PACURH 2010 -Lessons for an Advisor

Earlier this month, I traveled to Ashland, OR for the PACURH 2010 conference at Southern Oregon Univeristy. Absolutely breathtaking! Green, red, and gold leaves covered the campus and was surely a sight to see for me and anyone else who had never witnessed the beauty of a true autumn.

You might be wondering, "What is PACURH and why were you frolicking around in piles of leaves?" Well, each year, the USD Residence Hall Association Executive Board attends the PACURH conference. PACURH stands for Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls and is the west coast affiliate of NACURH.

"NACURH is considered to be the largest student run organization in the world. It is completely student run, in all of the national and regional positions. It brings together over 400 schools from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Qatar. NACURH promotes living on campus as an integral part of the college experience, and strives to provide resources to help member schools create the ultimate residence hall environment and experience."

http://www.nacurh.org/

Simply put, the PACURH conference is an energetic no-sleep two days of uber-spirited college students from over 40 schools coming together to share ideas and learn about ways to improve their university and its residence hall experience.

While the student leaders attend educational programming sessions, advisors also have a series of advisor sessions to help develop their skills. If an advisor completes the Advisor Recognition and Training (ART) series, he or she then becomes ART certified. 

So which sessions did I attend?

ART Core II: Student/Group Development Theory and Models

This session highlighted major student development theorists, giving a chance for each advisor to share his/her "student development theorist crush" and how he/she uses that theorists ideas when working with students. My theorist crush is Arthur Chickering and his 7 vectors. Other advisors shared their preferences for Piaget, Maslow, Cross, and more. Each of these theories has enabled me to have a deeper understanding of students, their develop, and how to best support them. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, for instance, is definitely useful when working in Residential Life. Students need their basic needs met (food, shelter, etc.) before they can continue to develop in the higher levels. As an Assistant Community Director, it is my role to ensure students have a safe living environment where they can learn and grow.

ART Core III: Recruitment and Retention

Challenges of recruitment and retention were analyzed and possible solutions were discussed amongst the advisors. Challenges at USD include lower levels of male and underrepresented student participation in our Residence Hall Association, difficulty with using Parli Pro consistently and accurately, and struggles of involved students to balance school and other commitments. Some recruitment strategies that I brought back to the Executive Board include early recruitment the first week of school, a nomination process where faculty, staff, and RAs can suggest students for RHA, information sessions, and a recruitment video. Retention ideas included increased leadership development sessions, the adaptation of the Social Change Model, and creating opportunities for RHA members (in addition to the Executive Board) to attend regional and national conferences.

ART Core IV: Working with an Executive Board

In this session, I was able to reflect on my best experiences as an advisor and my biggest challenges as an advisor. My best experiences are when RHA is successful in reaching students and when students learn and grow through the positive work that they are doing. Two challenges include interpersonal conflicts among members and transitions from year to year. Suggested strategies for these include more member bonding opportunities, creating a larger sense of ownership among the Executive Board, and consistently updating our transition binders.

The Advisor sessions offered an array of useful tips and solutions. The sessions and the conference as a whole was a great time to make connections with advisors and Executive Boards of other campuses. To top it all off, I got in some quality time with my lovely Executive Board ladies and we came back to campus rejuvenated and ready to try some fresh ideas!

USD Residence Hall Association Executive Board 2010-11

Another highlight of my trip was visiting my older sister Lana who lives right outside of Portland, OR. I have two little nephews -Mikey is 3 and Jakey is 1- and I try to see them as much as possible. They grow too fast! :)

Mikey, as usual, striking a pose!

Jakey, testing out his newly-discovered ability to run!