The Pulse - October Edition

The newsletter of the Ontario association of college and university housing officers October 2019

Residence Admissions

Presidents Message

My First Role in Housing

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Board of Directors PRESIDENT

Valerie Bruce Ryerson University vbruce@ryerson.ca

PRESIDENT ELECT / FINANCE DIRECTOR

Diane Rawlings University of Windsor rawlin1@uwindsor.ca

PAST PRESIDENT

Ian Crookshank Humber College Ian.Crookshank@humber.ca

CONFRENCE DIRECTOR

Lauren Gouchie University of Ottawa lgouchie@uottawa.ca

CORPORATE PARTNER RELATIONS DIRECTOR

Shaun McCracken Trent University shaunmccracken@trentu.ca

ADVANCED MEMBER AT LARGE

Steph Cullen University of Waterloo slcullen@uwaterloo.ca

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

MEMBER AT LARGE

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

MEMBER AT LARGE

MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR

ASSOCIATION MANAGER

Daniel Brisebois University of Guelph dbrisebo@uoguelph.ca

Stewart Grunwell University of Guelph sgrunwel@uoguelph.ca

Kamadchi Karunanandan University of Waterloo Kamadchi.karunanandan@ uwaterloo.ca

Derek Worden Western University dworden@housing.uwo.ca

Stacey Phelps University of Waterloo sphelps@uwaterloo.ca

Carol Ford OACUHO info@oacuho.com

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Presidents Message On

Setting Students Up for Success

Hello!

Welcome to our October issue of the Pulse, where we are exploring the theme of “Setting Student’s up for Success!”. As the hustle of late August and September come to an end, we know our students are experiencing a lot of transition, and will be looking at our student leaders, offices, programs and services for support.

As a new academic year begins, and our focus is placed on providing opportunity for students to engage, it’s a great time to look at how we set up success for ourselves.

October is often the time of year I look to do a review of my goals and look to implement new practices that will help, especially in busier times. This year, that looks like more meditation, trying some new recipes and getting outside while we still hold on to the warm temperatures.

As you read through this edition of the pulse and learn some best practices to support our students from colleagues, I hope you will take a moment to reflect on your own needs and what you can do to help support those.

Our Fall Business Meeting is quickly approaching at Wilfrid Laurier University on October 16, I hope to see many of you there, and maybe hear what you are doing to set yourself up for success.

Best, Valerie

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Residence Admissions & Occupancy Housing Accommodations: Continuous Improvement Leads to Student Success June 1st for incoming first-year and transfer students is an important date since it marks three deadlines: University Admission confirmation, 100% Residence Guarantee application and submitting our Disability Verification Form for priority consideration. Any needs that students (including upper year, graduate and families) may have once the academic year begins is managed on a rolling basis, which tends to occur when their application is under review. No matter when a request is brought to Occupancy and Marketing Services’ attention, a clearly outlined process and strong teamwork approach across departments has ensured success not only for our students, but also for our staff and campus partners.

Almost 4 years ago, our Office (Occupancy and Marketing Services), engaged in Lean practices to find ways to streamline our housing accommodations process in collaboration with our partners in AccessAbility Services. Lean methodology is rooted in creating effective business systems by eliminating wasteful practices with the intention for processes to be more efficient as a result. Using Lean methodology included process mapping the entire housing accommodations process to find areas of waste and then finding “flow”. Flow occurs when you remove the waste and create a value chain where all activities of the process fall in step with one another.

When we finished this lengthy and collaborative activity, our housing accommodations process became more efficient through the additions of a dedicated website, enhanced verification form and transparent procedure. Our students now complete the following steps: 1. Student downloads our Housing Disability Verification Form from our Accessible Housing website created by AccessAbility Services, but housed on our website under “Applications”. The website provides students and their families instructions and deadline information.

2. The student has their health care provider complete the Housing Disability Verification Form and uploads the document to the Accessible Housing website. We do not permit students with family members as health care providers to complete the form on their behalf.

