Western Michigan University
Department of Residence Life
haracter
ivility
itizenship
iversity
Programming Strategies, Ideas, and Expectations
for
Residence Life Staff
The "3 C's and a D" Programming model is based on four broad categories, and several sub-categories that the WMU Department of Residence Life and Student Affairs has determined to be valuable to all college students living in the residence halls. The initial goal for each residence hall is to determine the needs and desires of the residents living in each individual hall. The long-term goal then, is to provide to the students, information that will help them to grow and develop as a WMU student. To achieve the completion of these goals, the Resident Assistants will use a variety of delivery methods, such as bulletin boards, formal programs, speakers, etc.
The four broad categories are Character, Citizenship, Civility, and Diversity. Each of these categories, along with Excellence and Community, relates with the others in a collaborative format to provide the student with a well-rounded, college living experience.
The sub-categories present include: Support, Service, Community, Freedom of Expression, Honesty, Integrity, Responsibility, Excellence: Academic and Rewards, Involvement, Respect, Safe Campus, Empowerment, Community Service, Appreciation, Cultural Awareness, Sacredness, and Lifestyle Awareness.
Citizenship
- Support
? Mentoring
? Team Building
? Conflict Management
? Adjustment Issues
- Service
? Soup Kitchens
? Campus Cleanup
? Big Bro/ Big Sis
? Mentoring
? Charity event
- Respect
- Community
? Traditions
? Go to the WMU/CMU game
? Attend Homecoming Events
? Hall Traditions
? Theme Months
? Responsibility (govt)
? Utilize resources
? Resource Fair
? Resource Booklet
? Off campus experience
? Off campus apartments
? Jobs / Careers
? "Field Trips"
? Ownership
? Floor Standards, Mission Statement, and Guidelines determined by residents
? Assertiveness
? Health and safety
? Alcohol/ Drug Awareness
? Healthy Relationships
? Exercise
? Nutrition
? Stress Management
? Campus Safety
? Personal/ Sexual Safety
? Social justice
? Knowledge of Student Rights and Responsibilities
? Knowledge of Laws and violation consequences
? Knowledge of Resources
Character
- Freedom of expression
? Floor/Hall newspaper
? "What Do You Think?" Boards
? Talent Show/ Open Mic Night
- Honesty
? Lost article - What Would You Do???
- Integrity
? Goal Setting
? Peer Pressure
? Personality Tests
- Responsibility
? Assign Floor Responsibilities to Individuals
- Excellence
? Academics
? Skills
? Resources
? Career Exploration
? Life Skills
? Tutoring
? Group Skills
? Reward accomplishments
? Star of the Week/Month
? Random Acts of Kindness
- Involvement
? Club Fair
Civility
- Respect
? Rewards for Good Behavior
? Living With a Roommate
? Solving Relationship Tensions
- Safe campus
? Self Defense
? Fire Safety
? DPS Presentation
- Empowerment
? Residents Plan Activities
? Floor Govt
? Responsible Independence
- Caring - community service
- Involvement (voice in decisions made)
? Board of Trustees Meetings
? Surveys
- Deep appreciation for everyone
? Awareness of Differences
- Cultural
- Lifestyle
- Family history
Diversity
- Cultural awareness
? Culture Faire (different foods)
? Festivals
? Roundtables
? Religious issues
- Each person is sacred
? Self Esteem
? Disability Awareness
- Careers
- Backgrounds/lifestyles
? "Growing up on the Farm"
? Single Parent / Broken Homes
? Archie Bunker's Neighborhood
? GLBT Issues
The Resident Assistant's primary role is to facilitate the development of a community that is conducive to living and learning. This community should have an emphasis on the Six Principles of Community? It should be a place where faculty and students share academic goals and work together to strengthen the learning environment on campus. It should be a place where freedom of expression is protected and civility is affirmed; the sacredness of each person is honored and diversity is a key element. Individuals should be willing to accept their obligations to the group and everyone acts for the common good of the group. This community should be one that is caring, where the well-being of each person is supported and service to others is encouraged. Finally, this community must be one in which the heritage of the institution is remembered and widely shared. (Campus Life: In Search of Community. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Ernest L. Boyer; Princeton, NJ; 1990).
To carry out this role, the RA needs to:
- Make significant connections with residents
- Help residents connect with one another
- Connect residents to resources and opportunities in the larger university
- Insure that residents have access to important educational messages
- Insure that barriers to success are minimized by holding students accountable for community standards
Evaluation and assessment are two critical factors when completing programs. This measures the residents' satisfaction and should be used to determine how programs are useful and relevant to the overall living learning experience. Reactions to individual activities and programs are valuable and residents should be encouraged to suggest areas for improvement as well as propose new ideas for the future. Programs designed to meet the residents' expressed desires will be more justifiable than random programs.
