Or “We’re moving away from curriculum.” Every now and then I hear this phrase from a school and I find it strange. What does that even mean? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! It’s almost like I don’t even understand it. As I pondered this question, I’ve come think it’s because I have a different understanding of what it means to have a residential curriculum and what a residential curriculum is.
So what’s going on here? What’s my disconnect? If you’ll indulge me in some messy “thinking out loud,” I want to try to write it out to figure it out. You may have insights, or different thoughts, too. I’d love to hear them. This is a bit of a thought experiment. Here we go…
Premise: If students aren’t connected and feel like they belong, they can’t learn.
I think one of the differences comes from differing definitions about what a residential curriculum is. I see a curricular approach as a mindset. A mindset where you assume the premise that you want students to learn and, in order to achieve that, you set goals, prototype, test, and improve. This is probably why the “we don’t do curriculum anymore” phrasing confuses me. Does it mean, we don’t focus on learning? Does it mean, we aren’t using data and improving experiences for students over time? I don’t think this is what is actually meant, but this is where I get confused.
There is a tendency to over-complicate the idea of curricular approach. Curriculum can have a reputation as a super complicated endeavor. Or, that a curriculum needs to be “complete” and “tidy” rather than something that’s in a constant state of evolution. A curriculum can (and should) be simple and straightforward to be most effective. If one gets bogged down in the design process of learning goals and outcomes so deeply that you can’t convert it into practice, then you’ll get stuck. Similarly, if you create a curriculum that is so over designed that staff hate to execute it, then there’s a problem. The problem isn’t with the mindset (above), it’s in the way it’s being implemented. Keep it simple. (Keith Edwards gives good advice on staying “unstuck” in this article.)
Furthermore, a curricular approach mindset also does not preclude one from having multiple areas of focus. I think there is a narrative that if a department has a curriculum, they don’t focus on community development, or if a department has a community development model, that means they can’t have a curriculum. You can actually do both. You should do both. To me, community development is an integral part of a residential curriculum. They’re not separate concepts. They’re both part of the mission of residence life. Much like a teacher in a classroom, if you don’t take time to set up your classroom for success, it doesn’t matter how good of a teacher you are. If you don’t build community, your student learning efforts will fail.
Premise: If you spend an infinite amount of time writing learning goals and outcomes (and focusing on the “structural” pieces of a curriculum) and not on implementing, testing, and putting things into practice, your priorities are wrong. Keep it simple.
Where We Go Wrong
I have fallen into these traps many times and I can still fall into these traps. There are a few areas (observations) where I think residence life practice can go askew:
- Not accounting for the importance of community building to set the stage for student learning and success.
- If RAs aren’t doing programs, then they aren’t “doing work.” (Not true.)
- Thinking of a resident experience as a buffet (hat tip to Keith Edwards and Kathleen Gardner) and not as a sequenced journey.
- Conflating a department mission with resident outcomes.
- Defining too many learning, goals and outcomes and making them complex.
- Doing intentional conversations and other strategies, but not using the data that’s generated from them to improve individual student retention and success. Furthermore, not closing the loop in a timely fashion with frontline staff so they can change practice in real time.
- Right-sizing the student staff (and professional staff) workload and focusing on the things that are (1) the most important, (2) that have the biggest impact on residents, keeping in mind what each staff member is best suited and situated to achieve.
- No consistency, and therefore not improving practice year-over-year.
Many of these relate to the 10 essential elements of a residential curriculum. The Elements are good guideposts for practice, even if you “don’t have a residential curriculum.”
Premise: Community and belonging are important. Students learning and growing is also important. They are not in conflict with one another. You can hold both.
The Purpose of Residence Life
As I see it, the purpose of residential education is threefold (speaking in an over-generalized way):
- Help residents connect with one another, feel a sense of belonging, make memories, and have fun.
- Help residents learn about themselves, how to live and work with others, and how to achieve personal goals.
