Hall directors and assistant hall directors now have building specific responsibilities
(Photo courtesy of fromthebarn.org)
By Hannah Kintner, Staff Writer kintner13@up.edu
This year, students living on campus may notice a growing presence of Residence Life workers in the dorms as the department implements changes. This year's hall directors and assistant hall directors will have fuller schedules than in past years, as Residence Life has reconfigured the way duty is managed.
Amanda Murphy, Kenna Hall director, said either the hall director or assistant hall director will be on duty each night in their dorm.
"Instead of a campus - wide duty system, we're doing a building - specific duty system, so the assistant and the hall director switch off - duty nights," Murphy said.
Duty will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will conclude at 8:30 a.m. the next day. In past years, only one hall director on the entire campus was on duty per night and would check on all residence halls, while assistant hall directors had no evening responsibilities.
Mike Walsh, director of Residence Life, explained that the new responsibilities fit how the department is continuously making changes to cater to the student body.
"We always want to try new things," Walsh said. "We're always trying to improve our relationships with students and our mission."
Murphy believes these changes are in line with the Residence Life mission as well, noting that the staff will have more one-on-one experience with their residents.
Along with a change of procedure, Residence Life is welcoming many new members to its staff. Twelve of this year's 18 hall directors and assistant hall director's are new to the University, which could mean new programs for students.
"We have a fresh new staff with plenty of new ideas," Murphy said.
