Door decorations and bulletin boards are more than check-the-box tasks; they are often the first impression residents have of their community. In this episode of Roompact’s RA*Chat,, we sit down with a Nikki Garcia to explore how RAs can create intentional, engaging, and meaningful visuals that go beyond aesthetics. From planning timelines to interactive strategies, we break down how to make your boards and door decs stand out while still staying manageable during a busy semester.
Guest: Nicole Garcia (she/her/Ella), Coordinator for Recruitment, Training, and Leadership, Residential Education, University of South Florida – Tampa
Host: Anthony Martinez
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Transcript:
Anthony Martinez:
Welcome back to the Roompact podcast, everybody, an RA 360 special. Today we have a special podcast for RAs where we talk about strategies, challenges, and wins of building community in the residence halls. I’m your host, Anthony, and today we are diving into something RAs may be encountering across the country. Whether you love it, avoid it, door decorations and bulletin boards are an essential to your role. Now, these can sometimes feel like another task to do on your to-do list, but they play a huge role in setting the tone for our floors, our connections, and even supporting the wellbeing of our residents. And today I am joined by a very special guest for first time debuting on a podcast, Nikki Garcia, a professional on Residence Life, to talk about how we can make door decs and bulletin boards more intentional, engaging, and honestly, less stressful.
So welcome to the podcast, Nikki. I am so excited to have you. If you would like to introduce yourself and let our audience know a little bit about you.
Nicole Garcia:
Yes. Thank you so much, Anthony. Very excited to be here. My name is Nicole Garcia. I am currently a coordinator working at the University of South Florida Tampa. And I have gone through being a resident and assistant to a graduate assistant all the way now to my professional years working within the halls. And so it’s so exciting to be able to talk about something that has been a core piece for every single institution I’ve been at, which is door decorations, our bulletin boards, and how to make our halls fun and welcoming.
Anthony Martinez:
Yes. I don’t think people would realize that other universities do this, but they do. And hearing the experience you have, it is clearly evident that these institutions do.
Nicole Garcia:
Yes.
Anthony Martinez:
And so to start us off, Nikki, can you talk about why door decorations, bulletin boards actually matter in residence life? And what purpose do you think they serve just beyond being a decoration?
Nicole Garcia:
Yeah. So door decorations and bulletin boards are often one of the first ways students actually get to experience a sense of belonging when they’re in the residence halls. They really help transform your building into, from feeling very institutional, kind of sometimes sterile or old, because sometimes we have halls that have more to love, and so it turns it into more of a feeling of being welcoming and very personal, especially when you’re seeing who you are as a person. It’s your first introduction to all of your residents. They really communicate that someone prepared for you to show up and is ready to be able to welcome you into our halls. And I know just beyond decorations, they’re very practical as well and they kind of serve almost an educational purpose, especially depending on the school that you’re at. And so it really helps our residents learn their names.
It learns who their roommates are because they may not have been able to see that before on their housing portals. It also helps with sharing resources like where their hometown is or what interests that they might have. And it’s a good conversation starters as well.
Anthony Martinez:
Nikki, yeah, you were the right person for this. Exactly. Yes. A sense of belonging. Someone is preparing for you to show up and you’re feeling good. Yes, exactly. You’re hitting the nail on the head. The next question I want to ask you is, what do you think RAs sometimes overlook about their impact? And so you mentioned their sense of belonging and identifying information and getting to know their roommates, but to our RAs listening, I know sometimes they’re like, “Oh, this seems redundant.” So what do you think they overlook sometimes on their impact?
Nicole Garcia:
Yeah, I think RAs and just student leaders sometimes underestimate how meaningful those small gestures are. A student may never say it out loud, but seeing their name or their chosen name spelled correctly on move-in day, it really matters deeply to them because they are able to be feeling seen in those spaces. And students notice effort. They also notice consistency and intentionality more than perfection. I know sometimes we get really into the weeds. I know for me, I was like, I need to make sure my hall decorations, my bulletin boards are perfect. But even if they are not, they are really appreciated by our residents. And sometimes there’s an emotional impact, especially the big artistic quality over things. For me in my experience when I was an RA was I had an interest that I loved and I wanted to show that to my residents and that was able to allow me to connect with so many more of my residents that first day for move-in.
My theme back when I was a first-year RA was Disney. I worked at the University of Central Florida, so that was a really big part about why people wanted to come. So being able to connect and talk about the rides and the food, that allowed for me to have better conversations with my students when we started having roommate agreement conversations or even conflict mediation pieces.
Anthony Martinez:
No, that’s great, especially when you talked about chosen names. If you don’t know their chosen names, so the RAs listening, make some extras, write it down because of the impact that can have. Interest is huge. I think sometimes RAs are like, “Let me just do this,” but doing something that you like to make and build that connection, yeah, 10 out of 10.
