Welcome to www.residentialcurriculum.com! A “residential curriculum” is a particular approach to designing and delivering intentional learning opportunities for college and university students.  Developed since 2005, this approach has spawned its own Institute and has been replicated and modified in various forms at campuses across the country, and even the word.  Although arising out of residence life, this model is flexible and has been adopted by entire students affairs divisions. The Residential Curriculum Institute is a premier professional development offered by ACPA and the only event that provides comprehensive training on the approach.

If you’re looking to connect with others around curriculum, consider joining the Residential Curriculum Facebook Group or follow the #ACPARCI hashtag on Twitter and other platforms. There are a number of ways to connect with colleagues around this topic.

Consultation

As a professional I’ve previously implemented a curricular approach at one of my past institutions. I have also served as a Residential Curriculum Institute faculty member for a number of years. This lead to my hiring at Roompact, where we design software solutions for residential education departments with a learning-centric approach.

I frequently consult with individual campuses on developing and enhancing their curricula through multi-day workshops and speaking events. Previously, I have worked with institutions such as the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Marquette University. If you’re interested in bringing me to campus, you can learn more about my speaking and consulting and reach out to me with any interest.

Resources

eBooks on Residential Curriculum and Curricular Approaches:
Roompact offers a number of eBooks related to curricular development and residence life and education. The following eBooks on residential curriculum and curricular approaches are available for free and provide you with definitions, instructions, and review materials to aid you in your educational work on campus.

The following represents some of my blog posts and related content on residential curriculum development. It draws from my posts on this site, as well as those I authored for the company I work for, Roompact.

Posts About the 10 Essential Elements of a Residential Curriculum:

• What is a Residential Curriculum? Curricular Approach? Residential Learning Model?
  • Which of the Residential Curriculum Elements are the Hardest to Achieve? And Why?
  • Have We Reached The Tipping Point For Residential Curriculum Model Adoption?
  • What are the Benefits of Moving to a Curricular Approach to Residence Life?
  • Developing a Timeline for a Divisional or Residential Curriculum Implementation on Your Campus
  • A Glossary of Terms for Residential Curriculum and Curricular Approaches Outside of the Classroom

• Element #1: Directly Connects to the Institutional Mission
  • The Difference Between a “Mission Statement” and an “Educational Priority” in a Curriculum
  • How to Conduct an Archeological Dig and Write a Curricular Educational Priority
  • 21 Examples of Learning Priority Statements for a Residential Curriculum

• Element #2: Learning Goals and Outcomes Developed and Based in a Defined Educational Priority
  • Does Your Residential Curriculum Cascade?
  • What are Residential Curriculum Goals and Narratives and How to Write Them
    • 7 Learning Goal Themes Commonly Found in a Residential Curriculum
  • Breaking Down Curricular Learning Goals into Learning Outcomes
  • Utilizing National Competencies and Standards to Develop Your Curricular Learning Goals
  • Why Words Matter in a Residential Curriculum

• Element #3: Basis in Developmental Theory and Research
  • 4 Documents that Place “Student Learning” at the Core of Residential Education

• Element #4: Educational Strategies are Developed to Advance Learning Outcomes
  • 10 Different Strategies for Promoting Residential Student Learning
  • Creating Effective Curriculum Facilitation Guides and Lesson Plans for Staff

• Element #5: Educational Strategies Go Beyond Programmed Events
  • 5 Signs Your Residential Curriculum is Actually a Programming Model with Learning Outcomes
  • What are Intentional Conversations and Why Should You Use Them in Residential Education?
    • How to Structure Intentional Conversations in a Residential Curriculum
    • Developing an Intentional Conversation Curriculum Guide for Student Staff
    • 100 Questions You Can Use for Intentional Conversations in the Residence Halls
    • Don’t Be Creepy: Training Student Staff For Genuine Intentional Conversations
    • How to Track and Assesses Intentional Conversations for a Residential Curriculum
    • Presentation: Implementing Intentional Conversations into Your Residence Life and Curriculum Work