We receive an email notifying us that someone submitted the form complete with their Waterloo ID number and name. We do not see the contents of the Housing Disability Verification Form. It goes directly into a secure site that allows our partners in AccessAbility Services to review the form and send us a recommendation for the student. Since we know more about our residences and AccessAbility Services also has to manage all academic requests (which is separate from this process), we manage all communications with students and their families while keeping in consultation with 4 AccessAbility Services.

Residence Admissions & Occupancy 3. Our staff sends an email informing the student of their recommendation and next steps. If a form is incomplete, AccessAbility Services has created a template for us to send the student with the reason why it was deemed incomplete to help them secure proper documentation. We also log any recommendations into our housing software so we have it on file.

4. If it is during the academic year, our Office will work with Residence Life to determine an appropriate room change for the student. If it is before move-in, we will make sure their recommendation is taken into account when their assignment is made.

We have found for our first-year and transfer intake process that establishing the June 1st deadline helps us to make sure we can take any accommodations into account when assignments are made in late June/July. We have four case consult meetings with representation from AccessAbility Services, Occupancy, Residence Life, Facilities, and University College staff. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss all our housing accommodation situations to make sure our students are receiving an assignment that meets their needs. Any student that submits a Housing Disability Verification Form and receives a recommendation will have their needs addressed. When submitted late, the pool of space to work with is much smaller and they may have to wait until the school year begins for a room that meets their needs to become vacant.

One of the difficulties is managing student expectations because some students or their families have a preferred residence they feel should be part of the accommodation. Often times they have taken a tour of a newer residence or a particular style as it aligns with their vision of their first year. Waterloo Residences and the University College residences offers an abundance of options and eateries that can accommodate almost anyone. We have a close partnership with our new Food Services dietician, whom over the summer met with many of our students approved for accommodations related to dietary restrictions. Some were recommended to meet with the dietician because their disability did not require a private kitchen. They worked with her to find out how our eateries can meet their needs and how to work with the chefs in each residence to find meals appropriate for them.

Some of the best examples of collaborative solutions involved students with hearing and sight impairment. This has required our Residence Life Team to work closely with our students and at times outside agencies to determine what success entails. One student asked to have an Occupancy and Reslife team member tour the residence with them and an agency that assists with visual impairment.

The tour took place prior to arrival to determine if any additional aides were necessary for their daily life on campus. In another case, Facilities and Residence Life worked closely with a student to determine where they needed strobes in the case of an emergency. We have also experienced situations involving complex recommendations such as live-in aides. These situations have called on us to expand our team to include the Secretariats’ Office and the University of Waterloo’s Director of Health Services. Working closely with these campus partners have helped us to further develop precedent and enrich our current practices with the care we are required to provide.

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Residence Admissions & Occupancy While we have found ways to create an efficient and effective processes that are more service oriented, we do still have cases where students and families come away unsatisfied. Sometimes the documentation is never complete because a health care provider may not feel comfortable adding their physician provider number when they may disagree with what their patient is requesting. Other times students are seeking single-occupancy rooms and the recommendation is to explore ways outside of their room/residence to study, as it is difficult to control noise in a residence of almost 1000 people. In situations where the accommodations are not required, it is drawing from our residence and campus partners to educate students of their resources to ensure a successful time at the University.

Part of the continuous improvement lies with students trusting us enough to disclose their needs that in turn creates recommendations shaping our residence offerings. We are always finding opportunities in our older residences to remove carpeting and create more wheelchair accessible suites to add to our capitol improvement plans. We also made changes to our Disability Verification Form by asking AccessAbility Services to change the form to reflect the academic version by adding questions related to threshold to help us receive a more complete assessment of a student’s needs.

The housing accommodations process for any campus is delicate and can significantly influence a student’s experience. We have found that a collaborative team approach creates a transparent process with consistent messaging has led to a more successful experience for our students. Every effort is made to put team members into a position where they have every opportunity to succeed. By having clear roles (i.e. AccessAbility Services vetting and verifying documentation, Waterloo Residences creating room modification plans/communicating on housing availability), students have a greater opportunity to be successful and have positive interactions with staff. Clear roles and responsibilities have helped our students to not be bounced between offices but given a guided path for their accommodations journey.

