Summary Paper
Below is my summary paper for my 2018 Field Period.
My tenure in the office of housing and residence life has been an incredible experience. I have learned so much about not only myself, but how Student Affairs and the Office of Housing and Residence Life work together to bring about the best circumstances for our students to live a happy, healthy, and safe life. Together with my supervisor, Tim White, I learned many valuable skills and was able to directly apply those skills almost immediately to my current position as Head Resident Assistant at Keuka College.
My first task in the office was working on my desk workers and getting them scheduled. In the past, Tim White and I co-supervised the staff of 10 workers and my goal for over break was to take over that completely and manage them myself. I began by emailing the group and telling them of our changes in the hours they would be working, as well as to get them to fill out a doodle poll to get their preferences for working. Once that was handled, the tricky part began. I had to pick and pull from their availability a way to schedule them all for one shift a night (10 shifts available during the week, 10 desk workers). This became pretty difficult but I never gave up and was able to figure it out with minor tweaks. Once that was completed, I emailed them to begin scheduling them for the weekend shifts. I let them fill out a doodle poll again for this, and this was even harder. Each worker was to get 4 weekend shifts, and then I would
divvy out the remaining shifts to them. Once this was all handled accordingly, I was able to input it all into the Google Calendar so that me, my supervisor, and my resident assistant staff is able to see who is working and on what day.
While this was happening, we had some office moves. My supervisor moved out of our office to his own private location, and I was lucky enough to take his place. So now I have office hours in the Office of Housing and Residence Life. I look forward to sharing this time with residents, staff, and anyone else who may need me over the semester. Along with this exciting opportunity, I was graciously invited to the Student Affairs staff meetings this January. It was nice to be a part of a bigger group and share our ideas as a whole team. Also, I was invited to the spring programming meeting, which outlines all the events that will happen on campus this coming semester. That was a very fun meeting, and it helps me by showing me the events on campus that are coming so that my staff can program accordingly and avoid scheduling conflicts.
Another one of my main projects this break was working on the presentation I am giving on the 31st, at the Residence Life retreat. We will be presenting on our own committees, as well as presenting on the books we were provided. I will be seeking to my coworkers about “Planning a career in college and university housing”. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge with others and learning from what they will be speaking on as well.
Although this break flew by, I also had some smaller projects that I completed as well. This includes preparing my building for the students to come back, by cleaning up old posters and even hanging a new bulletin board outside my apartment to showcase new information for residents. With this, I also began reading “The Fuzzy and the Techie” and participated in the discussion about programming for the Fribolin Fest. I also helped out with RA Training by creating a “Walk the Line Activity” to bring the RA’s closer together. I also was lucky enough to help Michelle Wojner plan for an on campus 5k that we will be having!
Although this break was quick, I feel like I learned a lot about management and how to work professionally with others, especially in a field that I love. It is safe to say that after this Field Period opportunity, it has solidified my dreams in wanting to pursue a career in housing and residence life. I am looking forward to next semester, and all the great things it will bring me and my fellow staff!