University of Alaska Anchorage Division of Student Affairs

The Department of Residence Life FY12 CAS self-study

Purpose of Self-Study The Department of Residence Life (Res Life) in partnership with Housing, Dining, Conference Services (Housing) conducted a Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) self-study to identify the strengths and weakness of the two departments as related to national standards for on-campus housing departments.

Mission Res Life provides a living and learning environment through programs, services and opportunities, which contribute to the personal and academic success of students living in the UAA residential communities.

In partnership with Housing, students and campus-wide faculty and staff, Res Life creates a comfortable and safe community that promotes respect for a diverse population as well as supports the cultural, social, intellectual, physical and emotional development of UAA students.

Res Life provides opportunities for residents to become empowered as community members and as evolving individuals who contribute to their own positive living/learning experience.

Assessment Summary Res Life and Housing were evaluated utilizing the criteria of best practices established by CAS. A committee was formed that had a combination of staff from both departments and a student representative who was a past resident currently working as a student leader for another department. The committee met weekly and utilized Dropbox (an online electronic file sharing program) to share information and documents used in the evaluation. As a result of the evaluation, the committee made recommendations for action items to enhance Res Life and Housing programs, facilities, and services.

Identified Strengths  Res Life is fully integrated into the institution and collaborates across campus with a variety of departments and programs, which include academic affairs.

 Res Life provides support, educational opportunities and programs that promote student academic and personal success.

 All Res Life professional staff members hold graduate degrees in fields relevant to higher education.  Student leaders contribute to the Res Life’s mission to promote student success through programming, study groups, living learning communities, peer mentoring, leadership development, discipline, role modeling, individual support and referrals.

 Res Life provides services on a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory basis and recruits and promotes the hiring of diverse student and professional staff.

Identified Weaknesses • Since on-campus housing is a split system, lead jointly by Housing and Res Life, there is a need to create a combined organizational chart that clearly articulates roles and job responsibilities. The organizational chart will include a joint mission statement.

• Residence Life has experienced technology issues that have limited the ability to print, utilize phones, and scan which has negatively impacted the ability to complete job responsibilities.

• The Residence Life office is a two-story space with professional staff offices located on the second floor. As a result of the stairs, students with mobility limitations are unable to access those offices.

• Efforts need to be made to increase the safety and security of the MAC laundry room and additional cameras should be installed across the residential campus. In addition, there is a desire to increase the front desk coverage to 24 hours to provide additional security and support to students.

• Res Life has an existing assessment plan that is comprehensive in nature but does not include Housing. To make the plan truly comprehensive, Housing needs to be involved in the development and the implementation of the assessment process.

Recommendations for Program Enhancement  Res Life and Housing will collaborative in creating a joint mission statement and an organizational chart that clear demonstrates the joint collaboration and job responsibilities. In addition, a comprehensive assessment plan will be developed and implemented.

• A focus will be placed on increasing safety and security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness in the residential community.

• Res Life will work closely with IT to improve and resolve technology issues.