Day 1 Sessions

As mental health concerns continue to rise among college students, our staff are increasingly positioned at the frontlines of crisis response and community care. This interactive session uses a practice-based discussion format to explore how staff can effectively respond to and follow up on mental health incidents in the halls, as well as strategies for support and care for students and each other.

Drawing from current departmental trends—including an increase in incidents and emerging demographic patterns—participants will engage with case studies that reflect the complexity of real scenarios in the halls. The session will examine not only immediate response protocols, but also post-incident care and follow up: supporting RAs after difficult calls, addressing the needs of roommates and impacted residents, and navigating ongoing communication and coordination with campus partners.

Participants will also consider the role of professional staff in modeling care, managing emotional labor, and ensuring equitable, culturally responsive approaches to student support. By centering discussion, reflection, and shared problem-solving, this session aims to move beyond policy review and toward practical, relational strategies that strengthen both staff readiness and community well-being.

This session provides an overview of the university’s updated digital accessibility standards and tips for putting them into practice. Participants will learn how to make emails, presentations, newsletters and video content more accessible using simple, effective techniques. 

We’ll cover common mistakes, helpful tools and real-world examples that can make accessibility easier to understand and apply. Feel free to bring examples of your own work, questions or accessibility challenges. We’ll spend time working through real-life scenarios together and troubleshooting issues you may be facing in your day-to-day work.

Miss being a student? Come join us for a lesson in Theories of Student Engagement. We'll cover the basics of engagement theory (remember Astin, Tinto, and HIPs?) and consider how they apply to YOUR work with students in our halls. We toss around "engagement," but do we understand what that means and do we all agree? This session will help you hone your personal understanding of engagement.