Nicole Garcia:
I know a lot as well… Sorry. I also know a lot as well. There is a big piece that RAs sometimes will overlook that can shape the emotional tone of your hall. So if your hall is feeling a little cold or maybe it’s a little more loved, being able to decorate it or even being able to use some of the resources like your bulletin boards is able to create that inclusivity or that welcoming feeling. I also think that there’s accessibility that comes with what RAs do when it comes to door decs. It’s using those chosen names or even avoiding any niche references or making those boards readable so that when you’re walking through a hall, you’re able to see things clearly and that allows people to be able to connect with resources when they need to.
Anthony Martinez:
No, exactly. Those more loved buildings, believe I was in one with no AC, very loved, very loved building, but the door decorations and bulletin boards helped really add to that. So perfect. My next question for you, Nikki, is when it comes to planning door decs and bulletin boards, what are some strategies RAs can use to stay organized and not feel overwhelmed?
Nicole Garcia:
I think you can start with the purpose before you start crafting. So you have to ask yourself, what are you supposed to accomplish when you’re creating the door decorations or the bulletin boards? Sometimes some schools are a little bit more structural where you need to add in particular information. I know in one of my past institutions it was make sure there’s a spot for them to write their name or to put in their hometown or whatnot. And other pieces are more curriculum focused where you have a bulletin board that already has a plan laid out for you. You need to have some form of connection to the first couple of events during the school year or other things that are happening within the halls. And so you have to ask yourself, what do you need to have before you start getting a little creative, but then once you go ahead and do that, go ahead and find whatever your interest is and then apply that.
So try to batch your work up, if you can cut all the shapes at once or you can print names or print items and that helps prep materials ahead of time because you’re also working on getting the halls ready for opening. So there’s a lot of things that happen all at once. If there are ways that you can reuse your templates or borders or maybe even keep very simple folder maybe of ideas, your school might already have some. I know in a previous institution I’ve worked at, we’ve had a ton of resources and pre-made door decorations and pre-made ideas. And so that has helped with some of our less creative people who feel a little bit more stressed out about doing door decorations or bulletin boards. That has helped immensely to make sure that they’re still putting that care in, even that might not be their strength.
Anthony Martinez:
No, yeah, I appreciate that. As someone who struggled in that, I was also an RA, and so thank you for mentioning the people like me who may have struggled a bit with door decorations. And so asking for resources is huge. And I know here at Roompact, we have some too that will be linked below, but I appreciate that. And the next question I want to ask you, Nikki, is what are some common mistakes you see RAs when designing boards and door decs? And so maybe they have their purpose or they don’t have their purpose, which I would see now could be a mistake. What are some that you see?
Nicole Garcia:
Yes. So going back to that first thing, make sure you’re knowing what you’re doing and what’s the purpose for. Sometimes people tend to prioritize aesthetics, which I’ll be honest, I’m someone who I want to make sure it looks nice. And so one time, this is just my fault on my own, I was so into making sure all my little images fit into the board, did not have anything I needed to be on it. So before I had that conversation, I had to go ahead and rego through everything. And then also just making sure that it doesn’t have to be Pinterest perfect. It doesn’t have to be anything that you have to put so much energy in and stress in on making because at the end of the day, it’s who you show up in the space and it’s a great way for them to do an icebreaker with when they walk into the halls.
Going back to that first point, it does not have to be perfect. It just has to show that you put in that effort and you put in that care to be engaging with your residents. And sometimes there’s also where it’s probably not as aesthetic and it has too much text or too much clutter. It makes it really hard to see. Sometimes when you’re thinking about accessibility in pieces like that, if you don’t have something that is clearly visible or maybe it’s just a ton of paper with black and white text on it, it sometimes doesn’t make it very easy to read or attractive to read in general. Sometimes people forget about durability. So all halls are made differently and I know that is so true because I have been in halls where it’s inside, AC in the hallways and halls where you are stepping right outside into the Florida heat or the Miami heat, my two institutions that I love the most, and so you have to think about materials falling down.
If paper starts curling, maybe if you’re facing the sun, the sun is going to bleach the color off of your bulletin boards. And so you’ll notice it when you’re trying to peel off some of those flyers, how it’s going to be a really, really vibrant color versus very washed out. And also tape not sticking, whether it’s humidity or maybe the tape is wrong itself. And so when you’re looking at some of those pieces, be conscious of having to maybe redo pieces or maybe even knowing that your door decorations are a little flimsy. If you don’t have something to laminate the door dec, doing the three paper rule, this is something that I learned when I was an RA is that, for an outdoor community by the way, is when you have a larger piece of paper that’s probably a little thicker, then you put another layer and you put another layer on top of it. And so it can be the decoration or the items that you’re looking at, but that three layer helps keep it durable, that it’ll actually stay put on the door or wherever you’re putting your door decorations.
