Residence hall directors (RHDs) are integral part of the housing team—their position as live-on staff members is indicative of their important role in supporting residents and in creating safe, comfortable, and inclusive communities with a focus on student learning. They lead programmatic and academic initiatives, advise student groups and supervise graduate residents, resident assistants, CLASS advocates and community service assistants.
Steven Brown
Residence hall director for McWhorter and Vandiver halls in the East Campus Village Community
Working in Student Affairs gives me the opportunity to connect with many individuals and make a positive impact on students and professionals. The RHD—and most housing professionals—have knowledge in counseling, leadership, student development theory and governance. This allows us to assist in anything from roommate mediations and having effective conversations with student leaders and parents to effectively working with other departments, divisions and stakeholders.
I have also worked with student and graduate staff members to get feedback on the training and recruitment process. We heard the voice of the student staff population and worked with them to make training better. The most rewarding part of the job is seeing the development and growth of both students and professionals.
We’ve grown quite a bit in housing over the past few years and it’s been a pleasure to be a part of it. I can sincerely say that I believe our directors and associate directors within housing to be very genuine and eager to help in different ways.