ways in which we are able to support our students of all backgrounds?

If we let our neutrality impact our programming, curriculum, and interactions in residence halls, how does this further marginalize our minoritized students?

How have you advocated for and supported the marginalized students you work with?

Have an idea of someone who would be a great presenter?

If you are interested in nominating another professional to submit a program proposal, please fill out the Nomination Form for the committee to reach out to those you have nominated.

The program proposal form is now live and all proposals are due by Friday, June 23, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. (CDT). Please contact Amy Brown at programming@glacuho.org with any questions.

Presenter Nomination

Program Submission Program_Submission

Article References Neutrality: A Call to Action Dougherty, K. J., & Natow, R. S. (2019). Analysing neoliberalism in theory and practice: The case of performance-based funding for higher education.

Linder, C., Quaye, S. J., Lange, A. C., Roberts, R. E., and Lacy, M. C. (2019). "A student should have the privilege of just being a student": Student activism as labor. Review of Higher Education; Baltimore, 42(2), 37-62 Saunders, D. B. (2010). Neoliberal ideology and public higher education in the United States. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 8(1), 41-77.

Stockdill, B. C., & Danico, M. Y. (2012). The ivory tower paradox. Transforming the ivory tower, 1-30.

Thorp, H. (2022). “The charade of political neutrality.” Chronicle of Higher Education.

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