Beyond the assessment of resident satisfaction and program effectiveness, evaluation efforts should examine how the involvement of residents in the halls influences their views of the department as well as the institution. Programs should be related to the mission created by the Office of Residence Life. Residents involved in programs and activities will have a more positive view of the quality of their college experience as a result of their participation.
Each RA will be expected to have meaningful interactions with residents in their hall (The RA was hired knowing that they had the innate ability to do this without an expectation to do so). Each RA can be encouraged have a notebook in which they can keep track of these interactions and use to update the HD during their 1:1 on their progress. The goal of this suggested exercise is to allow the RA to become visible to the residents and develop a relationship with each of their residents. This notebook can also allow the RA to keep track of what is going on in their residents' lives.
Each RA will, however, be required to make a minimum of five (5) individual connections with residents each week throughout the fall and spring semester? again, this should only be a guide - the RA should be making these contacts without an expectation.
It is important that students connect with each other in social, recreational, and intellectual ways. To insure that this happens among floor residents, RA's should provide at least one (1) group activity per week, especially for the first six weeks of their residence life experience. Each activity should be tailored to the needs and desires of your residents. A group will consist of at least two (2) residents and a RA. Some of these programs should occur on a Friday or Saturday night. The programs can take place on or off campus, in or out of the building, and will conform to university policies and department expectations. The RA should seek to include different residents each week.
Activities are intended to be informal and some can be done while on duty. They can include such things as watching a video, going to a coffee shop, playing board games, ice-skating, or doing a community service project. Occasionally they can include dinner in the cafeteria but this should be recorded no more than twice per semester.
The Department of Residence Life has an obligation to insure that residents have access to messages that will assist them in removing barriers to academic successes and enhancing their learning. RA's will work with their supervisors to help assess needs, encourage resident participation in events, and assist in the delivery of messages.
There are four general categories of messages that we believe residents need to receive:
We want the residents to have:
- The freedom of responsible expression within the community
- Well developed academic skills
- Knowledge of the academic and career resources available on campus
- The desire to set and achieve goals, both short term and long term
- An environment free of peer pressure
We want the residents to have:
- Respect for their community and other residents
- The ability to feel safe on campus, in the halls, and in their rooms
- The ability to know what to do in case of an emergency
- The desire to plan, implement, and attend floor activities
- An understanding of the responsibilities of the resident to voice their opinions through governmental agencies
- A respect for their environment and the desire to empower others to do the same
- The desire to become involved in activities on campus and get their names known throughout campus
We want the residents to have:
- Knowledge and pride for the traditions at WMU
- An ownership of their community and environment
- The ability to ask for and use resources available to them both in and out of the residence halls
- Knowledge about healthy alcohol use, and the consequences associated with unhealthy drug use
- Knowledge of factors involved in healthy relationships, including intimate and sexual relationships
- Knowledge about the factors that contribute to personal safety
- Knowledge of factors contributing to good nutrition, hygiene, exercise, and stress management
- Skills in knowing how to value and seek support from other students
- A supportive community in which the resident will not be afraid to ask for help
- Knowledge of the variety of academic activities, study abroad opportunities, and career options available
- A recognition of the value of being connected to other students and to something bigger than themselves
- Awareness that community living generates opportunities for learning
- Knowledge about the multitude of opportunities to be involved in communities
- Recognition that all community members have rights and responsibilities
- An understanding that we all belong to many different communities
- Knowledge of the strategies and resources available to resolve differences within communities
- Awareness of consequences for violating community standards
- A recognition of the value of being connected to other students and to something bigger than themselves
- Awareness that community living generates opportunities for learning
We want the residents to have:
- Awareness and appreciation of other cultures, lifestyles, and backgrounds
- Knowledge of the laws, ordinances, and policies prohibiting harassment and intimidation based on a characteristic, an awareness of the histories of discriminatory behaviors and practices as a basis for such laws
- Awareness of the relationship between an appreciation of diversity and future career success
- Appreciation for the value of inclusiveness in their association with individuals and with formal informal groups
Part of the message delivery process involves informal channels through RA connections to residents, discipline meetings with residents, and other vehicles. Messages are also delivered to students in a community through a more structural process, often in a partnership with other areas on and off campus.
A variety of methods and strategies can be used in the delivery of messages. These include traditional speaker/audience programs, bulletin boards, web pages, theatrical performance, banners, flyers, films, newsletters, email lists, etc.
The Department of Residence Life expects that each of the message categories will be addressed and the outcomes achieved based on the staff's assessment and plan. Once a message strategy has been implemented it will be recorded and viewed throughout the semester to make certain these goals are being met.
From the 2013 version of the site. Details, prices and links may be out of date, so check them against your own campus policies.