Anthony Martinez:
Yes, yes. We also enjoy the three layer rule where I’m at. So yes, shout out to the three layer rule. We love it. And Nikki, you’ve been mentioning this kind of, and I just want you to talk about it a little bit more for RAs listening, but a lot of RAs feel pressure, as you mentioned, to be really creative and like you’ve noted, Pinterest worthy. And so what would you say to someone who doesn’t feel that artistic? And I know we have some RAs who may not be fluid with a cricket or may not have a cricket or are good at creating collages, whatever it may be. And so what would you say to someone in that position in coming as an RA, returner RA, et cetera?
Nicole Garcia:
So the first thing I would say, you do not have to be an artist to be an effective RA. That is not a part of the job responsibility, obviously being very creative. So I want you to know that residents care far more about being authentic and knowing the care that was placed when you’re crafting, not necessarily your ability to do so, but that you put in care enough to be able to have their name placed somewhere and have the information placed up for them. I would say the biggest things is to be clean, be intentional, make sure it’s readable and that you have a welcoming environment and making sure that that is being seen throughout your entire hall. Some of the best boards I’ve seen has really just been about being simple rather than very intricate and I love an interactive board. And so if you can make an interactive board, that will catch people’s attention so quickly, whether that is scanning a QR code.
I had one resident assistant that I was supervising who made an art gallery in their hall. And so it was just them printing out pieces of art and each piece of art had a QR code with them. And it was kind of like a personalized link because they were a little bit more savvy when it came to tech and it showed you what the name of the art piece was and then it gave you whatever that resource was. So it was either to financial aid or it was to our … Sorry.
Anthony Martinez:
No, you’re good.
Nicole Garcia:
Or it was to our other areas of campus or our wellness and our mental health counseling centers as well. I would also say if you don’t have a creativity in that sense, you can definitely showcase who you are with humor by asking questions. Sometimes people do question boards where it is little sticky notes and then you go ahead and they could interact in that way. And then also thinking about resident involvement, I think a great first floor meeting or floor event would definitely be getting your residents to come in and help you out with some of those door decs, so personalizing it and maybe you create all those pieces and then you help them out. Now sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can’t. You really have to… Depends on the school that you’re at. So talk to your boss first before you say, “But Nikki told me to do so.” [inaudible 00:14:43] I am falling for it.
So make sure that you’re able to do that. But sometimes having them be involved in that process really helps a lot. And just focusing on resource sharing, making sure that you know the resources that are happening on your campus, because for a lot of them, they don’t know. And so especially if you’re working with first time in college students, they have no idea what’s coming up for them here on campus.
Anthony Martinez:
Yeah. No, exactly. I love that. No, that was my next question of how do we create these interactive bulletin boards? So you seem to really hit the nail on the head there too. I think the art gallery example, talking about the different resources available, having students come in and create their own to build that community too, I think those are all great ideas. But yes, Nikki is correct. Please don’t go back to your boss and be like, “Oh, they said we could do this.” Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Just make sure you’re getting confirmation first. Nikki, I also want to ask about how can RAs balance their creativity and their time and workload as well? Oftentimes we’ll see RAs start doing door decs during training season when they come back, whether it’s for winter or spring. Some may have an extra one that they’ll need to do in the middle of the semester. And so what does that look like in terms of balance and planning?
Nicole Garcia:
Yeah. So definitely set realistic standards. Remember, you’re a student first and yes, and even before then you are a human first and then you are a student and then you have your job. And so you need to make sure that you’re setting the standards of what can I actually get done knowing that I have to take care of myself, let’s say during training period and then I have to help set up the halls. What can I actually do? So don’t try to stay up all night trying to do your bulletin boards and door decorations. You do have the time to be able to add on as you need to or even adjust and change depending on the school that you’re in. And so you want to decide early what’s worth the high effort and what can be simple. And so when you’re thinking about some halls having a rule where you need to have hall decorations, how can you be simple when you’re creating hall decorations so you’re not trying to fill up however long your hall is?
Because we can see there’s either 10 rooms to maybe even 20, 25 rooms in a hall. You can’t fill up the entire space that way. So I want you to save your energy for the moments that you really need that high resident impact. And so that’s going to be in move in, finals encouragement. And if you feel like you want to do something maybe like recognition boards or recognizing the students in your halls, I think that’s a fun way to make it interactive while also knowing this is information they’re going to need, especially when we’re talking about move out season right now. I would also say recycle and reuse your materials because we want to save the trees or try to save money. And so I want you to recycle and reuse those materials that you have and see what’s already inside of your resource rooms in your institutions.
