So you were a student leader, huh? You did everything in college. In fact, it's likely that you were so involved on your undergraduate campus that there wasn't a page on the university's website that your face wasn't plastered on. It might still be there to this day. You were a stellar student. You were... Continue Reading →
ResEdChat Ep 43: Understanding NACURH on the Campus, Regional, and National Levels
Caring, dedication, and participation; are the three links that are used to describe how NACURH members work to lead, serve, and create a community on many of our campuses. Join NACURH Advisor, Jamie Lloyd, and NACURH Regional Advisor, Tommy Newsome, II, as they each talk about their journey from being student leaders to now serving as professional staff advisors in the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH). They offer sage advice on being a good advisor, recruiting student leaders to your Community Councils and RHA Boards, and exactly what NACURH is about!
Fall Opening in Residence Life: Where Burnout Begins
Summer is quickly coming to an end for those of us in Residence Life, which marks a significant shift in the cadence of our work. Soon we say goodbye to our free time, our hobbies, our energy, and maybe a bit of our sanity as we start a multi-month marathon to reopen our doors for... Continue Reading →
3 ResLife Pro Quick Tips for Incorporating Universal Design Principles into Your Daily Work
For Pro Staff For Student Staff Roompact's "Quick Tips" series highlights ideas and suggestions you can put into your practice as either a professional staff or student staff member working in residence life and education. Click to read more from the series. Universal Design is an approach that aims to create inclusive and accessible environments... Continue Reading →
Creating Opening Magic Based on Lessons from the House of Mouse
Over Labor Day weekend last year, I embarked on a journey unlike any I had yet taken in my life—a visit to the House of Mouse, or Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. I had grown up like many others watching the Disney channel, taking in specials where our ambitious characters on the much anticipated... Continue Reading →
Using Floor Sociograms To Help RAs Visualize Their Communities
Resident Assistants (RAs) play a crucial role in fostering a supportive and inclusive community within university residence halls. Understanding the dynamics and relationships among residents is essential for creating a positive living environment. A floor sociogram is a powerful tool that can help RAs gain valuable insights into these dynamics. In this blog post, we... Continue Reading →
Retreating in Residence Life: A Tradition Worth Keeping?
When you hear the word retreat, what comes to mind? For me, it’s statements like, “Lets start with an icebreaker,” “Everyone say your name, title, and what you do,” and “What is a fun or little known fact about you?” It’s traveling to a near or far location and blocking off your calendar. It’s sharing... Continue Reading →
3 ResLife Pro Quick Tips for Mediating Roommate Conflicts
For Pro Staff For Student Staff Roompact's "Quick Tips" series highlights ideas and suggestions you can put into your practice as either a professional staff or student staff member working in residence life and education. Click to read more from the series. Living in a residence hall can be an exciting experience, but it also... Continue Reading →
ResEdChat Ep 38: Roommate Agreements & Managing Conflict
Paul returns to the podcast this week to chat with host Dustin Ramsdell about the fundamentals of roommate agreements and the role they serve in managing residential student conflict. Paul also highlights how users of Roompact's software can leverage its features to be proactive in reducing conflict. Learn from him and examples from other schools about high impact practices.
ResEdChat Ep 36: Kendra Sherman on Bringing Residence Life Abroad
This week, Dustin chats with Kendra about how institutions can think about integrating a supportive residence life experience to study abroad programs and why it is important for student success. Kendra also shares anecdotes from her story that help inform her perspective as well as changing dynamics in the international education space.
Sponsored Episode: Rethinking the RA Role: Innovating Student Staff and Resident Assistant Positions
Roompact was thrilled to sponsor this special episode of Student Affairs NOW talking about why, how, and in what ways we can re-think the RA role. Check out this episode and other resources we've put together on the topic. As resident and student staff needs have expanded, many housing and residence life leaders are rethinking... Continue Reading →
ResEdChat Ep 35: Crystal Cyr and Kimberly Kruchen-Spaulding on their Multi-Institutional Study On The RA Role and Experience
In this episode of Roompact's ResEdChat, Paul chats with Crystal Cyr and Kimberly Kruchen-Spaulding about their findings from a multi-institutional survey of resident assistants on their role, their experiences in the position, and their well-being and experiences of burnout. Learn about what this may mean for the future of the RA role and how we can better support RAs through both structural and practical reforms.
Key Objectives For Residential Curriculum and Curricular Approach Facilitation Guides
A key component of building out your student life curriculum is the creation of facilitation guides. Facilitation guides (sometimes referred to as lesson plans) are detailed plans that provide all of the information necessary so that anyone with the appropriate level of training and skills could execute the planned strategy. Beyond just the execution of... Continue Reading →
Arts-Based Practices in Res Life: Residential Curriculum
This is part of a multi-part series on utilizing principles and techniques from arts-based research practices and applying them to the residents life setting. Explore more parts in the series:Introduction and Strategies | Community Building | Residential Curriculum The residential curriculum is on the rise. There's a chance that such an initiative has yet to... Continue Reading →
6 Quotes from Ted Lasso That Speak To Residence Life Pros
As we say goodbye to Ted Lasso, we thought it only appropriate we revisit some quotes from the show. There's a reason why this show is so popular, particularly among student affairs and residence life folk, it speaks to our authentic hopes and wishes for our students and the values we try to uphold in... Continue Reading →
A Rubric for Evaluating your Residential Curriculum Facilitation Guides
One of the essential elements of a curricular approach is to have a regular review process in place. Peer review is one of the best ways of building buy-in for your curriculum and improving its effectiveness. Divisions and departments will approach the peer-review process differently. Some may choose to set aside a "review day" a... Continue Reading →
Arts-Based Practices in Res Life: Community Building
This is part of a multi-part series on utilizing principles and techniques from arts-based research practices and applying them to the residents life setting. Explore more parts in the series:Introduction and Strategies | Community Building In the previous segment of this series, Arts-Based Research (ABR) was demystified. Definitions, readings, and examples were provided to help... Continue Reading →
ResLife Student Staff Training: Behind Closed Doors, Is It Working? (Part 2)
Across the country a week or two before all students return to campus, we see housing student leaders come back early to prepare and train for the upcoming year. This often involves team building, crisis management, facetime with campus resource leaders, and hopefully some time carved out for hall preparations. After the whirlwind of the... Continue Reading →



