Curricular approaches are more than just writing and defining learning priorities, goals, outcomes. In many ways, implementing a curricular approach is as much about organizational change as it is about defining a structure. This is one of the reasons why Kerr, Tweedy, Edwards, and Kimmel (2017) call it a "paradigm shift." The word "paradigm" is most... Continue Reading →
Now, more than ever, residence life professionals are competing for students' time. Technological change has brought about a revolution of choice for self directing one's learning and a multitude options for one's use of free time. This is not a new phenomenon, but the competition has changed. Residence life and student activities have always had... Continue Reading →
It's time for an intervention. PUT DOWN the glitter. STEP AWAY from the construction paper. DO NOT OPEN the pizza boxes. I WANT YOU TO STOP PROGRAMMING! I don't really want you to stop programming, but I do want to stop putting on programs that are not developed with a strong set of learning outcomes and... Continue Reading →
Many traditional programs models within residence life are designed such that staff members must complete x number of events or programs a semester. Relying on an overall number of programs, however, ignores an important variable in the educational equation: frequency. Rather than focus on the total number of programs to be completed, it is perhaps even... Continue Reading →
The ultimate mission of student affairs work is to advance student learning. Although this occurs across campus, the professionals that work in residence life are uniquely situated in this process given the relatively high level of contact they have with students. Unlike most faculty members, however, the educational environment created by student affairs and residence life educators... Continue Reading →
We've all heard it before: Residents won't attend a program, particularly an educational program, unless there is food. While I'm not naive to the fact that food is a great draw, I do believe that we rely on food too much and that it often gets in the way of educating residents. Don't get me wrong. I love... Continue Reading →
It's time to move beyond the clichés and towards student learning centered work in our residence halls. The residential curriculum model offers promise for conceptualizing some of our tired old practices. It's time for a curricular reboot!
I have the immense pleasure to be presenting at my alma mater today, the State University of New York College at Geneseo. They asked me to do a presentation to their Resident Assistants that's spin on my blog post "RAs Are Not Educational Experts." Geneseo's residence life program utilizes a model similar to that of... Continue Reading →
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