While we do continue to struggle with students and families that feel they should not have to disclose a disability or may not realize their student has a disability. Our answer is to take the lessons learned from these experiences and continuously improve our processes. In October, we have a meeting with our campus partners to celebrate the successes of the summer and determine the path of improved service together. It is in celebrating our successes and determining where we can come together that we benefit our students and their families by creating a productive accommodations process.

Stacey Phelps Occupancy and Data Coordinator University of Waterloo

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Fostering Student Success with Community Based Study Hubs Student engagement and retention are two factors that student affairs practitioners are aware of in providing support for students in higher education. With the awareness of the barriers that students may be facing that can impede on their success such as lack of familiarity with university resources, ineffective study skills, economic troubles, and being disconnected from the greater university community, providing an all-encompassing resource for students to overcome these barriers is a challenge that we face.

Over the past academic year, my colleague Colin Henderson and I created a lowmaintenance, weekly study community that brings support from around the university available to our residence and commuter students called “Make Fridays Matter�.

Within the program, we offer open spaces ranging from group study spaces to quiet study spaces, academic and wellness resources, staff support, facilitated community building, goal setting activities, weekly workshops, and free snacks for students. Each component is intentionally integrated to support student success.

We also look at the program as an opportunity to provide access to resources for at-risk or struggling students. Through having a regularly set study space, it integrates the practice of consistency within our regular attendees. In addition, through the integration of both student staff and professional staff, we provide a medium to connect, check-in and support students in an informal space, thus providing a means of access to resources that they may not have known about.

In strategic development of the service, many of the steps we took in the planning and execution of Make Fridays Matter followed the framework of strategizing effective student success services discussed by Strange and Hardy-Cox (2011), within the planning, execution and evaluation of our programming.

Within its planning process, we centred our space-based off of student needs and integrated the appropriate services in the study space. With the use of need assessment forms and anticipated student needs on a monthly basis, we created themed weeks that would draw students to visit the program, and be connected with the corresponding resource or offered workshops (ex. Learning Strategist workshops near expected midterms, Writing Centre drop-in sessions a few weeks before common essay deadlines, etc). Within planning these intentionally, we noticed these workshops had the most student buy-in and interest.

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Within execution, we ensured that we provided flexibility in the spaces that we offered students and within our own execution of the services we provided. Environment, as mentioned, has an effect on the way students learn and consume information. By providing that power to the student to have a silent study space or a space with ambient conversation provides the chance to experiment learn in a space that suits their needs.

Upon our reflection phase, provided space to hear student feedback, needs to improve our services and effective outreach for the program. Through our feedback, we learned a few interesting insights into our student demographic. A majority of the participants that attend the session come to: “Focus and be productive” (80%), “Have a good place to study” (68%). A smaller group associate attending academic support workshops (42.2%), connecting with a community (22.2%) and meeting new people (13.3%), as their intention. While this does initially show lack of interest for these additional services, A majority of students also agree, that they felt comfortable connecting with staff and student leaders (77.2%), made and that they created a supportive space within the program (95.6%). Showing there are benefits through the integration of staff members and students within the space for student support and referral to resources.

Common praises for space include the regularity of the space, staff support, option to change rooms based off of different noise expectations, and the presence of snacks and refreshments. In addition to these points, one fascinating observation was how welcoming the space was to all categories of students.

There was a balanced mix of students throughout of International vs Domestic, Residence vs Commuter, and Year of Study within the space. Some areas students wanted to be improved were more engaging workshops and more drop-in sessions.

In integrating this program, we did encounter a few challenges as well. In integrating resource-based workshops, fostering student interest was an ongoing challenge. Based off of the options that students have within the space, students, we’ve had a successful workshop on the topics of Career Exploration, and drop-in Essay Writing, however, had lower numbers on some of our specific workshops like Library Research, or exam strategies.

Providing the students with an all-encompassing space, with resources, community building, and study space gives students space, and flexibility to tailor their experiences based on their needs while being introduced to others. However, there is an active requirement as staff to be within this space to connect with students, learn about their experience, and provide a familiar space for them to drop-in. We provide students with the freedom to explore themselves as connected community members and learners. A useful resource, if possible was providing drop-in services throughout. We found a majority of students liked the accessibility of coming into the space to work on a project, and have an advisor around to revise it.

