There are five new professionals who will help lead ACUHO-I into the future. The positions filled during this election cycle were Vice President (three-year presidential cycle), Finance and Corporate Records Officer (three-year term), Facilities and Physical Environment Director (two-year term), Knowledge Enhancement Director (three-year term), and Business Practices and Enhancements Director (two-year term).
Leon McClinton was elected Vice President. He is the director of housing and residential life and graduate college affiliated faculty in the College of Education and Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. He is currently serving as an ex-officio member on ACUHO-I’s Foundation Board and has also served as a faculty member for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region IV-West Mid-Level Institute, the James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute (NHTI), and the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers Regional Entry Level Institute (SEAHO RELI). McClinton also wrote a chapter on Greek housing for the Campus Housing Management book series published by ACUHO-I.
Olan Garrett, currently serving as Business Practices and Enhancements Director on the Board, was elected Finance and Corporate Records Officer. He is director of residential life at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Garrett has served as faculty for the James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute (NHTI) and for the MACUHO/NEACUHO Regional Entry Level Institute (RELI). He has also served on the Core Leadership Team for the ACUHO-I Program Committee and ACUHO-I’s Regional Affiliation Task Force.
Josh Gana was elected Facilities and Physical Environment Director. He is the associate director for facilities, operations, and special projects for the Department of Housing and Food Services at the University of Washington in Seattle. Gana has served as president of the Northwest Association of College and University Housing Officers (NWACUHO) and as faculty for the ACUHO-I Mid-Level Leadership Institute. Also, he is currently serving as deputy incident commander and board secretary for the Emergency Management Group-Washington. This is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive emergency management, planning, and operational services for special events, such as the Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade, in the city of Seattle.
Suzanne Price was elected Knowledge Enhancement Director. She is the director of residential learning at Clemson University in South Carolina and teaches in the Women’s Leadership program, guest lectures for the I-LEAD program, and collaborates with many campus committees: University Assessment Committee, University Creative Inquiry Committee, President’s Commission on Women, Women’s Leadership Academic Major Steering Committee, and the Student Affairs Inclusive Excellence Committee. She has also served as editor for ACUHO-I’s The Journal of College and University Student Housing.
Christopher Silva was elected Business Practices and Enhancements Director. He is the director of housing at American University in Washington, D.C. Silva is a published author on various topics such as green buildings, water conservation, searching for student affairs jobs abroad, and how rankings can be used to improve sexual assault prevention and survivor programs on U.S. campuses. In addition to his work in campus housing, Silva has a broad range of experience in the areas of sustainability, guest services, fraternity/sorority life, student leadership programs, service-learning, and online/distance education. In 2019, Silva served as a faculty member at the Global Housing Training Institute (GHTI) in Geelong, Melbourne, Australia. More recently he served the association as chair of the Future of Housing Work Group, which has provided key resources for ACUHO-I members and the campus housing profession during the COVID-19 crisis.
These newly elected Board members will begin their terms January 1, 2021.
Contributions Recognized During Virtual Summit
The recipients of the 2020 ACUHO-I Presidential Service Award were recognized during the closing session of the ACUHO-I Virtual Summit. These awards are selected by the ACUHO-I president and presented to both an institution and to an individual to thank them for their contributions to both the Association and the campus housing profession as a whole. This year’s recipients were the University of Oregon and Patrick Connor.
In his remarks, ACUHO-I President Von Stange noted how numerous representatives from Oregon have “supported ACUHO-I on the Executive Board, on the Foundation Board, and on committees” for more than three decades. Most recently, Michael Griffel, the ACUHO-I Finance and Corporate Records Officer, is the assistant vice president for student services at Oregon.
Connor also served as the Finance and Corporate Records Officer for ACUHO-I, and his involvement has gone far beyond that during his 33 years in the profession. Connor has supported ACUHO-I in a number of ways including volunteering as part of the Campus Housing Index advisory board, chairing the Awards and Recognition Committee, and actively participating in the ACUHO-I 21st Century Project. He also has been a longstanding fixture of the Big Ten Housing Officers meeting where he has shared his knowledge and experience with an untold number of colleagues. As Stange said, “Patrick would say ACUHO-I is in his blood, and I agree.”
ACUHO-I released a new resource in August that was specifically developed to illustrate the critical role of live-in staff and the unique skills that make these professionals a crucial part of the student experience and our workforce during this (or any) time of crisis. This document, Transferable Skills for Live-in Campus Housing Professionals, delineates the myriad skills and competencies that uniquely situate these professionals to be redeployed, when needed, to other critical roles on campus during this time of uncertainty. We also hope this document supports live-in professionals with articulating their capabilities and the value they bring to their campus communities. Share it widely on campus and in your professional networks.
On August 5, 2020, ACUHO-I President Von Stange announced the formation of the ACUHO-I Anti-Racism Task Force. This group is charged with examining how campus housing and residence life professionals can contribute to the disruption, if not the dismantling, of the individual biases and systemic oppression that exist on college and university campuses and in the profession at large. The task force is one of many initiatives the association will enact in the coming months to advance these crucial conversations and deliverables, which will include a comprehensive reassessment of ACUHO-I’s internal policies and practices by the Executive Board and leadership.
Members of this task force are Steven Herndon (co-chair), assistant vice president/executive director of housing and residence life at the University of Dayton in Ohio; Luis Inoa (co-chair), dean of student living and wellness at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York; Harold Fields, director of residence life at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York; Faith Fitzgerald, executive director of housing and residence life at Norfolk State University in Virginia; Courtney Francis, assistant coordinator for night staff at Florida State University in Tallahassee; Kathleen Gardner, director of the office of residence life at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant; Daniel Gonzalez, coordinator of residential life at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Amanda McLittle, director of diversity and inclusion at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; Christy Ortega, senior coordinator of residential education and leadership for university housing services at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Brian Reece, assistant director at Hawai'i Pacific University in Honolulu; Dirk Rodricks, assistant to the dean of residence life at the University of Toronto, New College in St. George, Canada; and Aramis Watson, associate director of residence life at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
ACUHO-I's Future of Housing Work Group has concluded its work. Over the past few months, the members of the group developed various resources that supported member campuses’ re-opening plans. Work group deliverables included a report on considerations for practice during COVID-19, the next term campus housing tracker, various virtual roundtable programs, tips for collaborating with campus partners, a grid to guide conversations around building community, staff training checklists, and sample quarantine/isolation policies and plans, amongst others. All of the group's recommendations are collected on the ACUHO-I Future of Housing webpage.
Two publications designed to recognize underrepresented members of the campus housing profession were honored by Association Media and Publishing during its annual EXCEL Awards. The AM&P EXCEL Awards recognize excellence and leadership in association media, publishing, marketing, and communications. Two issues of Connections – Professionals of Color: Meeting the Needs of Diversifying Campuses and How Women Define Campus Housing’s Past, Present, & Future – received the Gold Award in the Special Report (Print) category. The Silver Award was won by the National Association of Elementary School Principals while an entry from AARP received the Bronze.
