ResEdChat Ep 71: Introducing Our 2024 ACUHO-I Summer Intern, Seferine Baez!

Dustin Ramsdell:
Welcome back, everyone, to Roompact’s Res Ed Chat podcast. Every episode we’re featuring a variety of topics of interest to higher ed professionals to work in and with university housing, residence life, residence education, whatever you might call it. But this is a special episode. This time every year we welcome, Roompact, a new ACUHO-I intern that works throughout the summer on different strategic projects. So we like to give sort of a bookend experience to introducing that intern, and having them also reflect on their experience.
So we will start out, if you want to introduce yourself to everyone. We’ll put it in the show notes, a more sort of in-depth introductory blog post as well, but if you just want to kind of quick elevator pitch, who you are, what you do, and then we’ll go on from there.

Seferine Baez:
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Dustin. My name is Seferine Baez, and I am a full-time professional at Boston University. I am in Res Life here, and do oversee about two blocks of buildings, like 12 buildings in total. Very mixed population for me, so first-year students, international students, masters and doctoral students, as well. And a bunch of living-learning communities, which is connected, I think, to what we’ll talk about today. About half of my team serves the Honors College here at BU, so I have to hire from the pool of honors students, and the first years in the program, in particular, live with me.
So that’s only one of the many specialty communities, but that’s definitely part of why my heart is here. I had gotten an internal transfer here at BU since starting, just a lateral move to serve with this particular population, so I was really excited about that. I’m at BU as of three and a half years at the end of this semester, so I was a pandemic hire, and prior to that had served nearby at another school, a public school in Boston, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. So that was a really fun first venture into Residence Life at a professional level. And I had done some college access work as well.
So done a little bit, done a few different things. I’m a first-generation student, so I really enjoyed being in the public school setting and serving students that were more similar to me. But even at a massive institution like BU, where I am now, those students exist. There’s maybe a little less of them, but maybe they even have different needs being surrounded by folks that don’t have a similar experience to them, so I’m glad to be a friendly face on that regard.
I think that’s most of the professional stuff. I’d just say that I am wrapping up my master’s in educational leadership and policy studies here at the Wheelock School of Human Development and Education at BU. So it’s been a privilege to use that sweet, sweet tuition remission to get a job. Sorry, to get a diploma. And yeah, I look forward to whatever’s next for me, part of which is Roompact.

Dustin Ramsdell:
Right. Yeah, and I think it’s really cool. I think just that journey you’re on, which I think is … Yeah, obviously you just had a lot of professional experience in Residence Life, but wanting to keep yourself busy I guess over the summer and perhaps I guess seek out a very different experiences. You’ve already had a collection of different institution types at least, and now with a more project-based, remote ACUHO-I internship with a company, super unique. How did you find it and what resonated with you about it?

Seferine Baez:
Yeah, absolutely, and I touched on my status as a 10-month employee is part of this. Many institutions have folks that don’t need to be part of the operation for the summer. Some of the folks that work here at my institution do work all 12 months, but my particular position does not. And I like it that way, I enjoy that element because I get to find something to do that’s different, maybe lean into a particular facet of higher ed that I’m not yet working with.
I have been using the ACUHO-I platform for finding summer internships that they have every year since I’ve been a grad student, because the only eligibility is to be a graduate student. So I am pretty sure I’m a bit of a non-traditional candidate in that database, simply because I’m in the professional sphere more securely. I’m not in between year one and two of a grad program, which is I think what most people are, their situation is, when they go for that internship.
I think after creating a profile, you have to decide what is it that you’re looking for because there’s so many different things in there. And I think the location can be obviously a factor because most of those jobs are in-person. So am I willing to travel, am I comfortable … Sorry. Am I comfortable with … I’m going to turn my phone down so if it rings again, you won’t hear it. Am I willing to travel? Am I comfortable with the location that it is? Is it a state that I’ve been to? What would I be doing? Not all the internships are in Residence Life, some of them are in dining or even conference services can be slightly different. What’s the population of people I’ll be working with? Is it high school students? Is it college undergrads? Is it external groups? So it’s a lot of questions I ask myself, and I applied to a bunch of different things.
What attracted me to Roompact in particular is I tried to look through all of it, but there is so many listings, but out of everything I looked at it was the only thing that wasn’t a school. It was the only thing that wasn’t an institution. I am not going to say that I know for sure that there aren’t any others like that in there, but I didn’t come across them myself throughout my search. And so that already stood out. I’m a different kind of candidate, and this is a different kind of post.
As I was reading it I think Res Ed is something that’s always in the back of my mind, and at large institutions like BU, and it might not be something I spend a lot of time on just because there’s just so much to do. I think that’s true for all of us, but it might not be on my plate to really dig into the Res Ed curriculum as it exists here. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but if I want to work more deeply in that particular realm, it was exciting to come across something where that was the entire point.
So I have different experiences at different institutions, but I haven’t done something yet where I really get to focus on this particular part. So I’m definitely excited to do that.

