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Welcome to the WACUHO Fall 2010 Waves Newsletter! Just like WACUHO, the WAVES is always a work in progress! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed receiving the updated version of the WACUHO E–mail Announcements as well as the ever changing style of the WAVES. If you have an announcement for WACUHO, e–mail it to tech@wacuho.org and we will do your best to send it out to the membership in a timely fashion!

For Fall 2010, we are glad to present a new style in which you can view the articles. Scroll down and click a title or use the links above. As always, if you have suggestions for improvements, please e–mail me at editor@wacuho.org or call me at (909) 869–2239.

Hello WACUHO!

Wow, it seems that just yesterday we were at WACE 2010 and now you have all opened for the Academic Year and some are halfway through the semester/quarter already. I am not sure about you but I love having the students back and seeing the increased activity across the campus.

This has been a busy summer for WACUHO and I am happy to see the accomplishments of many of our committees!

Northern, Central and Southern RAP all have dates and locations selected: Northern is planned for Nov. 6th at UC Davis, Central is Nov. 6th at CSU Fresno and Southern is Nov. 20th at UC Riverside. This is definitely going to be a busy November for those committees!

The annual conference committees held the transition meeting Aug. 5-6th at the University of San Diego and have had planning meetings and conference calls since. Mission San Diego: Connect, Collaborate and Cultivate is scheduled for June 19-22, 2011. USD (Rick Hagan, Annual Conference Chair, and Kathi Spittel, Host Co-Chair) were gracious hosts and the campus is absolutely beautiful! Watch for updates at WACUHO.org, in the Friday e-mail and in the WAVES!

The Western Training Institute (WTI) Committee has been busy and WTI is scheduled for January 30th through February 2nd and will be hosted at the Aldersgate retreat house in Pacific Palisades again this year. There is more information included in the WAVES.

The Executive Committee had a very productive meeting on October 14th - 15th at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Thanks to Emily Sandoval for hosting! The next Executive Committee meetings will be January 12th -14th at USD and April 6th -8th at UCR. The meetings are open to the public so if you are in the areas please join us for the day or even just an hour, we would love to see you!

Finally, ACUHO-I is coming to CALIFORNIA! The ACUHO-I Annual Conference will be held in Anaheim, CA on July 7-10, 2012. If anyone is interested in participating on a committee (your choices are: Local Arrangements, Exhibits, Host, Programs) please send me an e-mail at president@wacuho.org to let me know which committee you would like to be on.

Sincerely,
Jeanette Bradeen
WACUHO President

Are you interested in sustainability issues within housing? Do you want to connect with others to discuss these issues? We are looking for a few committed people who are interested in creating a new committee, setting goals and the direction of the committee for the future, and connecting with ACUHO-I. For more information or to be a part of the Sustainability Committee, please contact the Vice President, Emily Sandoval at vicepresident@wacuho.org.

Greetings fellow WACUHO Friends and Family!

The Equity & Diversity Awareness (EDA) Committee (formerly known as the Diversity & Affirmative Action (D&AA) Committee) is off to an exciting start to the Fall 2010 semester, as we have already set some exciting goals for our committee. With every new year, there are renewed energies and refreshed ideas.

Out of all the ideas we’ve discussed, we’ve narrowed our “to-do” list to the following goals:

• Following up from last year, with help from the Executive Committee, our committee’s name has officially been changed to “Equity & Diversity Awareness (EDA)”. Some of you may know that this has been a point of discussion for a couple years now and last year’s committee was able to bring this topic to a roundtable discussion at the Annual Conference in June. While only a small group attended the roundtable, the group came up with a new name to present to the Executive Committee, who voted and approved our name change on Thursday, October 14th.
• As always, we are looking forward to supporting and working with the other WACUHO Committees. We’ve already begun to communicate with the Northern, Central and Southern RAP Committees regarding recognitions for presentations that highlight issues of diversity. We anticipate seeing some great work come from our students!
• Although it’s hard to think about the end of this academic year since it has just begun, we are already excited about our participation in the Annual Conference at USD. Please keep a look out for information on scholarships and our Annual Conference plans in future WAVES issues.
• And speaking about the Annual Conference, we want to thank everyone again for attending the Diversity & Dessert Social in June! We were happy to kick off the conference and couldn’t have done it without your amazing participation. Although we received good feedback, please let us know if you have suggestions for the future.
• Find us on Facebook! In an effort to keep each other abreast of issues and ideas that we are confronted with on a daily basis, our committee has created a Facebook page. If you would like to be a part, find us at “DAA -- WACUHO”. (Please note that our Facebook alias has not yet been changed.)
• As issues of diversity and social justice encompass all aspects of our campus positions and the work we do in WACUHO, we want to remind everyone to keep an eye out for resources related to diversity and forward them to our attention. As our committee begins research on putting together a resource collection, we need your help! Please send us any and all resources/materials you may have (i.e. websites, books, articles, speakers, etc.) so we can begin building our collection that will serve to benefit all of WACUHO.