- Help residents who are struggling overcome obstacles and help residents who are thriving to reach higher levels of success.
Although presented here as three distinct components, they all mutually support each other.
| Belonging (Community Development) | Student Learning (Residential Curriculum) | Individualized Support (Case Management) |
| Encouraging student connection, belonging, and fun. | Focusing on specific learning objectives residents should hopefully achieve. | Providing for the retention and success of individual residents. |
Again, although these three are represented as “buckets,” they all inter-relate. For example, fun community events are also spaces where students can learn and staff can identify students who are struggling or thriving. Learning opportunities are also spaces for residents to connect with each other and a space for staff to help individual residents. Intentional conversations as a part of case management are also learning opportunities and an opportunity to encourage connections and community.
There are other important components to residence life work, such as safety, that I’m not including them here as part of an investigation of resident engagement.
Premise: What we do as practitioners or a department is different from what we want students to learn.
Residence Life Goals
So if the above is our mission, what are the related goals for our residents?
Community Development Goals
- Residents will feel included and that they belong on campus.
- Residents will establish friendships and community.
Learning Goals
- Achieving One’s Goals – Residents will be able to identify goals they have (wellness, academic, career, etc.), access resources and supports, and apply strategies to achieve them.
- Living With Others – Residents will be able to live and collaborate with others, work through conflict, and engage in community.
- Learning About Oneself – Residents will be able to articulate and live out their goals, their values, and explore their identity.
Individualized Support Goals
- Residents will receive proactive support when they may encounter difficulty or to further enhance their success.
- Residents will be connected to offices and support services according to their needs.
Premise: We ask too much of our student staff–both in terms of the amount of work we ask them to do and the level of work we expect from them.
What does it look like?
What we need to do is create a journey for students, not a series of one-off disconnected programs and services. We also need to make sure that the right staff are doing the right jobs with a manageable workload. To me, it might look something like this:
| Community Development | Learning/ Curriculum | Case Management |
| Student Staff complete one social, community activity per week. Some weeks may be pre-defined as “Take To’s” or community meetings. Professional staff check-in and advise to ensure healthy communities. | Student Staff help in the execution of strategies such as: Agreements, Campaigns, Centralized Events, etc. in service of the above identified learning goals. Professional staff help design and guide those strategies. | Student Staff meet for intentional conversations twice a semester and check in with supervisors about individual residents. Professional staff do escalated outreach and refer to CARE and other teams and offices as appropriate. |
| Weeks | Community Development | Learning/ Curriculum | Case Management |
| Week 1 | First Floor Meeting | Campaign | |
| Week 2 | Some social activity | Agreements | |
| Week 3 | Some social activity | – Agreements – Centralized Event | |
| Week 4 | Take-To | Agreements | |
| Week 5 | Some social activity | – Agreements – Campaign | |
| Week 6 | Some social activity | Centralized Event | Conversation 1 |
| Week 7 | Some social activity | Conversation 1 | |
| Week 8 | Take-To | Conversation 1 | |
| Week 9 | Some social activity | Centralized Event | Conversation 1 |
| Week 10 | Some social activity | Campaign | |
| Week 11 | Some social activity | Conversation 2 | |
| Week 12 | Take-To | Centralized Event | Conversation 2 |
| Week 13 | Some social activity | Conversation 2 | |
| Week 14 | Some social activity | Conversation 2 | |
| Week 15 | Final Floor Meeting |
Strategies
Our engagements with residents. Although some (most?) of these will be pre-defined, these can also be adjusted according to the individual community or needs of the residents.
- Social Activities – There is an expectation that student staff have some type of social activity for their residents each week. This does not need to be a complicated program. Meeting to go to dinner together in the dining hall counts. Baking cookies and sharing them door-to-door counts. Watching a movie together counts. Of course one can make a more complicated social program if one wishes, but this is beyond expectations. For some weeks, holding a community meeting (required) will count as the social activity. And some of the weeks must be a “Take To” which is going to an existing campus event together.
