July 2020Discussion Guide

TS HEADER IMAGEThe Talking Stick Discussion Guide is designed to support those who utilize the content to strengthen individual and departmental professional development efforts. These discussion questions, crafted by campus housing professionals, will help readers to make meaning of the content and best identify ways the information applies to individual practices and institutions. Some suggestions for how to incorporate them into a professional development curriculum include the following:

Building discussions into departmental meetings.

Delegating articles to staff and asking them to lead discussions.

Reading articles that address topics outside of normal day-to-day responsibilities to broaden knowledge of all the different aspects of campus housing or positions one may aspire to.

Incorporating articles into class discussions for graduate students.

Assigning articles to graduate classes and coordinating opportunities for students to discuss readings and how they would apply to future careers.

TS DIVIDING RULEhorizontal_imageTS DIVIDING RULE-1593717294Breaking Up
There’s no guarantee a public-private partnership will last forever. But breaking up doesn’t have to be hard to do. TS CALL OUTSRead StoryQuestions:

Do you know if your campus is part of a public-private partnership? Do you think students are aware of this partnership? If so, how does it manifest on your campus?

If your campus is part of a public-private partnership, what benefits did it bring to your campus?

What are some of the factors that may cause tension within a public-private partnership?

In your planning for students returning to campus for the new academic year, how have the campus and the P3 partner worked together?

TS DIVIDING RULE-1593548888Say It Loud A new book explores how dedicated counterspaces allow black and Latinx students to speak freely and find a home on campus. EquityRead StoryQuestions:

How can you and your team work to develop counterspaces on campus? What elements would you add to these spaces so that individuals feel free to have deeper conversations?

How can you work training for how to support adaptive responding into staff training?

How can you and your team work to make integrated spaces function as more of a pull instead of a push?

How can housing and residence life staff work with staff at campus cultural centers to provide virtual counterspaces?

TS DIVIDING RULE-1593548888-1593548895Living Off and Working In
Seasoned housing staff reflect on a new, but familiar, normal. hrRead StoryQuestions:

Discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with working from home as it relates to establishing or maintaining work/life integration as a housing and residence life professional.

In the article, the authors highlighted the voices and stories of numerous professionals who shared insights about the impact of the global pandemic on both their personal and professional lives. Considering your own voice and story, in what ways has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your personal and professional life? What are some ways that you can support yourself and those around you in achieving work/life integration?

In what ways will you take responsibility for your own productivity and continuity? What expectations do you have of yourself and your teammates in terms of productivity and work/life integration?

The authors state that “it is almost certain that, moving forward, 'home’ will hold a new sacredness for all.” Have these unprecedented times led you to reconsider how you think of and define home? Why or why not?

TS DIVIDING RULE-1593548888-1593548895-1593548898Building (and Finding) the Better RA
Data says the ability to see the potential and maximize on the opportunity makes for a successful RA. assessmentRead StoryQuestions:

COVID-19 will have significant impacts on how we are able to train student staff and allow them to engage in the community. How are you adapting their training to support them in this experience?

The research found that compensation and work demands had a significant impact on student staff satisfaction. When was the last time you evaluated this for your staff? How have you benchmarked job responsibilities and compensation?

Consider looking at how you hold student staff accountable. If staff frequently face job action for not meeting programming responsibilities but research shows that the individual interactions have more impact on the student experience, what ways might you want to reconsider accountability?

With this data in mind, review your professional staff training. How are you preparing new supervisors to effectively coach, mentor, develop teams, and hold staff accountable?

TS DIVIDING RULE-1593548888-1593548895-1593548898-1593548900Design That Makes Sense
Understanding the sensory needs of students should inform residence hall design. foundationalRead StoryQuestions:

Take a tour of your buildings while being mindful of your five senses. What do you notice? What would you change?

So many of our buildings were designed and constructed without aesthetics in mind or with a different sense of aesthetics. What smaller, affordable changes can you make to the environment to consider a resident’s sensory experience as they navigate the residence halls?

If you’re in the process of planning a renovation or new build, what can you take from this article to that planning process?

Sometimes we don’t have opportunities or resources to make large changes to an entire building, but are there smaller spaces – for example, a lounge or an office where we interact with our students – where we can apply aspects of this article?

TS DIVIDING RULE-1593548888-1593548895-1593548898-1593548931Open Lines Members share how they had to quickly shift gears and safely clear residence halls while maintaining communication with students and staff. marketingRead StoryQuestions:

At the beginning of the move-out process, what communication strategies worked well when you realized that you wouldn’t see students face-to-face and you knew you had to rely on other communication channels to get important information to them?

What were the communication channels you used when the information was changing daily? Did they work well? Will you use them again in a similar situation?

What pieces of the COVID-19 communication planning need to be added to your campus’s crisis-planning documents? Think it through as a team and note which other departments on campus need to be involved during these times as well.

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