Clearly we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are very excited about all the year has to offer and look forward to closely working with you all! If the D&AA Committee can be a resource to you in any way, please let us know.

The Programs Committee is excited to be working on the content for the 2011 WACUHO Annual Conference and Exposition. Our theme is MISSION SAN DIEGO: Connect, Collaborate, Cultivate.

How does WACUHO connect with the rest of the world of higher education? What’s our place in the “circle”? Do we think about how we connect and collaborate with campus partners, students, parents, and the community? Do we think about how we cultivate learning with faculty, administration, and others? In addition to defining what we do, we must define how we work with others and how their learning is reflected back to us. This is what we want our program theme to reflect throughout the time of the conference.

Our Committee Goals include developing an inclusive offering of programs that encompasses ALL of the WACUHO membership and increasing attendance for WACE based on program offerings that recognize the diversity of vocation in our region. In order to make this happen, don’t be surprised if a member of the Programs Committee “taps” you on the shoulder in the next 6 months to present a session that represents your specialty. And consider for yourself if you would like to present at WACE in 2011! We want to make sure all the following topic areas are covered:

• Housing and Technology
• Dining
• Marketing and Communications
• Facilities
• Conference Services
• Residence Life

Roundtables – pick a topic (emergency preparedness, staff training, Living Learning Communities, work-life balance, etc)

Be creative, WACUHO! If you are a Residence Life person, work with a member of the marketing staff in your department or on your campus to submit a program about marketing the RA/CA position. If you are a dining person, work with someone in facilities to talk about sustainable practices in housing and dining. Or how about a program on partnering with Counseling Center, Student Health Center staff? You get the picture – yes?

Dayanne and Kris would love to hear your ideas and share them with the committee. Please contact us if you have questions – and we look forward to sharing more in the weeks to come.

Dayanne Izmirian (dizmirian@sandiego.edu)
Kris McPeak (kris_mcpeak@redlands.edu)

As I sat down to write an article for this edition of WAVES, I asked myself what information would be the most beneficial at this time of year? What came to mind was an article about the do’s and don’ts of being a new professional. In order to help me prepare this article, I thought back to my graduate school years and my time on my first full time job at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My supervisor said to me, “Crystal, this is your first year and please know that it is okay to make mistakes. Next year, is different!” I took that to heart. I also thought about the fact that job search season is nearing and perhaps these are things that you can begin working on in preparation. So, here is my list of things that I feel would be helpful for you to know in graduate school and/or your first full time position. For seasoned folks this could be a good refresher and/or discussion topic with your mentees. This is not an extensive list and should not be utilized as a checklist. After many conversations with colleagues, personal observations and experiences, this is the end result.

Do

• Get involved and try as many different areas as possible to determine your interests/passions
• Have a good attitude!
• Learn about the institution and department you are in before attempting to make big changes.
• Continue to read and learn about student affairs but also higher education in general
• Think about what you want your next position to be and what you can do now to prepare for it
• Take Initiative
• Show up on time to the office and to meetings
• Establish healthy and realistic boundaries
• Establish relationships outside of your department
• Model the behavior you would like to see from your staff
• Admit when you are wrong or unsure
• Schedule time to have lunch
• Stay true to your values
• Confront issues within a timely manner and with the person with whom you have the conflict
• Create a professional development plan/goal setting
• Ask questions
• Seek out a mentor
• Take advantage of professional development opportunities on/off campus
• Update your resume at least once a year
• Put money away and save
• Know when it is time to move on
• Recover from mistakes
• Take personality inventories, StrengthsQuest, MBTI, Emotional Intelligence, and/or True Colors
• Remember that people usual remember the negative things over the positive contributions
• Remember that this is a small field which can be great for networking and finding future jobs