- Take-To’s – Take To’s are opportunities to go together with your residents to an existing campus event. A Take To list has been generated with vetted programs that fit with the learning goals we have for students. If you want to propose an alternate event not on the approved list, talk to your supervisor. Your residents may be particularly interested in a specific topic, or maybe have a specific need. (Don’t just pick events you are interested in, think through what your residents would be interested in and benefit from.)
- Community Meetings – There are two predefined community meetings (required) at the beginning and end of the term. We will give you sample agendas with the information that needs to be covered, but beyond that, you can personalize it and make it your own. If you feel like your community needs additional meetings, you can hold those and it will count as your social activity for the week.
- Campaigns – Sometimes called “passive programming,” there will be a series of educational campaigns going on throughout the year. This may require you to hand out newsletters, put up pre-designed bulletin boards, table in the lobby, etc. Don’t worry too much about these. We’ll give you all the information and materials you need. Although it appears in the schedule that these happen at specific times, in reality they are ongoing and multiple themes and topics can be going on at once. (For example, our residents don’t just experience mental health issues during “Mental Health Week” so this is an ongoing effort throughout the year and will show up in multiple places at multiple times.)
- Agreements – Student staff will meet individually with each roommate or suitemate pair/grouping to guide them through the completion of the roommate agreement. This also acts as a form of intentional conversation to learn more about your residents and an opportunity for you to develop a relationship with them. Be prepared to talk about each room/suite in your one-on-one with your supervisor. You’re the expert on your community.
- Centralized Events – These are organized by the professional staff, sometimes in partnership with other offices. They are larger-scale hall-wide, area-wide, or campus-wide events that focus in on some of the important learning goals we have for students. We’ll ask for you to sit on committees to provide feedback and input on the planning process. We need your help.
- Intentional Conversations – This is a key component of the work. Each student staff member will meet with residents twice per term to have a conversation with residents about how they are doing. We’ll give you some guidance on topics you might want to probe around (this is what makes them “intentional” and not just “conversations”), but they are not meant to be formal robot-like discussions. This guidance is a starting point and includes things to look out for. The goal here is to help residents think through situations and issues they may be confronting and look for opportunities to provide support and make referrals. You’ll review these at your 1-1s with your supervisor each week as you talk though your community and residents. You might be asked to do some follow-up!
Staff
In this type of set-up, the role of student staff becomes more akin to a mentor or a facilitator that is helping guide their students through their journey. Student staff are not responsible for developing complex educational programs, but utilize and connect students to the resources and events that are already going on. Student staff facilitate connections (part of community development), develop relationships with residents (part of case management), and connect residents to programs and resources (part of residential curriculum). Professional staff guide student staff in their efforts through knowledge and assessment (part of community development), facilitate individual resident follow up and support (part of case management), and engage in educational experience design (part of residential curriculum).
1-1 meetings between professional and student staff are oriented towards understanding what is happening in the communities, adapting strategies, and checking in individually on the success and struggles of each of the residents.
Premise: Keep it simple. don’t get too cerebral. Use common sense. Be flexible.
Wrapping It Up
The model I present here is pretty generic, but the goals and outcomes are pretty universal. They might look slightly different on a different campus, have stronger or lesser areas of emphasis, but in my opinion this represents the core of residence life work. For me, community development, curriculum, and case management live together in harmony and mutually support one another. If one of these components is missing, then we’re missing out on an important aspect of our work.
And this returns us to the original question of, what does “we don’t do curriculum anymore” mean? Why do I find this phrasing confusing? I think I find it confusing because I see student learning as an integral part of holistic residence life work. Curriculum is a set of guiding rules of practice that can help us achieve that. Why would we give that up? If I dug in more deeply, I don’t think there is truly a disconnect on this point. It might just boil down to language and definitions, or a differing understanding of what a curriculum is.
What are your thoughts?