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In addition to the challenges about, one other opportunity would be to explore using this type of community-based study hub as an early intervention tool within our outreach. Reaching out to firstyear students who may have performed poorly within their first semester, and providing an alternative space with embedded resources and support, can tap into supportive learning environments, student and staff interaction, and peer engagement to build the foundation of their growth and recovery in the new semester. (Krause and Coates, 2008).

In the housing and student affairs profession, a significant amount of time and energy is spent questioning how and planning to improve the student experience and supports. With the need to ensure accessible and holistic individual support for students, we are interested in furthering our exploration into Make Fridays Matter (and similar intentional community spaces with embedded academic support) as a method to achieve this within the University College community and continue the development of multi-faceted and community based academic supports within Higher Education institutions.

References Krause, K., & Coates, H. (2008). Students’ engagement in first�year university. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(5), 493-505. doi:10.1080/02602930701698892 Achieving student success: Effective student services in Canadian higher education (2010). In Cox D. G. H., Strange C. C. (Eds.), . Montreal, ON : McGill-Queen's University Press,.

Adrian Leckie Student Life Coordinator University College, University of Toronto

How Algonquin College creates a culture of Consent and safer substance use on our campus Algonquin College fosters a unique take on harm reduction for both safer substance use, and sexual violence through two unique projects. Project Lighthouse aims to shine light on the topic of sexual violence and help you navigate healthy sexual relationships. Through compassion, education, and awareness, this initiative aims to reduce sexual violence at Algonquin College and support survivors of sexual violence. The AC Umbrella Project is creating a safer space on campus to discuss the impact of the use of alcohol and other drugs. It focuses on helping students reduce problematic effects, and provides training, workshops, awareness, and support services for students and employees.

By branding our projects, we were able to create fun logos that resonate with our students, though we are working on two serious topics, having a project framework allows our students to resonate with our logos.

The projects aim to ensure that harm reduction programming and messaging is included in all aspects of the college. Students are introduced to harm reduction on their first day of orientation, and programming continues with the student life-cycle, throughout the year.

We use multiple methods to reach the largest amount of students including: social media, large-scale events, poster campaigns, art projects, and innovative talks to reach out to the majority of students across Algonquin College’s three campus (Ottawa, Perth and Pembroke), and our residence.

From the first interaction with residence, we provide our students and their families information on how to have conversations about substance use and sex. During our move in orientation we provide students with a harm reduction package including: various safer use pamphlets, information on The Umbrella Project and Project Lighthouse, and an invitation to our consent event.

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Starting in the first 6 weeks of semester, we emphasize harm reduction programming to allow students to make informed decision on their substance use, how to navigate healthy sexual relationships, all while recognizing the intersection of substance use and sexual violence. Our mass scale events, talks, booths and education initiatives recognize that students need multiple sources of information in multiple ways to make changes in their behaviour.

This education also sets a standard of what we expect from our students early on in the semester.

We use fun and engaging names like “lets toke about it”, the “bangin’ brunch” and “everything you want to know about sex” to entice students to attend our events. From the first 4 weeks of semester alone, we have engaged over 4000 students in meaningful education opportunities, and events.

Our other initiatives follow the student lifecycle and we plan our harm reduction weeks during times when our students are most likely to engage in high risk activity including St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. Join us to learn how you can infuse your campus with harm reduction initiatives.

Our tools and tips for safer substance use, as well as how to help students navigate through problematic substance use can be used and adapted for free. They are found here: https://www.algonquincollege.com/umbrellaproject/staff-and-faculty/ For engaging ways to work with students surrounding sexual violence prevention please visit the Project Lighthouse website: https://www.algonquincollege.com/projectlighthouse/ For questions or more resources please contact Sarah Crawford, Sexual Violence Prevention and Harm Reduction Coordinator crawfos1@algonquincollege.com

Sarah Crawford Sexual Violence Prevention and Harm Reduction Coordinator Algonquin College

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My First Role in Housing The OACUHO Membership Engagement Committee presents My First Role in Housing! The goal is for individuals in our association to share a photo from their first paraprofessional/professional role in Housing. In addition to the photo we would love members to share the description of the photo, their overall experience and what they enjoy most about their role.

