<asualwear became much easier to spot on campus last week, as outside consultants reviewed the Office of Residential Life.
Over the course of two days, the consultants, Mike Edmonds, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students at Colorado College, Laurie Hamre, Vice President of Student Affairs at Macalester College, and John Harp, Vice President for Student Affairs at Cornell College, were charged with the task of identifying the strengths of the Residential Life Office and making suggestions where improvements might be made. They focused on evaluating staffing in Residential Life, the Residential Life facilities, and getting feedback from various student groups.
The review is one of a series that the Division of Student life has conducted since Hudlin Wagner became the Dean of Students in 2005. Every year, outside committees review one or two departments in the Division of Student Life.
“It was finally Res Life’s turn to have a group of external consultants come to campus to look at our program,” said Steve Wisener, director of Residential Life.
The reviewers had long days touring campus and the Residential Life facilities. One of their main purposes was to meet with different groups on campus to get their take on the Office of Residential Life. They meet with Residential Life professional staff, Division of Student Life staff, Resident Assistants, other peer leaders on campus, a group of faculty and staff and President Poskanzer. They also held an open forum to given the entire Carleton student body a chance to voice its opinion.
“We are extremely grateful to the many people who gave up some of their time to spend it with the members of the review team,” Wisener said.
The results of the review have yet to be submitted, and are not expected until the term’s end. When the results are received, Associate Dean of Students Julie Thornton, Wagner, and Wisener will review them and develop a plan for sharing the findings and implementing the recommendations.
“We plan to use this information as a part of our long-term planning and for setting the course of Residential Life for the next five to ten years,” Wisener said.
RA Ned Heckman ’13 hopes that the review will point out “things that don’t work and can be improved so that our Residential Life program can become that much better.”
“It is a goal of ours to be one of the top housing programs at a residential liberal arts institution and we are constantly looking for ways to improve what we are able to offer and how we offer it to our students,” Wisener said, adding, “The Office of Residential Life is always open to feedback from the Carleton community.”
Students who did not get the opportunity to share their thoughts with members of the review team are invited to share that feedback with Wisener or Thornton.