Strategic Relationships For Student Leaders in Residence Life and Housing

Residence Life and Housing offices do not function within a bubble. If you have worked in a residence life office, you’re probably nodding your head, maybe thinking about the other staff you’ve had to work with. It can be frustrating, fun, different, interesting, and logistically confusing sometimes working with staff who come from a different perspective and have different objectives in mind. I want to talk a little about which staff you should create relationships with outside of residence life, how to go about doing this, and why it’ll help you in your role as a student leader in Residence Life. 

Campus Safety

University police, public safety, campus security, or community safety. This department can go by a variety of names. Here we’re talking about the people who keep your building safe! You may see these individuals at front desks, patrolling, or during duty calls.

• Why? Sometimes campus safety can seem intimidating with their uniforms and the way they have to demand respect from students. Believe me though, they are just humans too! And they often really want to get to know students. Campus safety is often who will partner with you during tough duty calls. The situations can be stressful, but they are easier to handle if you have good rapport with the officers. 
• How? Early on, introduce yourself and learn their name. Follow up the rest of the year by always saying hello to them by name. If the campus safety officer is one who is stuck at the desk you can also go the extra mile and see if they want anything from your campus convenience store. Only do this if you have extra campus dollars of course because that money is to feed yourself! If dealing with a situation together make sure to prepare together. Ask questions about what they need from you during a situation. If they tell you something that is different from your job description, make sure to be kind and firm when telling them your supervisor actually needs you to do something differently. Because of the already built relationship from saying hello and being kind, the situation will go so much smoother than if you didn’t know that officer.

Engineers and Maintenance Staff

Your physical resources, physical plant, university engineers, operations staff, maintenance staff, facilities, building service workers – the people that fix stuff!

• Why? Let’s face it, anywhere inhabited by young adults, often living on their own for the first time, is going to fall apart fast. You will be needing engineers’ help to fix things in your halls, but also in your own space. These staff are much more likely to help you out quickly if they like you. Sometimes they’ll even help with additional things without you asking
• How? Clean your space so it feels welcoming when engineers come in to fix something. Be incredibly specific about the issues going on, which makes the job a lot easier for the engineers. 

Housekeeping

Or oftentimes, custodial staff.Whatever other name you may use, these are the people that keep our building clean.

• Why? Cleaning residence halls is a hard job. Students can be disrespectful and messy, not caring about who is cleaning up after them. Befriending your housekeeper is helpful to actually knowing what wild things are going on in your hall and what you can do to fix it. It can be really helpful for the housekeepers to know that we want to make their job easier. They can help pinpoint issues on your floor that need to be addressed with your residents. Housekeeping and Residence Life can be a great team when working in harmony.
• How? I would suggest getting to know the different housekeepers and their names on your campus, but especially the ones in your area. When you see them, take time to ask about how they are doing. Also ask about your residents and if they are causing them any trouble. Encourage your residents to get to know the housekeepers as well. Talk highly of them and their work. It will help your residents to respect shared spaces more when they know who is cleaning it. 

Other Staff Unique To Your Campus

Every campus is unique in the ways its departments connect. It is likely there is another group (or two!) that I haven’t listed, that you work really close with as well! Maybe it’s campus activities, the library, dining services.

• Why? Whatever group on campus that you work closely with it is always important to know them. The more you get to know staff from other departments, you’ll find they are willing to lend you things, they will want to partner with you for programs, and they’ll promote your events. It benefits your residents when you have partnerships like this.
• How? For campus partners like these, it’s important to be the one to reach out. Thank your librarians for being good resources, ask your dining staff if they want to get creative with you on a program, or see if the people in activities are willing to lend supplies. Offices at universities want to be utilized! They’ll be thrilled that you’re wanting to work together with them. Just make sure to thank them for what they contribute and be willing to help them as well.

In Summary

Learn people’s names, try to understand their goals in their department, and always express gratitude. Your job will be so much easier and your residents will have a better experience because of it!