• Element #6: Student Staff Are Utilized in Roles Appropriate To Their Skill Development
  • RAs are NOT Educational Experts!
  • Hiring Professional Residence Life Staff for a Residential Curriculum
  • Implications for Staff Member Duties, Selection, Training, and Development When Transitioning to a Curricular Approach
  • Onboarding New Professional Staff to a Student Affairs or Residential Curriculum

• Element #7: Learning is Scaffolded and Sequenced To Follow Time-Based Development
  • How To Developmentally Sequence and Map Student Co-Curricular Learning
  • Developing Your Educational Plan(s) and Putting Your Residential Curriculum Into Practice
  • Building Off of Bloom: Writing Progressive Learning Objectives
  • How to Develop Student Learning Rubrics for Student Affairs Curriculum
  • The Iterative and Reciprocal Process of Developing Rubrics (With Training Video)
  • Why the Frequency of Residence Hall Programs Matters More Than the Overall Number of Them

• Element #8: Key Stakeholders are Identified and Involved
  • Who, Where, and How to Engage Partners and Stakeholders in a Residential Curriculum
  • Five Tips for Building Residential Curriculum “Buy-in”

• Element #9: Peer-Review is Accomplished Through an Intentional Process
  • Utilizing Peer and External Review Processes for Continuous Curricular Improvement
  • Presentation: Utilizing Standards to Assess the Effectiveness of a Residential Education Curriculum

• Element #10: Assessment Occurs at All Levels: From Educational Priority to Learning Goals and Outcomes
  • Five Tips for Designing Your Residential Curriculum Assessment Plans
  • On-The-Ground Assessment of Student Learning Out of the Classroom
  • Developing A Culture of Assessment in Your Residence Life and Education Program

• The Missing 11th Element of a Residential Curriculum: Customized Student Learning

Case Studies

• Residential Curriculum: The Trials and Tribulations of Semester One by Tanner Anthony, Jeremy Bowersox, Kathryn Bussell, & James Devlin at Embry Riddle Aeronatical University (Credit to The SEAHO Report)

Further Reading on Developing a Residential Curriculum:

• 5 Lessons Learned from Embracing Restorative Practices in our Residential Curriculumby Kaleigh Mrowka and Lauren Teresa Mauriello
• How Colleges Use the Curriculum to Encourage Resilience(Chronicle of Higher Education, paywall)
• Transformative Residential Curricula: Lessons Learned Over 10 Yearsby Hilary Lichterman, Kathleen Kerr, and Keith Edwards
• 27 Quick Questions to Assess Student Learning
• Identify, Partner, and Develop to Create Campus Well-Beingby Grant Anderson
• Curricular Approachesby Keith Edwards
• Incentivizing the Residential Curriculum by Matt Kwiatkowski
• The Challenge of Designing Apps for Programming Models and Residential Curriculum
• The Opportunities and Challenges of a Social Media Residential Curriculum

Publications on Developing a Residential Curriculum:

About Curricular Approaches:

• Kerr, K. G., & Tweedy, J. (2006). Beyond seat time and student satisfaction: A curricular approach to residential education. About Campus, 11(5), 9-15. doi:10.1002/abc.181
• Kerr, K. G., Tweedy, J., Edwards, K. E., & Kimmel, D. (2017, March-April). Shifting to curricular approaches to learning beyond the classroom. About Campus, 22(1), 22-31. doi:10.1002/abc.21279

Reference Curricular Approaches:

• Cardone, T., Stoll Turton, E., Olson, G., & Baxter Magolda, M. (2013, November-December). Learning partnerships in practice: Orientation, leadership, and residence life. About Campus, 18(5), 2-9. doi: 10.1002/abc.21131

Contain Sub-Sections on Curricular Approaches:

• Blimling, G. S. (2015). Student learning in college residence halls: What works, what doesn’t, and why. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Dunkel, N. & Baumann, J. (Eds.), (2013). Campus housing management: Residence life and education. Columbus, OH: Association of College and University Housing Officers-International.

