An RD’s job varies week to week depending on the needs of the students they supervise and oversee, and the buildings they are responsible for. RDs meet a considerable amount with students in 1:1 settings, participate in departmental meetings, and run their own staff meetings. RDs sit on various committees for the department (see committee question below), and lead various conduct and programming related efforts, as they relate to the area of campus they manage. Lastly, RDs have a significant amount of administrative tasks and responsibilities they complete in any given week.
RDs can advise the following groups: Residence Hall Association (RHA), National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), Advocates for Social Justice (A4SJ), Social Justice Peer Educators (SJPE), Student Ministers (SM), LEADs mentees (underrepresented students), and other various opportunities on the campus level as desired. RDs also indirectly advise their block councils.
Conduct is a centralized process through the Resolution Center for Student Conduct and Conflict. Conduct-related work varies for each RD; however, RDs typically meet with students for cases that occur within their own communities, and will sometimes be involved in outcome-related initiatives with those students.
Yes, RDs serve on one-to-three committees at any given time throughout the year. All RDs will chair committees during their time in the department. The current committees in our department are:
- Student Staff Recruitment and Selection
- Professional Staff Recruitment and Selection
- Student Staff Fall Training
- Student Staff Winter Training
- Assistant Residence Director Training
- Professional Staff Training
- Social Justice
- Student Staff Social
- RHA Advisement
- ZAG Giving (end of year donation program)
- Video Task Force
- Optimization Committee
An RD will co-supervise a student staff team with one to two Assistant Residence Director(s)—junior or senior undergraduate students—and possibly one Graduate Residence Director. Together, these leadership teams will supervise roughly eight to fifteen Resident Assistants and specialty roles, including Student Ministers, Social Justice Peer Educators, and RHA executives who lead the block councils for each area of campus.
The on-call structure rotates amongst full-time RD staff, and the Graduate Residence Directors. RDs serve on-call during the week, as well as the weekend, with duty running either from Friday at 5:00 pm to Sunday at 5:00 pm (weekend duty), or Sunday at 5:00 pm to Friday at 5:00 pm (weekday duty). On average, each RD serves on weekday duty 3-4 times a semester, and on weekend duty 3-4 times a semester. On-call response is for all of campus with coverage for the entire year; therefore, there is always an RD on call for breaks, including holidays and other times when classes are not in session.
We take a highly administrative approach to our summer work, and RDs engage with departmental projects during this time. Minimal summer housing and conference support occurs over the summer, with the exception of one RD who oversees summer student housing.
We welcome candidates regardless of faith and spiritual identities. Furthermore, no statement of faith is required nor are students and staff required to attend mass or engage in other Catholic practices.
We are a values-based institution, and our mission guides our work. We exist in the Jesuit tradition, which tends to be on the liberal side of Catholic values. Prayers may be said prior to meetings, but staff are not required to actively engage.
All Housing and Residence Life programs operate under something called the Gonzaga Residential Experience (GRX), which serves as the foundation for our developmental work with students. The GRX has five foci, which are:
- Belonging
- Interculturality
- Jesuit Engagement
- Personal Growth
- Academic Success
Some communities have additional models of programming that layer with the GRX including, First Year Experience (FYE), Second Year Experience (SYE), and Living Learning Communities (LLCs).
We feel that this is an area of strength for our department. We routinely solicit feedback from all individuals within our department—regardless of title—and take information into consideration when making decisions and beginning initiatives at the department level.
Each RD is housed in a one or two bedroom furnished apartment. While each apartment is unique, the majority have an in-unit washer and dryer.
There are not assigned spots for live-in staff. However, upon purchase of a parking pass, RDs are permitted to park nearly everywhere on-campus.
