2022 ACUHO-I CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE IN PITTSBURGH

I want to start by thanking OACUHO for the Conference Bursary that they provided, without which I would not have been able to attend this amazing experience.

It was great to travel after a couple of years with restrictions. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city to visit with its hills, greenery, rivers, and bridges. However, the scenery was only a small piece of the experience. Participating in sessions at the conference was unique coming from Brock University. Many institutions in the States require their live-in professional staff to have completed their Master of Education in Student Affairs before obtaining their positions supervising student-staff. As someone who is currently taking this program at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus, I brought a different perspective. This was interesting to share, especially because of Brock University’s organizational structure allows residence to be operated with no professional staff living on campus Due to this, I rotated between sessions directed at those who supervises live-in staff, and sessions directed to live-in staff that supervise students

Many sessions allowed room for reflection on current practices or styles of supervision There was focus on EDI, managing residences after COVID, responses to advocation of burn-out among all staff, sustainability, and supporting live-in staff more. Many of the conversations I engaged with are worth bringing back to my team for further discussion to see what changes we can make based on the research presented at the conference.

Something that I frequently hear about attending conferences is how important networking is. As a natural introvert, this is challenging for me. However, I signed up for many of the social opportunities to set myself up for success. This helped and I was able to form connections from folks across the globe from Colorado, to the UK, to New Zealand! Having a social network while at the conference was beneficial since it helped more casual dialogue rather than facilitated discussions surrounding our institutional practices. I was able to learn a lot more about American organizational structures this way and they were interested to hear some information about Canadian institutions.

The people at the conference were friendly and knowledgeable. They spoke openly about the political concerns happening in Florida regarding the 2SLGBTQIA+ community since ACUHO-I initially set the conference to take place in Orlando. Meanwhile at home in St. Catharines, my partner phoned to update me that my home was tagged with anti-gay slurs while I was away, indicating this is still a broader issue. Brock University and my network in Pittsburgh offered helpful supports since that was impactful enough where I stepped away from a session I think this is important to add because this impacted not just my conference experience, but everyone who attended for something similar ACUHO-I made the decision to move the location as their values conflict with legislations passed in Florida It must not have been a simple decision to make, but it sent an impactful message, and it makes the association feel like a more welcoming place

Overall, ACUHO-I was a positive experience where I was able to learn from the global housing network, engage in meaningful discussions about the field and how to effectively move forward after a few difficult years.

Will Durward

Residence Life Coordinator - Brock University

Recipient of 2022 ACUHO-I Scholarship Award