Dustin Ramsdell:
Yeah, and that’s what I was curious from your … Because I think we’ve speculated here that we’re one of the only companies that offers something like this on that platform, but I guess imagining that there’s this sprinkling of remote opportunities there, but certainly any company that works in this space, it’s nice to have the distinction, but it’s also like, yeah, I think there’s room for anybody to jump in as well.
But yeah, I mean, I think that’s definitely a powerful thing to have such a unique opportunity to get a unique experience and just taking up that new challenge, good on you for just seeking that opportunity out. And I think, like you said, residence education and residential curriculums and things like that, I think that ability to just deep dive on it for a bit could really solidify that appreciation for yourself, but then try to help those others. You recognize it and it’s like yeah, maybe it’s just the idea we can get stuck in routines, but if we all are aspiring to do more, to do better, how can we try to help enable that for more of our colleagues across the country.
But I guess really briefly, if you know what the projects you’ll be working on, because I think, again, this will be a bookend. We’re going to have this preamble here and we’ll check back in in a few months when you’re wrapping up the internship. But at this point, what was the shape that is formed, I guess, for the projects you’d be working on?

Seferine Baez:
Primarily content for the site. And I’ve been really enjoying getting to know the whole team at Roompact, even if my role won’t be heavy into the software component, that is really what the company can spend a lot of their time on. What I really love is how the content is just open for anyone to click through. You don’t have to use the software in order to look through some of these articles that are posted. It really feels like we’re able to contribute to the industry in general and not too widely higher ed, student affairs, but real specific to Res Life.
And so that’s an opportunity for sure where just being dedicated to what are the conversations happening as a collective in the field and what would be helpful for someone if they’re sort of searching for something that they need, that they could find this resource online. So I’m excited. I know that I’ll be primarily doing professional development for student staff. There might not be as much of that in there so far. I know the other interns have done similar work and have done great work, and I get to build on what they have, but for the audience to specifically be the student staff members will be a special little spin on it.
And beyond just professional development, how is this job that you have as a paraprofessional, part-time student employee, while you’re likely in classes for maybe something totally different. You’re not even going for education sometimes as an RA, whether that be a resident advisor, community advisor, whatever it’s called at your particular institution, how do you use the skills that you’re learning and exercising in whatever job you’ll have next, whatever’s happening after college for you. So that’ll be fun.
But then there’ll also be opportunities to post examples of programming. If you’re currently a student staff member and you’re not super familiar with event planning when you come to the job, I think for some people that can be maybe not their strong suit. And so a little bit of that will be exciting. So if there’s particular topics that most any institution would encourage their RAs to bring to their residents, we might have some canned programs, or maybe just a little bit more about that topic or theme so that the RA who’s not familiar with that topic will feel a little better after reading that post, that article. So it’ll be a combination of those things and I’m excited to see what we come up with.

Dustin Ramsdell:
Yeah, I mean that’s all really good stuff. I mean, just that content can be … Maybe RAs themselves are just searching around and trying to find it, but for the community that a lot of folks who are listening and everything, is like you can try to just grab onto these things and just share them directly with your staff to help them, are just going to help inform your perspective of how to frame the job and to the benefits of it.
But yeah, I mean, I think it is just that idea that we, through this podcast and many other things, just really try to be really plugged in and of service. And it’s always cool to see the different ways that that’s manifesting. And I think it’s been a little bit more over this past year or so that there’s been episodes of this podcast that are specifically about and for RAs that, again, can be directed towards them, or supervisors could try to bring those up. But yeah, I think that’s really exciting, really necessary, really helpful.
And as we wind down, I know there’s one thing that stuck out to me, just seeing from your background and things that you do, because also a somewhat involved alumni. I’m on the Board of Directors of my Alumni Association for University of Delaware, so I see you’re involved in that way as well. Can you talk a bit about that, I guess what inspired you to get involved in that way and what that experience has been like for you?