Don't

• Assume that you know everything
• Assume that everyone has the same level of experience or work ethics
• Overbook/schedule yourself
• Become stagnant
• Party/drink with your residents or your student staff
• Tell your staff that you know more than them because you have your degree already
• Date your student staff or residents (Depends on your school’s policy). True love can wait until May J
• Get involved in issues that don't pertain to you.
• Become your job
• Say I can't before you try
• Make any promises, that you can't keep- Your Word is Golden
• Vent down, always up (Professionalism)
• Advocate for what you don't believe in
• Stay because of the money because it may cost you more in other ways
• Break ties with the people who matter the most/got to you where are now

Submitted by: Crystal D. White
WACUHO New Professionals Committee, Co-Chair
Sonoma State University

Special Thanks: Jerome Holland, Jr. and Selema Moliga for their contribution to this article.

Save the Date!

Western Training Institute 2011 is excited to be returning to Aldersgate Retreat House in beautiful Pacific Palisades again this year. WTI 2011 will be hosted in a small retreat like setting and allow for a relaxing environment for professional development.

For those of you who have never been, but have always wanted to, WTI is a chance to get connected with professionals of all levels from across the region and to deepen our professional skills. And for those of you who have attended before we hope to see you again! Our theme this year revolves around the directions of a compass; we will be learning about Navigating politics, developing Strengths, Exploring different paths in Student Affairs, and Working our strengths to maximize our potential.

Because we know that these are difficult economic times for many of us, we once again are committed to keeping the price for the institute affordable. While registration costs are not finalized, we are hoping to keep registration costs starting at around $350 for shared accommodations and 8 meals. That’s right, all meals during the institute are included.

So block your calendars for January 30 – February 2! Our website is currently in development, but keep an eye out for that soon! Registration will also be open shortly, and space will once again be limited so don’t delay! If you have questions about the institute, contact co-chairs Rexanne Bowman-Anderson (bowmanr@uci.edu) and Jessica Halvorson (jhalvorson@unr.edu). We cannot wait to see what exciting thing will take place at WTI this year! Hope to see you then!

PMI is coming back!

Watch for more information about the Pacific Management Institute coming in 2011!

Chairs: Mary Tregoning and James C. Smith, UC Riverside

Email: pmi@wacuho.org

As your Members-at-Large for 2010-2011, we pledge to do our part in moving the WACUHO organization forward as we encounter new challenges and trends.

As WACUHO Members-at-Large, we:

• Work directly with committees:
• • MAL South, Leslie Krafft: Southern RAP, New Professionals, and Pacific Management Institute (PMI)
  • MAL Central, Briana Maturi: Central RAP, Western Training Institute, Placement
  • MAL North, Shimina Harris: Northern RAP, Western Training Institute, Diversity and Affirmative Action
• Accept delegated responsibilities and liaison assignments.
• Design procedures and timelines to contact all current member institutions on a quarterly basis.
• Facilitate an orientation meeting for new member institutions and other guests at the Annual Conference.
• Serve as voting members of the Executive Committee.
• Represent the Association at selected regional meetings, conferences, and workshops.
• Form connections between member institutions and between those institutions and the WACUHO region.
• Share valuable information and resources to further the success of our region and our member institutions.

It is our honor to complete the above tasks and represent our sub-regions and all of WACUHO in these and any other ways you think of! Just contact me!

Shimina Harris
Siharris@sfsu.edu
Member-at-Large, North
Area Coordinator, San Francisco State University

Leslie Krafft
Leslie_krafft@redlands.edu
Member-at-Large, South
Assistant Director of Residence Life, University of Redlands

Briana Maturi
Bmaturi@lmu.edu
Member-at-Large, Central
Assistant Director for Residence Life, Loyola Marymount University

Together Researching and Investigating Basic Exploration of the Sacred

Starting in November, join the WACUHO Religious and Spiritual Issues Committee for a monthly call-in discussion and information session regarding topics about Religion, Spirituality and Higher Education. Led by a member of our committee, we will present research, have discussions about various topics, and provide insight to make you a better (and more well-rounded) professional. All are welcome to call in and join us! Be a part of the TRIBES!

