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2.3 Applying Community Development Theory
Now that you have learned about community development theory, it's time to think about how to apply the information to your work as a Resident Assistant in the residence halls. The following are offered as ways to build and maintain purposeful, just and sustainable communities - though certainly this list is not exhaustive and you are encouraged to brainstorm and implement your ideas for how to build healthy communities at Evergreen!
Give Purpose to Your Community. A purposeful community is one where students share in their personal and academic goals and work together to help strengthen their residential experience. In your first meeting with your residents, develop goals and create a "community covenant."
Set Expectations and Hold People Accountable To Them. Our campus and housing policies exist to safeguard the well-being and safety of individuals and the larger community. Your role in enforcing policy helps individuals understand their responsibilities as community members and ensures every one has a safe and comfortable place to live, learn and grow. As a Resident Assistant, you should:
- Be familiar enough with the Student Conduct Code, housing policies and Evergreen's Social Contract that you can share information from these documents easily with residents.
- Be clear about your expectations of members in your community. Your area meetings are a great time to communicate this information!
- Find a way to explain in your own words why we have policies in place. When addressing disruptive behavior, frame it as how the behavior is or could impact the community. Language that may help you explain to your residents why we have community standards of behavior include: “We’re here to study, but we live here, too. Although it’s not the library, we need to consider that people have the right to sleep and study here."
- Be consistent in confronting policy violations. From the very start of the year you need to set firm boundaries respectfully with your residents or you may spend the rest of the year trying to make up for it!
- Practice saying “You are expected to consider how your actions might affect others. If you don’t, there will be consequences, and you will be held responsible.”
Seek to Create an Inclusive Community. A community should be for everyone, not just the majority. Work to make your community welcoming, just, and accepting of all. As a Resident Assistant, try to:
- Be an ally. Educate yourself to be culturally competent. Read books, ask your RD for resources, and attend campus cultural events.
- Address inappropriate and hurtful comments and behaviors consistently. You will learn the skills to do this in fall training.
- Make your programming accessible to all residents.
- Be sensitive when planning programs associated with holidays or traditions that might not be inclusive or equally appealing to all. View this interfaith calendar to learn about holidays and spiritual observance days across many spiritualities and faiths.
- If you host a movie night, show movies that are not offensive (e.g. objectify women, portray people of color as harmful stereotypes, etc.). If a movie does create negative stereotypes, facilitate a conversation after the movie and address it.
- Invite your residents to attend cultural events on-campus with you, like discussion groups sponsored by First Peoples' and Evergreen Queer Alliance events.
- Talk to your RD immediately if a bias incident occurs on your floor or in your community.
- Respect difference of opinion expressed on your floor. Do not judge people for having different values than yourself. Open up the conversation to learn more about where your resident is coming from and refrain from trying to "persuade" them to think different.
Have Fun Together! Plan fun, simple programs that match the interests of your diverse group of residents. Not every program will automatically appeal to everyone - so invite residents to try something new and mix up what types of programs (e.g. outdoor programs, craft programs) you offer.
- Encourage residents to host programs. Help them find funding and help them plan the event but ask them to host it in their space and invite people from the community.
- People are drawn to programs that are simple and easy to understand. Events that require people to dress up, prepare something or act can intimidate people and make programs less accessible. Focus on sponsoring simple programs done well rather than complicated programs that deter participation.
- The easiest programs? Taking residents to an upper-campus or Olympia event, like the farmers' market, performance, or movie night.
- You don't have to call it a "program" to your residents. Frame programs as get-togethers or hang-outs - informal opportunities to spend time with people and share food, entertainment, stories, etc. - because that's exactly what a program is! Instead of asking residents what you should do for a "program" ask "Hey, I want to ask people on the floor to hang out on Thursday night. What do you think we should do?" It'll be easier for residents to generate ideas for what they like to do when they are just hanging out with friends.
