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• ACUHO-I Annual Conference Exposition
• Program Committee

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ACUHO-I Orlando
Recruitment and Retention of Entry-Level Staff
in Housing and Residence Life
Stewart Robinette
Tom Ellett
Holley A. Belch
Thomas Scheuermann
ACUHO-I sponsored study report Session 5
Retention
June 23, 2008
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Retention Session Overview

• Introductions
• Literature Review
• Career Cycle and Problem Analysis
• Job Analysis
• Supervision and Mentorship
• Best Practices and Professional Development
• Shared Experiences
• Questions

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Project Overview

• Problem assessment
• Position analysis
• Best practices study
• Supervision and mentorship
• Image of housing/residence life (perception)
• Role of professional development

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Project Overview

• Commissioned Research Project Summer 2004
  through Summer 2007
• Summer 2004 Fall 2004
• Literature Review
• Design Studies
• Fall 2004 Spring 2005
• International Study Problem Assessment (Study A)
• Position Analysis (Study B Begin)
• Summer 2005 Spring 2006
• Position Analysis (Study B Conclude)
• Best Practices (Study C)
• Supervision Mentorship (Study D)

• Fall 2005 Fall 2006
• Images of Job and Field (Study E)
• Housing and Residence Life Career - Model
  Development
• Summary Report
• Spring 2007
• Final Report Prepared
• Further Research Identified
• Summer 2008
• Further Reporting
• Glossy Prepared for Distribution at Annual
  Conference

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(No Transcript)
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Problem Analysis

• The Crisis in Recruitment and Retention of
  Housing Officers Report (2002)
• Reasons Staff Left Jobs in Housing
• Leaving the housing profession
• Advancement at Current institution
• Quality of life
• Position responsibilities

Quality of Life Issues Lack of privacy,
burn-out, domestic partnership restrictions,
isolation, not real neighborhood, apartment
size, living where you work
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Problem Analysis

• Job Satisfaction AttritionKey factors cited
  in literature
• Locus of control
• Job preparation and advancement potential
• Personal satisfaction and learning experiences
• Job stress

• Support in bridging the graduate to professional
  roles
• Deleterious effects of stress and burnout

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Problem Analysis
What is the perception in the field about
Retention?
Is it a problem for all sizes of institutions?
Is it a problem for all types of institutions?
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Problem Analysis
Retention is a Concern on my Campus
Large Housing Operation gt 1,000 beds
Small Housing Operation lt 1,000 beds
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Problem Analysis
Retention is a Concern on my Campus
Living Requirement for Staff
Years in Position
A clear majority of staff (79) stay their
position for longer than two years. Based on our
results, we were able to calculate a staff
turnover ratio. Nationally, about 14 of
entry-level staff turn over each year.
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Job Analysis
Study Purpose To measure and examine aspects of
the Residence Director (RD) work experience which
predicts their commitment to a career in HRL.
To achieve this, measures of several aspects of
the work experience were tested for their
relationship to measures of career commitment and
loyalty among entry level and senior housing
professionals.
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Job Analysis
Retention Related Factors
Work Experience Measures Work Experience Measures Career Measures
Job Burnout Workload Dissatisfaction Skill Utilization Role Ambiguity Job Satisfaction Perceived Support Professional Development Fairness Career Resilience Career Identity Career Loyalty
Window Counting Example
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Image Discussion

• Results
• Job burnout was identified most frequently as the
  work experience measure for having a high impact
  on career measures and needing improvement among
  HRL professionals and RDs