Seferine Baez:
Yeah, thanks for noticing that. I am really always happy to talk about my alma mater. And service with them has kept me grounded I think throughout different jobs at different institutions. Some of my core values I think I explored those and I still keep them with me as a professional now, but I really started to think about this field while I was a college student.
I don’t think it’s uncommon for those of us who end up working in higher education institutions to have been over-involved student leaders when we were in college. So that’s not a surprise to anyone. But I was in my last semester, when I met the director of alumni relations at the time, and she just said, “We’re currently reviewing applications. I know you’re barely an alum yet, you’re literally not yet an alum, but you would start in July. You should think about it.” And I was just looking into what it is they do mostly giving out scholarships and planning events for alumni. And I was like, this is a cool way to continue to I guess serve this institution. It’s Fitchburg State in North Central Massachusetts.
And I have really enjoyed my time there. When I started, I was the youngest person in the room. Depending on each year, who joins and who doesn’t I might still be sometimes. And there are folks who’ve been in service for 10 years, 20 years. People who graduated in the ’60s, the ’80, the 2000s. And it’s really fun to meet these people. And the thing we have in common, even if there’s very little else, this connection to a particular institution. And for us to have started our lives, our young adulthood, in the same place, even if that place has changed over the years, is such a strong connection. It’s really fun. And I haven’t explored alumni work for the workplace for me as a professional, but I’ve stayed connected to it as an alum myself.
And I’m proud to serve, for sure, both as a member for a few years and then the past two years as the treasurer. And there might be some fun updates in July that I don’t think I’m at liberty to say yet, but maybe by the time we have our next podcast recording I’ll be able to talk about it and it’ll be really exciting.

Dustin Ramsdell:
Okay, a little cliffhanger here because yeah, I mean, in one hand it’s like summer feels too short, but then it’s like, it’s a long time, a lot can happen and a lot to look forward to. Certainly this unique experience that you’re getting to have with Roompact and it sounds like cool stuff happening with the alumni board there as well.
But anything else you’re looking forward to this summer personally? I don’t know if you have any fun trips or different things that are going on or hobbies, whatever you’d like to share, whatever you’re looking forward to personally this summer.

Seferine Baez:
Yeah, definitely some of that alumni work. I was just involved in some of those finalist interviews for the university president at Fitchburg State. When I was a student there was the last time we hired a new president and now we will have someone starting in July, so that’ll be part of the updates, but not exactly the cliffhanger there.
BU is also in a similar position with a new university president starting. So it’s just like that summer, it’s a big transition. They’ll be hiring a new provost here. We just got a new dean of students six months ago. It’s exciting to see, even though it can be stressful when there’s turnover, it just feels like the land of opportunity for a moment, everything could change. New personalities, new perspectives coming in.
For me as a person, I’ve got a summer birthday so that’ll be good. And because I’ll be remote with Roompact as we are, I can physically work from a lot of different places. So maybe I’ll be visiting family in New York. My best friend is a documentarian out in California. I’ve got family in Florida, in the Dominican Republic. So who knows, maybe I’ll be a little bit of a nomad this summer. I guess we’ll see.

Dustin Ramsdell:
Yeah, digital nomad. Yeah, and I mean, that is something I have not taken enough advantage of and I think like, I’ve got young kids now. It might not be in the cards for right this moment, but it’s like I don’t know if I’ll ever really be going back in the office full time for any future positions and all that. I certainly appreciated just the lifestyle even where I am. But I think for those who are inclined towards the digital nomad life, I think it could be really awesome. So hopefully you were able to take advantage of that in whatever extent that you are willing and able to. But it sounds like lots of other cool stuff and transitions and new opportunities for various organizations you’re working for, working with, and all that.
But so we will check back in again in a couple of months, so likely around maybe early August that we will record and get your hindsight on this summer, of your experience at Roompact and everything else that we’ve talked about. But [inaudible 00:19:30] ways to connect with you and keep track of the work that you’re doing in the description for this episode. But very excited to see what you get up to. And thanks for taking a little time to introduce yourself to the audience here. And yeah, just best of luck to you.

Seferine Baez:
Yeah, thanks for having me. Looking forward to the next few months.