That can help create adaptable templates as well on what you’re looking for. And then even use, like I mentioned, resident participation whenever possible if you want to do something that is fun and interactive. I know one of the RAs that I have supervised decided to decorate their hall for a holiday and so it was getting close to this end of the year and so all the residents in their hallway was like, “Yeah. Let’s decorate it.” And so they decorated their common space and it was kind of like a hot cocoa decorate night just because this is their home and they want to be able to feel relaxed and feel welcomed and be able to carry on their traditions no matter what they’re viewing for a holiday or anything like that. And like I said, once upon a time at the beginning of this presentation, consistency is more impactful than maybe the occasional perfection. Make sure that you’re there for your residents and they will see it through all the effort that you do.
Anthony Martinez:
Yes. No, exactly. No, that was great, Nikki. Thank you.
Nicole Garcia:
I know.
Anthony Martinez:
For all of our RAs listening, take a good listen because this is really helpful and good advice if you’re struggling, especially in trying to figure out what next steps to do for your bulletin boards and door decs. I know we’re coming a little bit close on time, but I still have a couple of questions for you that I want us to get through. And so my next question is through the semester, RAs get busy, and so what advice do you have for maintaining boards and door decorations without burnout? Because I know that also happens too. Students are walking by, they may bump into a bulletin board, rip it, door decs may fall down. And so what does that look like as well during the academic year?
Nicole Garcia:
Yeah. So make sure that while you are walking your spaces… Well, you should always walk your spaces. Okay? While you’re walking your spaces, make sure you’re keeping an eye on things, looking at the details. If you see that a door decoration or even a bulletin board was vandalized, make sure you’re talking to your staff and making sure that you talk to your professional staff so that they’re able to navigate what that looks like and then go back to how can we repair it? That goes back to making sure that you’re setting that realistic expectation of your time. Let’s say you have a test coming up. We still want to take care of our halls because that’s a big part of our job, but maybe it doesn’t have to be perfect at that moment, making sure that we are able to put something up to repair the wall or even having extra door decorations already prepared in your room.
So if you have a new student who pops in, or let’s say you have a conversation and the student has a different preferred name or they’d rather use a nickname or anything like that, you can whip that out and say, “Here you go. I have something already ready for you and created.” So you don’t have to wait and it just shows that you are very engaged, that you’re prepared and that you’re staying consistent with your team as well.
Anthony Martinez:
Yes, yes, yes, exactly. And then Nikki, if you could give RAs three quick tips for better door decs and bulletin boards, what would they be?
Nicole Garcia:
Be simple. Be yourself being authentic because we want to know who you are. And I want to say the last one is have fun with it. This is something that really speaks to you and this is a big memory that you’re going to be making as an RA and this is also helping make others memories as well. I say that because I actually talked to one of our upcoming resident assistants here and she was telling me how she’s so excited to create her door decorations because when she first moved here, she was able to make friends because they were touring the halls and seeing all the different door decorations on all the floors. And so she was saying how she wants to do a hall walk as one of the events where she takes her residence to see all the different door decorations.
And so one of the biggest things she said was, “I loved it because it was very fun. It allowed me to see who this person was outside of just the role,” and just being a role model in general, just staying the person. So please have fun, be simple, make sure you’re taking your time as well.
Anthony Martinez:
That was great. Thank you, Nikki. I hate to do this to you too, but those were great words, but any final words or how people can connect with you after today’s episode ends?
Nicole Garcia:
Yes. So final thoughts, at the end of the day, door decorations and bulletin boards are really just about connection. They’re about getting to know who you are and also making sure your students are able to connect the resources on campus. They’re the small acts of care that help students feel recognized and welcome and a part of something larger. And finally, the most impactful ones are rarely the fanciest or the prettiest. They’re the ones that are created with intentionality. They have the genuine care from your resident assistant and whether they’re interactive, whether they’re simple, whether they’re very, very Pinterest-worthy, at the end of the day, it’s about reflecting who you are and how you’re connecting and engaging with your students in your halls. But yes, if you ever want to contact me, I go by Nikki Garcia. My real name though is Nicole Garcia, so that will be using my email.
Anthony Martinez:
Perfect. Thank you so much, Nikki. You were phenomenal. Great first appearance, 10 out of 10 recommend, and thank you so much for your perspective. I really appreciate it. I think one of my biggest takeaways today from the conversation is that door decs and bulletin boards are not just about how they look, but how they make residents feel and how they create opportunities for connection like you’ve mentioned. And to all of our listeners listening, remember it doesn’t have to be perfect, as we’ve heard, but definitely impactful. And so thank you again for tuning in to the Roompact podcast, RA 360. If you’ve found this episode helpful, share it with your other RA friends or save it for your next planning session, but we will see you here next time at Roompact.
