Housing and Residence Life: Community & Engagement | Competencies & Learning | Care & Case Management | Assessment
Bring On Opening! As residence hall opening season approaches, we've got updates for you and some helpful information to make sure you're prepared and ready. First things first, check out the opening checklist to make sure your Roompact environment is ready to go: Review The Opening Checklist ⬆️ Software Updates ⬆️ We've made a number... Continue Reading →
IT'S BACK! Roompact is holding its ninth annual door dec contest! This contest is open to student staff (RAs, CAs, etc.) at schools who currently use Roompact's software on their campus. Create a door dec with the name “Roompact” on it and email it to us at contests@roompact.com from your institutional email address (*.edu) with... Continue Reading →
We're excited to join you in Orlando this year near the house of the mouse. Join us for our social... Date: Monday, June 22nd, 2026 Our social starts just after the first full day of the ACUHO-I conference, after the regional receptions. Check out the ACUHO-I ACE schedule here. Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm Come any time for... Continue Reading →
This webinar introduces supervisors of student and professional staff teams in residential life to participatory processes as a foundation for effective team leadership. We'll cover practical tools for inclusive decision-making, active listening, and co-creating community norms and agreements with your team. You'll also learn how to use circles as a structure for building connection and navigating difficult conversations, alongside frameworks for approaching conflict and accountability in your residential community.
In this episode of Roompact's ResEdChat, join our host Noah Montague and guest Siobhàn Anderson-Judkins as they talk about student staff supervision. Student staff, RAs, or whatever other acronym your institution uses are all coming into the role for different reasons; so how can we best supervise them? How do we hold them accountable while also being... Continue Reading →
As a Resident Assistant (RA), you learn about resources you may not have realized existed at your institution. You learn how to recommend resources to your residents and even how to offer to go with them to the resource when you feel they need it at the moment. A topic that may not be covered... Continue Reading →
There is something about a long drive that refuses to let your mind stay in one place. The pavement seems to stretch on forever in front of you. You don’t see anything familiar behind you. Mile after mile, stop after stop, conversations replay, memories and feelings resurface, a busy mind becomes quite yet filled with... Continue Reading →
Belonging is a continued focus of Student Affairs research, often looking at how students feel belonging to institutions. Resident Advisors are often looked to on college campuses as a supercharger for belonging, when I did a quick online search I noticed that belonging or connection came up in every single Resident Advisor posting I looked... Continue Reading →
Throughout the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, there is a great deal of a spike in the reliance on AI in today’s college students. One of the more concerning areas that AI is appealing to students is using user data to inform responses, catering to an audience in a way that tells an individual what they... Continue Reading →
In this episode of Roompact's ResEdChat, Crystal sits down with Sarah Leahy, Associate Director of Campus Life for Residence Life and Housing at Dickinson College to discuss breaking unhealthy professional norms, creating more human-centered work environments, establishing healthy boundaries, and helping emerging professionals build confidence, self-advocacy skills, and sustainable approaches to leadership.
You spent time planning the program. You created the flyers, reserved the space, picked up supplies, and maybe even told your supervisor this would be the event to watch out for. Then the start time arrives, and instead of a packed room, only a handful of residents walk through the door. I’m talking five people... Continue Reading →
If you’re anything like me, there’s nothing like summer reality TV to help us unwind and switch off after hectic summer workdays filled with learning, training, and project planning. As an avid lover of all things reality TV, I had a moment of introspection while watching Love Island USA this summer and reflecting on many... Continue Reading →
When conversations about student loneliness and isolation come up, we often reach for the same culprit: phones. Students seem disconnected? Phones. Nobody is talking in the elevator? Phones. Attendance is down? Phones. Relationships feel shallower? You guessed it: It’s the phones. The appeal of this explanation is that it's simple, but the problem is that... Continue Reading →
What comes to mind when you hear the word “supervisor”? That was a question posed to several other incoming graduate assistants and me during our onboarding. Many of the initial reactions were less than positive, ranging from the person who conducts your evaluation to the person who can terminate you from your job. What a... Continue Reading →
In this episode of Roompact's ResEdChat, host Paul sits down with Roompact Fellow Natasha Monteith to discuss simple actions departments, supervisors, and administrators can take to get better at operationalizing the use of assessment data. This includes collecting the "correct" data, while balancing staff time and effort, and integrating it in to daily practice.
If you’ve chosen to serve as a student leader, aside from the financial benefit, you were likely drawn to the role because of a desire to help people. You have likely found yourself to have tips and tricks for your friends or have been willing to be a listening ear to someone in need. However,... Continue Reading →
One thing we know for sure is that no Residence Life job is forever, unless you made it all the way to the top that is. If you’re at the top and reading this article right now, hello and welcome. I’m happy to have you here. For the rest of us, this article’s intended audience... Continue Reading →
Commonly, the advice given to students experiencing loneliness is encouraging them to join a student organization or other group. This isn’t necessarily bad advice, but it is definitely not enough. Students experiencing loneliness are generally seeking out connection and support from a social lens, and when we as professionals just encourage joining an organization, it... Continue Reading →
In this episode of Roompact's RA*EdChat, we go behind the scenes of residence life to explore how strong staff relationships shape the RA experience. “Behind the Scenes: Working With Your Team” dives into collaboration, communication, and peer support, highlighting how successful communities are built not just through resident connections but through trust and teamwork among staff members. We meet with Katelyn Neeley, a community director who shares knowledge and personal experience on the topic, as well as advice for RAs.
When you’re working in Residence Life or Housing, you’re going to interact with people you might not usually choose to hang out with in your personal life - it's part of what makes the job challenging and meaningful. Through this, one of the most common situations RAs run into is realizing they don't have a... Continue Reading →