Participate in TRIBES by calling 310-794-5379 on the following dates and times:

November call-in: Wednesday, November 3rd at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time

• Topic: Cultivating the Spirit: Religion, Spirituality and College Student’s Search for Meaning and Purpose
• Abstract: We will present information from the UCLA Higher Education and Research Institute (H.E.R.I.) study by Astin entitled “Spirituality in Higher Education: Students’ Search for Meaning and Purpose.” We will explore dimensions of Spirituality and Religious qualities, and explore the development (or regression) of these areas in our college students. We will explore discussion on the impact of this information to our practice as Higher Education Professionals

December call-in: Wednesday, December 1st at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time

• Topic: Religion and Spirituality in the Media – the impact on our student’s spiritual development
• Abstract: A lot has changed in Higher Education over the last 50 years. Especially when it comes to religious/spiritual issues. We will explore research and discuss the impact that the media (including Social Media/Networks) has had in how students define themselves spiritually, changed their values, and the impact on and to our living communities.

Potential Future topics (Subject to Change):

• Spirituality and Sexual Identity Development
• How Much “You” can you be, without offending someone else?
• • Spirituality & Privilege – Can you be open as a Christian student affairs officer?
• Religious and Spirituality Case Law: What is allowable & what is not?
• Developing Spiritual “Safe Places” on campus and in our living communities
• Supporting Religious Diversity at Religious/faith based Higher Education Institutions

Or – suggest a topic for a future TRIBES call! We’d love your input!

For more information contact tyler miller, Chair of the WACUHO Religious and Spiritual Issues committee at tymiller@csufresno.edu

New Women’s Leadership Residential Community Opens at Loyola Marymount University

For many years it has been the hope of Student Housing and Student Leadership and Development to open a residential leadership theme community. It is with great excitement that we introduce the Leadership, Achievement and Empowerment in Desmond (LEAD) Community which opened August 2010.

LEAD was designed to enhance leadership experiences found within LMU by creating a shared living environment committed to personal growth and leadership development for roughly 170 first-year female students. Through workshops, various programs and service, the women of the community are empowered to explore and define themselves as strong, prepared, and confident leaders.

The cornerstone of the LEAD Community includes a monthly workshop series open to all residents facilitated by Professional Staff Members and Faculty. In order to maximize their experience in the community, specific topical areas were identified for exploration. Some of the topics include: General Leadership Exploration, Women and Leadership, Balance and Wellness of a Leader and Ripple Effects of Leadership. To enhance the topics discussed, a council of residents convenes after each workshop to discuss practical applications, leadership roles and development. The purpose is to allow the women to tailor their experiences within a small group setting in order to turn personal leadership plans into action items.

In an effort to provide the residents various avenues to learn about and personalize leadership, an existing one-credit leadership seminar course was modified to explore leadership through a gender lens within LMU’s Leadership Institute. The course was offered to women within the LEAD community as an option to connect their residential experience to their academic experience.

The student response to LEAD has been overwhelmingly supportive. Many students expressed interest prior to the academic year beginning and this momentum has carried through the beginning of the semester. Within the first few weeks, several residents enrolled in the course, attended workshops and programs, and sign-up for the council meetings. Student Housing and Student Leadership Development are hopeful for the continued growth of this new residential leadership community in years to come.

By Jenni Lindberg, Resident Director LMU (LEAD Program Coordinator)

HELLO WACUHO!

My name is Jimmy Kelly and I am the Director of the Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls! PACURH is a student run organization that brings together Residence Hall Associations from parts of Canada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California. As the Director of PACURH I have made it a goal to work closely with our Professional Partners from NWACUHO and of course WACUHO so that our Students and Professional Staff can work more closely together without being from the same school.

A little background about me is that this is my 4th year at San Francisco State University studying Psychology. My freshman year I was an active member of my Live Learn Community (LLC) and became the RA for that community for the next two years. Currently this year I serve as one of the Assistant Area Coordinators for our LLC Apartment building. Some of my responsibilities are completing payroll, scheduling for the RAs and running a Peer Conduct Review Board. My plan for the future is to go on to Graduate School to either study Student Affairs or Human Resources. As far as PACURH and NACURH go PACURH 2010, A Friend Request to Leadership, will be my 8th conference and I have served at these conferences as a delegate, NCC and Regional Board member.

On November 5th through 7th PACURH will have its first conference of the school year called A Friend Request to Leadership hosted at Southern Oregon University; hopefully I will get to meet a few of you there. In late July I had the pleasure to complete the site visit for this conference and I am very happy to say the SOU team worked a great deal to bring a grand amount of logistics together. They were very committed to keeping a low price for this conference and it showed with over 400 delegates registered for the conference.