Our first entry, Kamadchi Karunanandan is the OACUHO’s Membership Engagement Director.

She is currently a Residence Life Co-ordinator at the University of Waterloo. Here is what Kamadchi shared: This photo was taken at a Welcome BBQ for all the incoming Community Co-ordinators (CC) at the University of Waterloo in July 2015. This was the first photo that was taken of our Year 7 CC cohort and I was so excited to start this new journey. Being a CC was an eye-opening experience because I had 7 other peers that were also new to the role and the field of Student Affairs. Originally, I had big plans to work in Human Resources/Business and pursue my master’s degree but once I received my offer to CC my world had changed! I had the opportunity to supervise Student Staff (Dons) and appreciated the amount of responsibility in the role, knowing that I had completed my undergrad, and written my last exam a month prior to Student Staff training. I had the best time as a CC and was so lucky to work with individuals from various institutions who really contributed to my overall happiness and satisfaction in the workplace. I did a lot of growing up in this role and I enjoyed every single moment of my 10 month Community Coordinator contract.

If you would like to be featured in a future edition of the Pulse with a picture of your first role in Housing, please contact our Membership Engagement Director Kamadchi Karunanandan at: k4karuna@uwaterloo.ca. We are continuing the first year in residence program, so feel free to contact Kamadchi about this opportunity as well!

Kamadchi Karunanandan Residence Life Coordinator University of Waterloo

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As we journey into the later days of September and our students begin to settle into their residence rooms, we often focus on the best support to offer them as they transition through the first six weeks of the year. As housing professionals, it is crucial for us to stay aware and mindful of both events, and non-events that will influence our students as they journey throughout the year, and beyond. Students arriving to our institutions are consistently changing and evolving as a reflection of the present day, and it is important for our profession to remain forward thinking and open-minded to the type of student that is arriving to our residence halls.

The Wilfrid Laurier University team has kept this at the forefront of our minds while planning the 2019 Fall Business Meeting. Our theme for this year’s Fall Business Meeting is Challenge and Change. Grounded in four drivers of change that we have identified impact our students, the day will include a series of Pecha Kucha-style presentations and two concurrent sessions that will be presented by professionals throughout OACUHO before beginning the general meeting in the afternoon. The four drivers of change are “The Evolving Learner”, “Legislative”, “Financial”, and “Professional Development and Progression”. Additionally, we have identified 1-2 essential questions to ground us in, and define each driver of change: The Evolving Learner: a. How could research on the learner of today inform our practice as we build environments that support healthy living and learning? b. What wellness needs and demographic shifts are taking place that require operational changes to better meet the needs of our students?

Legislative:

Financial:

a. How do legislative changes impact our processes, policies and procedures? Examples include: AODA, Cannabis, Freedom of Expression, the RTA, accreditation, K-12 education, and shifts in policy from the MTCU

a. How might changes to provincial and federal funding models for post-secondary education shape the way we operate? How might shifts in enrollment impact our operation? How does growth in the private sector impact our work?

Professional Development & Progression: a. How do we develop the competencies needed to not only survive but thrive as professionals in Student Affairs? b. How might we explore with staff at all stages in their career possible pathways forward?

In addition to the business of the day, we are excited to offer a trivia night at the end of the day for all attendees, as well as a campus tour for Laurier Alumni! We ask that individuals kindly indicate their interest in the social activities of the day upon registering for the conference.

Registration for the 2019 Fall Business Meeting is open! We look forward to seeing all of you here on our Waterloo campus on October 16th, 2019.

Still haven’t registered for the Fall Business Meeting? No worries, Register now by scanning the QR Code and completing the registration information!

Jennifer McCluskey Residence Life Area Coordinator Wilfred Laurier University

The How To Guide: Developing a 2020 Vision for You and your Department The How To Guide: Preparing for RLC 2019-2020 1) Encourage Staff to submit a Learning Experience Do you have staff at your institution who are being innovative, exceling, or have a lot of great ideas to share?

With learning experiences being open, this is the perfect time to encourage staff to share their ideas more formally at the Residence Life Conference through submitting a learning proposal.

