When I started as a hall director, I was excited but also overwhelmed by the number of responsibilities. I had to supervise a student staff of 13, manage the hall’s administrative desk, oversee the community budget, advise hall government, adjudicate conduct cases, and all the other duties as assigned. Thankfully I received a full training that started right after July 4th and lasted about three weeks. This was followed by at least two full weeks of training for student staff. Now that I oversee professional staff training, especially post-pandemic with evolving work perspectives, I believe there a few elements to keep in mind.
Less is More: Condense the Schedule
I’ve seen many training programs cram everything a staff member needs to know for the full academic year into a month of summer sessions. When benchmarking a few institutions to build our schedule, I still see weeks of back-to-back sessions. Part of me gets it – we need to cover essentials like student behavior, duty, and compliance. Staff might not always get why we repeat policies/sessions, but if something goes wrong, General Counsel will ask how we trained our team. Plus, there’s the need or politics to give campus partners face time with our front-line staff. I understand, but I still believe training doesn’t have to take an entire month. Here is what I have shared with our leadership team:
- Summer Training Mantra: “Get to Labor Day.” Focus on what our staff need in the short-term. What are our operational must-haves? We can save the deep dives into full competencies and development for later. Focus on the priorities: protocol, conflict resolution, Fall Opening, staff supervision, and residential engagement.
- Make sure to schedule a break between Professional staff and student staff training. Everyone has different calendar constraints, but it’s important to allow time for preparation and rest. In the past two summers, we’ve had at least a week between trainings, but even just three days can make an impact on staff wellness.
Year-Round Mindset
We often rely on summer and the start of Spring semester for professional staff training, but this isn’t effective. While we all agree on the importance of continuous development, we default to filling the academic year with update meetings, leaving little to no time for development. How do we reach the top of the pyramid and develop a year-round training program to be our best selves?
- Start with the “why” by drafting the learning outcomes. Let the functional area lead review and suggest additional outcomes. Once we know what our staff needs to learn and our vision, we can brainstorm strategies and time requirements in the schedule.
- After this brainstorm and refining phase, you can decide which topics need to be covered in summer training and which can be scheduled after Labor Day. It’s important to mark placeholders in the meeting calendar for later sessions, revisiting the details and learning outcomes as you get closer to the date you outlined.
- Remember, small wins matter. If you commit to holding at least two development sessions each in the fall and spring semesters – progress is progress. This approach helps shift some sessions from summer or spring training, making the schedule more manageable.
DEI Is Foundational
The last element I’ll mention to keep in mind for professional staff training is that diversity, equity, and inclusion is the cornerstone of the training structure. All outcomes and sessions should be set with DEI as the reference. What does that start to look like?
- DEI-specific training should be integrated throughout the year. Topics can range from implicit bias, inclusive decision-making, to exploring communication styles across generations.
- Beyond specific DEI sessions, apply a DEI lens to all training. Ensure materials and case studies reflect diverse viewpoints and experiences. When covering supervision, for example, discuss how identities and background impact dynamics.
- Every summer, my Assistant Director and I meet with our campus partners in multicultural education and training. We come prepared with ideas and learning outcomes, but these brainstorming sessions with the experts help shape our vision moving forward.
Training programs needs to evolve from the days when I was a hall director. We must balance development needs with respect for staff time and responsibilities. By condensing the schedule, adopting a year-round mindset, and making DEI our cornerstone, we can ensure staff are well-prepared and retain the information.
