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Class of 2013

Class of 2013

Life in the Residence Halls

By Carl Crowe, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life

For many students, living with others can be a challenge. Sometimes those challenges are magnified by the challenges associated with mid-terms. As these stresses approach, you may hear more concerns from your student about any number of issues, including housing. Learning how to cope with these issues and use College resources to do so is vitally important to your student's education.

Be it "my roommate is evil," to "there is nothing to do around here!" the Residence Life staff is available to help students address their concerns, questions, and issues. If you hear these concerns from your student, you can help them by asking the following:

  1. What have you said to your RA? The Resident Assistants are available and specifically trained to help students in a number of different areas, including conflict resolution and residence hall programming. These students are also specially trained in the many resources on campus and can help your student get to the office or professional that he or she needs.
  2. Have you talked to your roommate about your concern? Today's students are largely inexperienced when it comes to effectively raising concerns and resolving conflicts with another person, particularly someone that they live with. The room space is the roommates' "shared property," so learning how to deal with roommate issues (while uncomfortable) helps student to learn effective listening and conflict resolution skills.
  3. What have you done to help address your situation? Sometimes students choose for a number of reasons not to work personally on getting their issues addressed and instead rely on parents to "fix" the problem for them. Students may think that this approach will work in the short-term, but it doesn't help them develop the skills they will need to survive in the "real-world" beyond college.

My office is also available to help with truly critical matters as they might arise. It is important, though, that students bring their concerns to me so that I can work with them directly to better address the issues they may have. Sometimes, in the name of wanting something done "right away," parents contact me before I or any of the residence life staff have had an opportunity to discuss the situation with the student. But, since we will only have to talk with the student about the problem before we can do anything to help, the quickest, most effective way for a student to get an ear for his or her concern is to work with the staff in the residence hall, and then to engage me as necessary. This way, students become more knowledgeable of the various resources on campus and more familiar with the college's policies and protocols, and are able to get their concerns addressed in a reasonably timely fashion.

It's hard to believe that we're already half way through the semester. In the Office of Residence Life, we're looking forward to helping your student finish the semester with great success!