As a Reminder Learning Experiences will be open from September 25th, 2019 until October 9th, 2019 at 11:59 PM. 2) Secure your stay at the Delta Looking to book your hotel rooms?

Look no further; we have secured a number of rooms for the Residence Life Conference at the Delta Hotel, which is, located right across from the main entrance of the University of Guelph.

For more information on how to book your room please visit: www.oacuho.com/Accommodations. html Don’t forget to book your rooms by October 11th, 2019 in order to secure our reduced hotel rate!

Let’s look ahead to the vision that we have for the year 2020.

As the Residence Life Conference approaches, it is important to be future orientated by thinking about the ways in which we are moving towards innovation, creativity, and initiative in the ways that we approach the student experience. The 2020 vision is about creating a holistic living and learning environment for our students. While we integrate ourselves into the information, we also have an opportunity to apply our learning into ourselves, our roles, and our departments.

Step #1: Take a moment to reflect Heading into the conference, start the process of forwardthinking to create some goals for yourself. Ask yourself: What are the potential trends and/or needs of our institution? What am I looking to get out of this conference? What am I looking to do in 2020 within the scope of my role? More importantly, what can I bring to the table to share and pass along to other individuals at other institutions? When developing a 2020 Vision, it is important to consider the collaborative nature of the conference. Remember that sharing innovative ideas is just as important as learning new ideas. By creating and reflecting on our individual goals, together we can create a clear path for what 2020 will look like. This will ultimately allow you to create a 2020 Vision for yourself and your institution.

Step #2: Be open to the opportunity to share experience.

Be open to change, new ideas, and the opportunity to create a structure for leadership through learning and sharing ideas. At the Residence Life Conference, it is important to come into the weekend with a mindset like a sponge. Come in ready to absorb the information to your best ability so that when you leave, you are able to “wring” yourself out of the knowledge that you have gained. In doing so, you will be able to share the wealth of knowledge with your colleagues, student staff, and students.

Adaptability is a trait that is best exemplified through changelet’s embrace change as we move into 2020 so that we can enhance the experiences of others

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Step #3: Don’t simply make relationships, begin to develop long-lasting relationships.

There is a difference between one’s ability to foster a connection and the ability to create a basis for the development of a relationship. While the conference is an excellent way to spread ideas and learn about the strategies used at various institutions, why not keep the ideas rolling? By creating meaningful contacts and relationships with other housing professionals, you are paving a collaborative path to success.

This creates the opportunity for growth that continues throughout the year, rather than growth at one point that is meant to last the year. Pave the path for 2020! Create relationships that you can foster and nourish throughout the year. In student affairs, life-long learning is a value of ours.

Let’s continue that learning and share ideas throughout the year so that we can develop our strategies as one united profession.

Step #4: Spread the News!

An integral part of your role in attending the conference is being able to bring the information back to your home institution. At this stage of the conference, it might be an excellent idea to speak with your delegates so that you can begin to reflect on what you have learned and how you can bring it back to your department in a meaningful way. When we share ideas at the conference, it serves as a basis for sharing ideas within the scope of our roles at our institution. Thinking back to the reflective portion of this article, begin to push your ideas forward in how you are going to take what you have learned and how you will apply it to the needs and trends of your institution. It is also important to remember the skills of the individuals at your institution who can really push both the individual and collective vision forward. This is the step of the how-to guide that allows you to take action on your learning. At the end of the day, leadership is action, not just a position. So the question remains; What will your action look like for your institution?

We look forward to you joining us for RLC 2019-2020!

Alex Clarke Assistant Residence Life Manager University of Guelph

3) Register Online Online registration for RLC 2019-2020 will be opening soon. Continue to watch your email for important information on when registration will open.

4) Pack your bags Once you’ve organized your staff, booked hotels and registered online you are ready to start packing.

We are excited for you all to come down to campus and enjoy a weekend full of learning, creativity, building relationships and fun together.

So pack your favorite dancing shoes and make your way down to the University of Guelph to further explore 2020 Vision with us all.

We look forward to seeing you November 8th – 10th

Coming Soon…