By Morgan Murray-Lewis
Institutional knowledge is the experience and wisdom gained by staff over time in their roles. Consistently building and storing this knowledge helps departments develop more effective and efficient processes, think critically about ways to improve what they do, and operate smoothly as an organization. In particular, this helps departments ensure that the continuity of their practices and procedures is not impacted by staff turnover and provides a needed sense of stability for a department during these times. But what happens when a department has not been storing this knowledge and a staff member decides to leave their position and take that institutional knowledge with them? How does this affect the remaining staff and student communities they serve?
Many campus housing departments continue to experience increased staff turnover and staff transitions. Some of these staff are leaving after many years of service, during which time they have likely gained considerable knowledge that is valuable to the department. When departments lose staff who have become keepers of institutional knowledge related to their daily functions, they must remain nimble and must be intentional about archiving this knowledge – thereby ensuring that there is a solid and up-to-date base of knowledge to pull from to keep services and processes moving and on track.
In this article, practitioners in the field speak to the different strategies, practices, tools, and resources that housing departments utilize to ensure that there is continuity of practice when someone leaves their job. Through these discussions, it became clear that preserving institutional knowledge was something they all recognized as important, but they also acknowledged that finding the time and determining best practices for preserving this knowledge is still a work in progress for their department. And there isn’t one right way to accomplish this; different strategies work for different campuses.
Documenting standard operations is a critical strategy for preserving institutional knowledge. Though this may seem obvious, it is also difficult; several practitioners mentioned that though they have done well at documenting their on-call or crisis management procedures, they still need to keep better track of other residential operations, processes, and procedures. For some, this meant asking staff to complete annual transition reports, creating staff manuals, and outlining standard operating procedures. Casey Tullos, associate vice chancellor for student affairs at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, says that her team has worked to create a shared document archive online so that each unit within the department can upload critical documents that support their operational continuity. They documented and archived policies, program assessments, standard operating procedures, organizational charts, occupancy data, annual contracts, and approved budgets. Along with her team, Christian Wells, associate director of housing and residence life at Mercer University, developed a similar approach. “If a person is out of the office or if something happens unexpectedly, we made sure that there are resources available that we can find such as the office procedures manual. We believe that making sure all the office staff have knowledge of the centralized front desk operations has helped us tremendously.”
Making these documents accessible online or in shared drives makes it possible for all staff, both old and new, to access key information. Having manuals, reports, and other essential documents accessible online also made it easier for them to become living documents that could (and should) be updated regularly. Stephanie Rewitzer, associate director of academic initiatives and staff training programs at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, notes that her department uses eRezLife software to preserve many documents, which has been helpful in tracking any concerns about student staff performance and any corrective job actions. That in turn allowed continuity between supervisors and provided an accessible reference for how and why job action decisions were made. Asana, a project management software that helps track needed tasks, who they are assigned to, their deadlines, and their progress, is another helpful resource. As one practitioner recalls, an outgoing staff member in their department created Asana task lists as part of their transition out of the role, which created continuity for other staff. Debbie Kolstad, director of residence life at Lewis-Clark State College, explains that including software access needs in job descriptions for each position helps ensure that they are consistent.
Practitioners also suggested that intentional staffing and a culture of continuity keep the department up to date about staff responsibilities. For example, tracking the time spent in weekly meetings and one-on-ones with staff allowed them to provide critical updates on their areas of responsibility and things they’re working on. The goal is to ensure that staff are being intentional about sharing and acquiring a base level of knowledge about each other’s work. Larger departments may also consider hiring more staff so there is some overlap and redundancy in positions, which can ease the disruption of a staff member’s departure. As Brianna Lombardozzi, director of housing operations at Clemson University, acknowledges, no department wants to have “a single point of failure,” and creating some redundancy in staffing can avoid this problem. She also notes how crucial it is to create processes that others can pick up if needed and having a solid backup to follow those processes and keep things moving: “Maybe you're not an expert on it, but you are slick enough to be dangerous if you need to be.” Meanwhile, Rewitzer emphasizes the importance of having outgoing staff meet with the person who will likely be taking over their responsibilities so that they can share information about the processes and how decisions are made. In addition, inviting the new person to meetings can connect them to key campus partners.
When departments lose staff who have become keepers of institutional knowledge related to their daily functions, they must remain nimble and must be intentional about archiving this knowledge – thereby ensuring that there is a solid and up-to-date base of knowledge to pull from to keep services and processes moving and on track.
Mari Strombom, executive director of housing and dining services at Colorado State University, specifies several strategies they have used, such as having a new staff member begin work while the outgoing person is still working; a week or two of this overlap is generally enough to serve as a preliminary orientation. Strombom also suggests that other staff can help with continuity of practice and preserving knowledge by serving in the role on an interim basis to get a better sense of the position's responsibilities. “There have been times when I have personally served in an interim role for a position. This lets me have a deeper knowledge of the area so that I can better understand what skillsets and experiences will be needed in the next hire. When I do this, I have made time to talk with the person departing about what they believe to be the critical areas of their position that I will need to hold or manage.”
All departments are not created equally, and some of the strategies mentioned here will not work on every campus. Larger institutions may be able to create redundancies in staffing or may have staff with fewer responsibilities, but smaller departments or smaller campuses don’t always have those options. Whatever the campus or department size, practitioners should focus on finding a balance between not reinventing the wheel every time someone leaves and not getting stuck in a rut that impedes innovation.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider when planning how to capture institutional knowledge is how staff will make time to do it. Documenting processes and setting up continuity practices takes time, especially when so much of the day-to-day involves putting out fires, but it is a critical piece of keeping operations functioning smoothly. “You gotta carve the time out, even if it's like, okay, we're gonna take every third Friday of the month and just work on a process and get it documented,” says Lombardozzi. “You just have to commit to it, and then commit to going back and reviewing it.” Departments need to take the time to think strategically about the ways they can proactively address how knowledge is managed and how continuity of practice is achieved. This may involve scheduling regular meetings or dedicated time slots specifically for knowledge preservation efforts. It could also mean allocating resources and staff to focus on documentation and training, recognizing that this investment will pay dividends in the long run by ensuring smoother transitions and fewer disruptions.
Having a plan for preserving institutional knowledge is critical for the success and resilience of any housing department. By prioritizing this aspect of operations, departments can mitigate risks associated with staff turnover, enhance efficiency, and ultimately better serve their students. In the ever-changing environment of campus housing, where staff turnover is inevitable, the ability to retain and transfer institutional knowledge becomes not just a preference, but a necessity for organizational sustainability and growth.
Morgan Murray-Lewis is the associate director for residence life for university housing within the Division of Student Success at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