Get to Know Your Residents. This is a simple one but can be overlooked, even by the best of RAs. As a Resident Assistant, it is important that you spend time in your community and that you know your residents beyond the superficial. As we learned with Schlossberg's Marginality and Mattering Model (1989), individuals need to feel cared for and noticed in order to feel comfortable and accepted into their new communities.
- Building rapport with residents during their first few weeks in the community is the best way to sustain a positive relationship for the year. You should focus in the beginning weeks on learning the names of all of your residents and information about them, like where they call home, and personal and academic interests.
- After the first few weeks, go beyond the superficial with residents. Find time to talk with residents individually or in small groups - over a meal at the dining hall, on a bus ride to the farmers' market, while walking to class, etc. Talk about academic interests, their passions in life, memorable travel experiences, and relationships. Share information about you, too - you don't want to "interview" your residents; you want to build a relationship!
- Be observant. As you're meeting residents, find talking points and conversation starters, like if they have a guitar in their room, pictures from a trip abroad, a sewing machine, or posters for a band. Strike up a conversation with them in a genuine way - you don't have to pretend to like the same things as them (e.g. "I see you have a poster of Duran Duran. I uhh, really like them, too..."). But asking them questions about these interests will clue you into what they enjoy in life and why.
- As you get to know the interests of your residents, share with them resources, events, or clubs related to that interest that you learn about. For example, if you see an e-mail about a political science internship and you have a resident studying political science, pass it along to them! This will make residents feel you not only know them but care enough to take the time to make a referral or send them relevant information.
- Make yourself available and accessible to your residents (while engaging in self-care and giving yourself privacy when you need it!). If you feel comfortable, share your e-mail address with residents or friend your residents on Facebook. Spend time in your community, studying in a lounge or hanging out in your room with the door open. Make it easy to people to informally drop by and say hello.
There are many more suggestions for how to develop your community as a Resident Assistant. Here is a checklist of easy ideas to implement during different stages of the year.
At the very start of the year...
- Work on building an inclusive community based on respect from the start
- Set up an area meeting to discuss expectations for the year
- Create a community covenant with your residents
- Role model positive behavior
- Let residents know what your job is as an RA
- Learn the names of everyone in your floor
- Talk to residents one-on-one
- Invite residents to go to The Greenery or cook together
- Introduce members of the community to one another
- Encourage residents to seek out involvement opportunities on-campus and in the residence halls
After academic breaks (e.g. Winter Break, Spring Break)...
- Check your community roster for new residents
- Make new door decorations for all new and returning residents
- When you get a new resident, make an extra effort to introduce yourself and others to them
- Plan an area meeting to revisit goals and expectations
- Check in with each resident about their winter break experience
- Understand that most residents are re-evaluating their academic performance from the previous term. Share resources and help residents reflect on their academic progress
- Plan a social program or activity for the first week back to give residents an opportunity to reconnect with one another
Throughout the year...
- Address unacceptable behavior, including racist or homophobic remarks and disruptive behavior
- Be consistent and constructive when confronting behavior
- Encourage residents to address conflict with one another constructively
- Host community meetings to discuss important community issues when necessary
- Keep track of your residents' hobbies and interests
- Find ways to recognize the amazing work your residents are doing
- Encourage residents to seek out involvement opportunities on-campus and in the residence halls
- Always follow-up with residents you document in the grievance process the next day
During the stressful times of the year...
- Host relaxation programs, like tea parties, spa nights, guided meditation or aromatherapy Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} sessions
- Check in with your residents individually
- Encourage residents to make time for exercise or the outdoors
- Make referrals to residents to campus resources
- Role model good study habits and time management skills
Throughout the year, it is important for your to evaluate the quality of your community. A few times a year, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there consistent communication between members of my community?
- Is everyone keeping up with the expectations of the community?
- Do residents know where to go to ask for help?
- Are there people that still don’t know each other?
- Are there people who I need to challenge to be better members of the community? People I need to better support?
- Are there residents who are not attending my program? Why?
- Do people feel comfortable using the common spaces?
- Am I meeting my residents where they are? With what they need?
Your Resident Director can help you brainstorm ways to problem-solve in these areas.
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