A second group of work experience measures - Job
Involvement, Workload Dissatisfaction,
Satisfaction with Promotion Opportunities, and
Professional Development Outcome Fairness For
the RDs alone, role ambiguity impacts happiness
Identified as having an impact on career measures
and needing improvement
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Image Discussion
Job Burnout Workload Dissatisfaction
It occurs over time Mismatch between job design and employee skill Decision making is chaotic and unclear Accountability is low Exists when employees dont have the resources or skills to handle a high volume of work Work is high in intensity, complexity, and duration
Christine Maslach defined burnout as a sense of
exhaustion, cynicism, and negative
self-evaluations about the work experience.
Maslach also identified work overload as a
condition that leads to burnout (Nelson, 2005).
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Image Discussion
Work associated with HRL operations may put a
high degree of strain on resident directors and
other housing professionals. Housing leaders
could address these conditions by redesigning
jobs and work processes to optimize factors that
may reduce job burnout Clarity, Consistency,
Responsibility, Task Volume, and Task Duration.
Housing leaders can also address this problem by
recruiting and selecting staff who are better
prepared to handle the unique demands of HRL
operations.
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Image Discussion
Retention Implications - Promotional
Opportunities Without promotion opportunities,
career advancement is difficult to achieve and,
logically, dissatisfaction is a likely result
(Markham, Harlan, Hackett, 1987). - Housing
leaders likely have less influence over actual
promotion opportunities since organizational
structure and budgeting may be outside their
control. - However, housing leaders may be able
to enhance the perceptions that promotions are
attainable by ensuring that promotions are
determined by Clear and consistent policies,
Fair evaluation criteria Manageable
selection procedures.
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Supervision and Mentorship
Attractive Benefits
Study contained over 381 participants in ACUHO-I
membership of entry level professionals
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Supervision Relations
Open Ended Relationship Questions
What components in your relationship with your
primary supervisor make the experience positive?
What components in your relationship with your
primary supervisor make the experience negative?
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Supervision Relations
What components in your relationship with your
primary supervisor make the experience positive?
1. Support offered, creating a supportive
environment . . . . . . . . 41 2. Ability to
communicate, candor, open communication and
dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 3.
Willingness to listen, willingness to listen to
feedback, ability to listen, approachability,
availability. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .37 4.
Mutual trust, mutual confidence, mutual respect,
willingness to challenge you as a professional.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
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Supervision Relations

• Further Thoughts from Relationship Questions
• Transitions between being supervised seem very
  much centered on self (versus the department or
  institution)
• The relationship in being supervised seems to
  correlate the characteristics of a good
  supervisor to be a mentor or friend rather than a
  supervisor

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Supervision Relations
Which components in your relationshipwith your
primary supervisor make the experience negative?
1. None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 39 2. Divided attention, being out
of the office, hard to contact. . . . . . .21 3.
Lack of leadership/supervisor being unsure of
self, not assertive enough. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .134. More Constructive
Feedback/regular feedback, coaching,
professional development opportunities. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.
Micromanager, does not allow me to do my job. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .10 6. Weak
administratively and organizationally,
delay in follow-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Supervision and Mentorship
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Supervisor to Mentor
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Supervisor to Mentor
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Mentoring - Selection
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Supervision and Mentorship
New professionals are looking for mentors and
they are many times looking towards their
supervisor to fill that role.
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Supervision and Mentorship
Entry-level professionals appear confused about
exactly what constitutes mentorship the same can
be said for what a supervisor provides. A
discussion with supervisees/mentors about these
topics could be useful. Expectations do not
always align with reality of the supervisory
relationship. Entry level professionals may think
they have a mentorship relationship with someone
who does not realize that they are viewed as a
mentor A system of helping entry-level
professionals identify a mentor should focus on
characteristics, developing networks, sharing
resources - especially with marginalized groups.
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Best Practices
A Delphi method of inquiry used to identify the
institutions with best practices ACUHO-Is
Leadership Assembly and Small College Network
participated as expert panelists
11 institutions and over 75 interviews
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Best Practices

• Key strategies in retention
• Policies
• Pets
• Domestic partners
• Respecting living space
• Collateral assignments
• 12 month contract length and/or accommodating
  flexibility Professional development support

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Best Practices

• Key strategies in retention
• Processes
• Involvement in decisions
• Attention to the individual
• Broad approach to professional development

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Best Practices

• Key strategies in retention
• Perks
• Personalizing campus residence (i.e. external
  entrance)
• Washer/dryer
• Non-institutional furniture (i.e. wooden kitchen
  cabinets)
• Meal plan
• Plan for addressing amenities in living space
• Access to degree programs
• Amenities within departments scope and abilities

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Best Practices

• Key strategies in retention
• Personalities
• Strong leadership and supervisors who care and
  have vision
• Leadership that shows a willingness to change
• Professional development encouraged through
  words, actions, and resources
• Staff ownership
• Staff exhibit genuine enthusiasm for work
• Acknowledging the importance of fit between
  individual and dept/institution

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Best Practices
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Professional Development
Professional Development Study A stratified
random sample of 240 mid-level professional
representing all U.S. ACUHO-I regions Sample
criteria included the size of the institutions
residential operation Small - Less than
1000 beds Medium - 1000 to 2500 beds Large -
More than 2501 beds
69.5 (167 of 240) Response rate
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Professional Development

• Professional development plans, expectations,
  institutional support
• Respondents indicated they were members of
  multiple professional organizations
• Although 68 of respondents were members of
  ACUHO-I, only 26.8 considered it to be their
  primary professional development organization
• The range of institutional funds to support
  professional development varied greatly, yet more
  than half (53.7) receive at least 800 for
  professional development activities
• Participation by respondents in formal programs
  (e.g., NHTI) increased as the amount of
  institutional support increased (a statistically
  significant finding)