Research on the Curricular Approach:

Dissertation: Organizational Perspective On Implementing e Residential Curriculum Approach: An Ethnographic Case Study by Hilary L. Lichterman

Abstract: How does a college or university housing department adopt and adapt to a new curricular approach? This qualitative descriptive case study describes how one, mid-size, co-educational residence life department in the Midwestern region of the United States adopted the residential curriculum approach based on “The 10 Essential Elements of a Residential Curriculum” (The 10EERC) that are a foundational aspect of the content discussed at the ACPA – College Student Educators International’s annual Residential Curriculum Institute (RCI). Research questions for the study address changes that occurred in the residence life unit when adopting the residential curriculum approach, participants’ perceptions of positives and challenges in the transition to the approach, and how residence life staff characterize their experience of adopting the approach. Findings reflect that institutional values influence the design of educational practices and tools and that participants reported positive experiences and challenges with communication. The dichotomy in participants’ accounts reveals the opportunity for transparency and inclusion of student leaders in departmental changes. Implications may inform (1) practice in housing and residence life departments, (2) graduate preparation programs and assistantships, (3) functional units in student affairs, (4) divisions of student affairs, (5) ACPA’s RCIs, and (6) The 10EERC. A new organizational tool incorporating Bolman and Deal’s (2014) four frames is presented.

 

Videos About The Curricular Approach:

PechaKucha – Claiming Our Roles As Educators: Residential Curriculum and Curricular Approaches
In this PechaKucha, the presenter will reflect on how participation in ACPA’s Institute on the Curricular Approach (formerly the Residential Curriculum Institute, RCI) has changed the way he views the creation of intentional learning environments. By drawing from principles found in classroom curriculum construction, professionals can re-envision their roles as educators and learners with their students. Find out what we’re doing wrong, what we can do right, and how we can truly transform our organizations into learning-centered, student-centered environments.

A Celebration of Residential Curricula: 10 Years Strong!
This video is intended to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of ACPA’s Residential Curriculum Institute and the exemplary efforts with curricular work done in residence halls on various campuses throughout the world. Various colleagues captured their insights regarding benefits to students, biggest departmental and institutional successes, and major lessons learned from adopting the curricular approach to residential education. Originally presented at the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute in Tampa, Florida.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Reflecting on the Curricular Approach to Learning Beyond the Classroom
The landscape of student affairs has changed dramatically over its lifetime, and the introduction of the curricular approach is helping campuses to realize some of their biggest aspirations for student learning. This video provides an overview of some of the benefits realized as a result of shifting to a curricular approach and what the experts have learned about its power to transform campus cultures. These shifts are increasingly important as student issues and expectations have changed over time.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Using Rubrics to Assess Learning
Rubrics are tools that are used by educators to help evaluate the learning and performance of students. They are written documents, often presented in a chart format, that help define progress and achievement levels towards various goals and performance indicators. Coco Du, Director of Residential Life, Macalester College, joins Eric Pernotto, Associate Director for Residential Learning, Clemson University, to discuss rubrics and their role in learning assessment in this session from the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Building Assessment into Your Residential Curriculum
Assessment is a critical part of building a successful residential curriculum. In this video, we show you some best practices for incorporating assessment into your residential education strategy. Furthermore it provides suggestions for integrating residential curriculum assessment strategies into your overall campus assessment plan. Being able to “tell your story” is critical for campus departments and divisions and the curricular approach can help you better define your outcomes as well as your success in achieving those outcomes.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Educational Plans and Lesson Plans: Putting It All Together
Once learning goals and outcomes are defined, scaffolded, and sequenced, the development of lesson plans (facilitation guides) prescribes how these objectives should be put into practice. Steve Herndon, Assistant Dean of Students & Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life, University of Dayton, and David Shorey, Associate Director of Residence Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, share their experiences with educational plans and lesson plans in this session from the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Developing a Residential Curriculum Review Process
Residential curricula need to be reviewed regularly to ensure they stay current and relevant. A review process entails a top-to-bottom assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your overall educational plan and its implementation. These reviews can involve departmental staff as well as internal and external stakeholders and can be used for continuous improvement. Watch this video for tips on how to begin to structure your review process including strategies you can do to ensure your curriculum is best set up for success.
Source: ACPA Video on Demand

Additional videos:

• Central Michigan University: The Impact of our Residential Curriculum
• University of South Florida: Residential Curriculum