PACURH 2010 will have a great deal of things for everyone. Delegates will have the chance to go to program presentations. NCCs, NRHH Representatives and Presidents will have the chance to participate in boardroom to vote on awards for Program of The Year, Student Award for Leadership Training and the Programming Grant. Advisors will have the chance to participate in Advisor Training and Round tables led by their peers. Also we encourage Advisors to attend programming sessions and join us in boardroom! I know when I was in my first boardroom it boosted my confidence to know that my advisor was there to offer assistance and guide our School’s caucusing. This can be a very nervous time for the first time boardroom representatives and I know a few words of encouragement or small present would go a long way to boost their confidence.

Until next time WACUHO
Froggy Love
Jimmy Kelly, PACURH Director; pa_director@nacurh.org

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

The office of Residential Life and Education would like to welcome 5 new staff members to the department:

Osvaldo Del Valle, Learning Community Coordinator

Osvaldo comes to Cal Poly after spending the past five years at Boston University as a Residence Hall Director. Osvaldo received his first Masters degree in 2004 from De Paul University, in History. He graduated in 2008, with his Masters of Education from Boston University. In March 2011, Osvaldo begins his tenure as the National Chair of the Men & Masculinities Knowledge Community of NASPA.

Melissa (Mel) DeVivar, Coordinator of Student Development

Mel comes to us from Seattle University where she earned a Masters of Education and worked as the Activities Coordinator for the International Student Center. She earned her undergraduate degree from San Jose State University.

Michelle Dimmett, Coordinator of Student Development

Michelle joins us after completing her M.S. in Psychology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she worked as a Graduate Assistant in Residential Life and Education. Before that, she earned her undergraduate degree from Cal State Bakersfield.

Sarah Fernandez, Coordinator of Student Development

Sarah comes to Cal Poly SLO from Indiana University, where she earned her Masters degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs and worked as a Graduate Supervisor for Residential Programs and Services. Before that, she received her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Redlands.

Lauren Weiner, Coordinator of Student Development

Lauren has joined Cal Poly SLO after completing her M.S. in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University where her graduate assistantship was in Residential Programs and Services. Prior to her time at IU, Lauren worked for two years in residential life at Southern Oregon University.

UC Riverside

Ryan Grant

Ryan comes to UCR from the Boston area where he has lived all his life. He recently completed his graduate work at Northeastern University while working as a Resident Director at Simmons College. Before that, Ryan attended UMass Lowell as an undergrad where he earned a BA in Creative Writing with a minor in Psychology while also working two years as a Resident Advisor/Assistant Resident Director, and another two years as a Resident Director. Ryan will be the RD for North Pentland Hills.

Cal Poly Pomona

Reyes Luna

Reyes is the new Associate Director of Residence Life. Reyes is returning to University Housing Services after a few years as the Director of Judicial Affairs. Reyes is very excited to be back as part of the WACUHO family and looks forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Christy Orgeta

Christy is the new Residence Life Coordinator for Palmitas Hall. Christy joins us most recently from her role as an Assistant Residence Hall Coordinator at San Diego State University where she just received her Masters in Education.

Aimee Pickett

Aimee is the new Residence Life Coordinator for Cedritos Hall. Aimee is currently a Graduate Residence Hall Director at the University of San Francisco and she just received her Masters in Organization & Leadership.

Alex Oh

Alex is the new Residence Life Coordinator for Montecito Hall. Alex joins us most recently from his role as an Assistant Residence Director where he just received his Masters in Counseling and Student Development from Azusa Pacific University.

Sharon Rocacorba

Sharon is rejoining UHS as the new Residence Life Coordinator for Alamitos Hall. Sharon is the Coordinator for the The Asian and Pacific Islander Student Center here at Cal Poly and is working on her Masters in Counseling in at Cal State Long Beach.

Jason Lu

Jason is the new Residence Life Coordinator for Aliso Hall. Jason joins us directly from his role as an Assistant Area Coordinator at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He received his Masters in Higher Education from New York University.

Mireya Moreno

Mireya is the new Residence Life Coordinator in Vista de las Estrellas/CRS. Mireya was most recently a Community Director at Cal State Northridge. Mireya received her Masters in Education in 2008 from Azusa Pacific University.

Mario Rodriguez

Mario is the new Residence Life Coordinator in Vista Bonita / Vista del Sol. Mario joins us most recently from his role as a Graduate Assistant for Multicultural Programs and Services at Florida International University where he just received his Masters in Higher Education Administration.