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Professional Development

• Impact of Professional Development
• Nearly all (92) claimed that involvement in
  professional development activities has improved
  their overall level of competence in their job
• 82 were satisfied/very satisfied with their
  involvement in these activities
• Respondents who indicated professional
  development activities had improved their overall
  competence were more likely to have attended a
  conference (statistically significant finding)
• Respondents were more likely to be involved at
  the regional rather than national level

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Professional Development

• Impact of Professional Development
• A significant relationship existed among those
  attending an in person conference who believed
  involvement in professional development
  activities improved overall competence
• A greater percentage of respondents who believed
  that involvement contributed to promotion said
  they had gained skills in leadership, networking,
  and had stronger management skills
• The study found no statistical relationship
  between promotion and involvement in professional
  development activities

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Professional Development
Career Plans Although 91 planned to be employed
in higher education in the next five years
41 claimed they plan to leave housing/residence
life within the next five years
Only 46 anticipate being employed in
housing/residence life
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Professional Development

• Summative Thoughts
• The study indicated that the role of professional
  development is significant for professionals
  influenced by their supervisors to participate in
  this level of activity for their personal growth
• While many institutions encourage their staff to
  participate, it may well be worthwhile to create
  a plan for professional development (as noted by
  29.3 of the participants)
• The vast majority of respondents noted that their
  competence has improved (92) due to their
  involvement in a professional development
  activity, which most noted as attendance at
  annual conferences

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Shared Experiences
Where do we go from here? As a professional? As
a small institution or a large institution?
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Shared Experiences
How do you move from this knowledge to putting
these ideas into place in your department? Will
there be resistance to change and if so how can
that be overcome?
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Shared Experiences
What messages do we take to our professionals
based on this information? Diet and Exercise
example
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Shared Experiences
What would you like to see added to this research
for the profession?
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Questions
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References for ACUHO-I 2008 Session Powerpoint
ABBREVIATED REFERENCE LIST REFERENCESACUHO-I
Leadership Assembly (2002). The recruitment and
retention of housing officers.
Orlando, FL AuthorBelch, H. A., Mueller, J.
A. (2003). Candidate pools or puddles
Challenges and trends in the
recruitment and hiring of resident directors.
Journal of College Student Development,
44(1), 29-46. Belch, H. A., Wilson, M. E.,
Dunkel, N. (forthcoming). Cultures of success
Recruiting and
retaining new live-in residence life
professionals. College Student Affairs
Journal.Benedict, J. O., Mondloch, G. J.
(1989). Factors affecting burnout in
paraprofessional residence hall staff members.
Journal of College Student Development,
30(4), 293-297.Brewer, E .W., Clippard, L. F.
(2002). Burnout and job satisfaction among
student support services personnel. Human
Resource Development Quarterly 13(2),
169-186. Dadez, E., Hollow, C. (1992).
Motivated and marketable, but nowhere to go!
ACUHO-I Talking Stick 10(2), 14. Herr, S. K.,
Strange, C. (1985). The relationship between
burnout and the work environments of
residence hall directors. Journal of College and
University Student Housing, 15(2),
12-16. Jahr, P. K. (1990). Recruitment and
preparation Our future. ACUHO-I Talking Stick,
8(3), 6.
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References for ACUHO-I 2008 Session Powerpoint
ABBREVIATED REFERENCE LIST REFERENCES
CONTINUED Lebron, M. J., McIntosh, J. and Nestor,
E. (2002). Housing and residence life
professionals recruitment and retention survey
report Assessment report. Syracuse
University Authors. Magolda, P. M.,
Carnaghi, J. E. (2004). Job one Experiences of
new professionals in student affairs.
Lanham, MD American College Personnel
Association. McIntosh, J. and Ridzi, F. (2002).
ACUHO-I Graduate Student Survey Assessment
report. Syracuse University
Authors. Scheuermann, T., Ellett, T. (2007). A
3-D view of recruitment and retention of
entry-level housing staff Déjà vu,
deliberation, decisive action. Journal of
College and University Student Housing,
34(2). Schmidt, J. (2002). Presidential
perspective. ACUHO-I Talking Stick, 19(6),
2. Tarver, D., Canada, R., Lim, Mee-Gaik
(1999). The relationship between job
satisfaction and locus of control among
college student affairs administrators and
academic administrators. NASPA
Journal, 36(2), 96-105. Winston, R. B., Jr.,
Ullom, M, Werring, C. (1983). The housing
graduate assistantship Factors that affect
choice and perceived satisfaction. Journal of
College Student Personnel, 24(3),
225-230.
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