 

Institute on the Curricular Approach (Residential Curriculum Institute):

• What Is and Why Attend the Residential Curriculum Institute?
• ACPA’s Residential Curriculum Institute
• Residential Curriculum Institute Canada

2018

• Recapping Day 1 of the 2018 Institute on the Curricular Approach
• Recapping Day 2 of the 2018 Institute on the Curricular Approach
• Recapping Day 3 of the 2018 Institute on the Curricular Approach

2017

• Recapping Day 1 of the 2017 Residential Curriculum Institute
• Recapping Day 2 of the 2017 Residential Curriculum Institute
• Recapping Day 3 of the 2017 Residential Curriculum Institute
• #ACPARCI 2017 by Erin Simpson (PDF)

2016

• Recapping Day 1 of the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute
• Recapping Day 2 of the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute
• Recapping Day 3 of the 2016 Residential Curriculum Institute

2014

• #ACPARCI 2014 Day 1 Twitter Recap (PDF)
• #ACPARCI 2014 Day 2 Twitter Recap (PDF)
• #ACPARCI 2014 Day 3 Twitter Recap (PDF)
• Reflections on the 2014 Residential Curriculum Institute by Nicolas Babarskis

2013

• #ACPARCI 2013 Twitter Recap by ebeeler (PDF)

 

 

Schools Referencing A Curriculum:

Although there are many schools implementing curricular approaches to residential and student life, detailed information on these approaches can be difficult to find online. The following is a list of schools that have references to curricular frameworks and/or planning documents (including learning goals and outcomes, strategies, lesson plans, etc.) online. Note that these are of varying quality, and although an institution may list or reference a curricular-type frame work, they may not implement a true approach in practice.

Most useful links:

• Clemson University (additional info: link)
• Georgia Southern University (additional info: Handbook)
• Loyola University Chicago (additional info: Handbook)
• Miami University
• Salem State University (Handbook)
• Stevenson University
• SUNY Geneseo (Handbook)
• University at Buffalo (additional info: link)
• University of Kansas
• University of North Carolina Pembroke (additional info: link)

Additional institutions:

• Carleton University
• Carnegie Melon University
• The College of New Jersey
• College of Saint Benedict
• East Stroudsburg University
• East Tennessee State University
• Florida Atlantic University
• Georgetown College
• High Point University
• Indiana State University
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Lehigh University (additional info: link)
• Marshall University
• Milikin University
• Mississippi State University
• Montclair State University
• North Dakota State University
• Purchase College
• Radford University
• San Jose State University
• St. John’s University
• St. Louis University (additional info: link)
• Texas A&M – Galveston
• Texas State University
• Tulane University
• University of Alabama
• University of Alabama at Birmingham
• University of California at Berkeley
• University of Central Florida
• University of Illinois
• University of Iowa
• University of Kentucky
• University of Mary Washington
• University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• University of Massachusetts at Lowell
• University of Mississippi
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Carolina Charlotte
• University of San Francisco
• University of South Carolina
• University of South Florida
• University of Tampa
• University of Texas San Antonio
• University of Washington Bothell
• Virginia Tech(additional info: link)

Presentations on Residential Curriculum

The following are presentations on residential curriculum that are publicly avaialbe online. The most useful links are in bold.

• Utilizing Standards to Assess the Effectiveness of a Residential Education Curriculum by Hilary Lichterman, Ryan Lloyd, and Paul Gordon Brown
• Building a Residential Curriculum – University of California at Berkeley
• Residential Curriculum and Assessment: A Blueprint for Student Success – University of California Santa Barbara
• Learning Outside the Classroom – University at Buffalo
• Partnering for Success within the Residential Curriculum – University of Dayton
• Residential Curriculum – Lehigh University
• Residential Curriculum – University of South Florida
• Residential Curriculum for Leadership and Social Change – San Francisco State University
  
• Residential Curriculum – RA Learning Modules – Texas State University
• Residential Curriculum – by Kyle Smith
• Residential Curriculum for the First Year Experience – California College of the Arts
• Residential Curriculum – University of South Florida
• Residential Curriculum in Action – Northwestern Univesity