In residence halls, students live and learn

Gone are the days when the most visible duties of a resident assistant (RA) were to mediate roommate disputes and preside over monthly floor meetings at which students were reminded to keep the noise down when others were trying to study or sleep.

Instead, RAs at the University now play key educational roles in what has been called a cutting-edge approach to life on campus. UD has implemented a residential curriculum educational program, in which staff members in the Office of Residence Life are responsible for helping to educate students in a systematic way—based on a formal curriculum—about the responsibilities of citizenship.

“We have designed specific strategies with specific learning outcomes for all students living in residence halls,” says James Tweedy, associate director of residence life. “We want our students to graduate with a clear idea of what it means to be a good citizen and to realize that the people they’re living with are ones they can really learn from.”

Different goals and curricula are developed for each year a student lives in a residence hall, with variations depending on where the student lives. In central campus residence halls, for example, the focus is on service learning, with some groups addressing the issue of homelessness and others working with the Delaware Food Bank. In the Harrington residence halls, students focus on global citizenship, and Ray Street Complex residents work on leadership development. Dickinson and Rodney will be focusing on sustainability this year.

Each of the eight unique curricula undergo an extensive administrative and peer review process and are subject to final approval by a Curriculum Review Committee.

In conjunction with the approach, RAs are expected to meet several times individually with the students who live on their floor in order to discuss specific topics within the curriculum, as well as holding one or two group meetings per month.

“This is not something we’ve implemented just based on a whim,” Kathleen Kerr, director of residence life, says. “It’s based on the University’s larger academic mission and what we can contribute to this, even though we aren’t faculty. We think this approach gives students a much more targeted learning experience. They still have random experiences as they interact with others, of course, but they have this targeted experience, too.”

Kerr and Tweedy, who published an article on UD’s innovative approach in a recent edition of the journal About Campus, say students generally welcome the curricular concept and have come to expect a residence hall to provide more than a place to sleep. In turn, they add, RAs find the approach rewarding for their own educational development as well as for the fellow students with whom they work and live.

“We’re starting to see more psychology and education majors, for example, interested in becoming RAs,” Kerr says. “They see it as a way to enhance what they’re learning in class and as a way to make a difference.”

The University’s residential-based curricular approach, now beginning its fourth full academic year of operation, is attracting attention from other higher education professionals, many of whom say it’s the wave of the future. In January, UD hosted the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) first Residential Curriculum Institute. More than 72 persons, representing more than 35 schools from across the U.S. and Canada, attended.

ACPA President Jeanne Steffes of Syracuse University, the opening speaker at the conference, says the approach at UD encompasses “some of the most cutting-edge ideas I’ve seen.”

RAs at the University say the structured approach makes it clear what they need to do to implement the curriculum but also leaves room for them to use their own creativity in making the process interesting and fun for students.

“This approach is much better for the staff members,” says Sendy Guerrier, the Dickinson complex coordinator, who sat on UD’s first residence life curricular review committee. “They still are the ones who implement the programs, but they no longer have to design the programs. They receive much more direction now.”

In the Gilbert/Harrington complex last year, students focused on gaining a global perspective through community service and also participated in academic and career-planning activities, according to hall director Becca Bauer.

“At the end of the day, my goal is to help my staff members demonstrate to our student population that learning does not take place in the classroom alone; the residence hall is an educational opportunity as well,” Bauer says.