IT FIGURES
by James A. Baumann
I
t is a given to say that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led to dramatic changes within campus housing operations and to troubling impacts for some campus housing personnel. Virtually everyone has an anecdote that illustrates the struggle brought on by the pandemic. Unfortunately, when real numbers are considered as well, the stories don’t get any better.
Gudrun Nyunt, an assistant professor of higher education at Northern Illinois University, did just this when she surveyed campus housing professionals to determine the impact of COVID-19 on staff members’ mental well-being as well as their intentions to continue working within the residence life field. With the endorsement of the ACUHO-I Research Committee, Nyunt surveyed 107 self-identified housing professionals. While she notes the limitations of a smaller sample size, it did include a diverse population based on gender, race, position, type of institution, housing arrangement (live-in versus living off campus), and other factors.
As the respondents reported on their experiences, the statistics indicated that approximately two-thirds of respondents (65.7%) believed that their work responsibilities jeopardized their health, and nearly half (48%) believed that these responsibilities also jeopardized the health of their loved ones. A positive sign within the numbers was that most of the participants (70.5%) noted that they felt supported by supervisors during the pandemic. In addition, more than half (57.1%) said they were confident in the leadership of their department to manage the COVID-19 crisis. Only 48.6% had the same confidence in their institution’s leadership.
Another effect noted in Nyunt’s research may not yet have been felt in the profession. When the survey was being collected in October and November 2020, 63.1% of the respondents said that, before the pandemic, their career plan was to remain in residence life and progress up the career ladder. However, more than half stated that they wished they did not work in residence life during the pandemic, and 41.2% stated that due to the experience they were no longer interested in residence life as a career.
Read more about this research and its findings, including analysis of additional variables, in the latest issue of The Journal of College and University Student Housing.
James Baumann is the ACUHO-I director of publications.