About the Author

Alexandra Putwen

Director of Residence Education

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

If someone asked what Residence Education does at its core, I would say that we are the campus connectors. This starts before students even know their room assignment and certainly lasts throughout their time living in the residence halls.

While we begin connecting students before they arrive through our Roommate Matching process, once they step foot on campus, we help them connect with each other. Residence hall students have the opportunity to complete a roommate agreement, participate in social events, and interact with others through interactive bulletin boards in their communities.

Connecting Students to Resources

Beyond helping students find social connections, we also connect them to resources across campus — both proactively and reactively. Proactively, our Resident Assistants promote events organized by campus partners. They take students to K-Day, help them sign up for Cardboard Boats, and coach them through Career Fair preparations. All of these activities support students before they get homesick or struggle with a course. Some of our snapshot survey data shows these efforts are working — 79.44% of the 851 student respondents report they can have a meaningful conversation with 3 or more people, and fewer than 5% said they are not having meaningful conversations with anyone.

Reactive Support

We also use campus connections reactively. When someone uses the Report a Concern page to share that a student isn’t attending class, isn’t finding social support, or is struggling with mental health concerns, Residence Education staff are often the ones knocking on the door to check in. We ask questions to help determine what types of connections or encouragement a student may need. Through our on-call system, a Residence Education Coordinator (REC) is available 24/7 as an initial contact and to help connect students with the most appropriate resource. RECs receive about 180 after-hours calls per academic year.

Connection in Action

When our team attended the Martin Luther King Jr. Day banquet, we invited a student to join us at our table. They accepted, and we spent the evening getting to know them. They were a first-year student attending events to explore their interests and learn about potential involvement opportunities. Later that week, I invited them to a meeting for an organization I advise. Shortly after, they ran for an executive board position — and were elected. Our team can share endless stories like this. You never know when a simple connection will change a student’s path.

If you know someone who may need extra support or a friendly face to check in, the Residence Education team is here to help.

The Division of Student Affairs aims to celebrate, support, and inspire all students. Residence Education, through the Residential Learning Model, expands on this by focusing on helping students build resilience. One of our learning outcomes states that students will embrace an adaptive mindset — understanding the differences between a fixed and growth mindset and identifying opportunities for adaptive thinking.

Roommate Conflicts as a Learning Opportunity

One key example of how we engage with this concept is through roommate conflicts. For many students, living in a residence hall may be the first time they have shared personal space with someone. Some roommate groups start as complete strangers. Having a roommate can be both exciting and daunting — there are moments of joy, anxiety, and plenty of uncomfortable situations. When those challenges arise, students may ask for a room change. The first response from our staff is likely “no.” However, “no” does not mean we aren’t going to support the student.

Supporting them typically involves an in-depth conversation with a professional staff member about the issues at hand, as well as a discussion of what steps the student has already taken to address them. “One of the central elements of resilience…is perception: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow?” (Konnikova, 2016). Students who approach roommate conflicts with a desire to learn new skills and actively participate in the resolution process tend to work things out without needing to move. We aim to help students develop a growth mindset in those moments. While a roommate may be doing things that feel uncomfortable or frustrating, students still have agency — they can learn to advocate for themselves through a one-on-one conversation or a mediated discussion with a staff member. These experiences build confidence for navigating difficult conversations in the future.

Residence Education: The Campus Connectors