The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 74

Pressley R. Rankin, IV * Needham Yancey Gulley

Interpersonal Boundaries
The interpersonal boundaries that participants
created with staff and/or students varied from
somewhat loose and informal ones to clear and
firm ones. Full integrators are characterized as
having few or no boundaries between work
and personal life. Therefore, a full integrator
may establish less formal interpersonal boundaries with staff and students, specifically in
terms of the times when they are working and
when they are off duty. Typically, this is done
for work-related reasons, which may include
building relationships with their staff.
Mary (3) articulated the need for creating
relationships with staff as a reason for having
fewer boundaries:
So, for me, it's looking at not really making
them feel like they're alone and out there, so
the relationship I built with my staff is that I
will be here to help you out no matter what it
is. However, it has to be legitimate. You can't
call me up at midnight for [a] purchase order;
however, call me at midnight [when there is a
crisis with a student] and, then if I can go . . .
I will come out and help.
The boundaries Mary sets are dependent on
the staff understanding what is important to
contact her about when she is off duty.
Mary also chose to share personal information with some RAs as a way of bonding and
creating camaraderie. In this case, the negotiated boundary entails knowing that people
will understand how to handle any personal
information shared. These boundaries are very
informal and not clearly defined, much like
the boundaries that were the stock-in-trade of
other participants like Nick (2), Steve (1), and
Megan (3), who show a willingness to invite

students into their homes. Indeed, those who
get grouped at the full integrator end of the
continuum inevitably establish, at best, quite
porous boundaries in a wide variety of areas.

One consequence of living in
an integrative environment is
experiencing a constant flow of
stressors that push against any
home boundaries and, in the
process, shrink or destroy them .

Rue (4) uses the word "transparent" when
discussing her boundaries with staff. While it
seems she is merely saying she is available,
she is articulating a strategy that keeps the
staff from coming to her room and knocking
on the door:
I'm pretty transparent with my staff, and so
I'll let them know, "Hey, if you need anything,
you can text me, and I'll let you know if I
can help you, and if not, I'll connect you to
somebody else." And so my staff has been
really, really good about figuring out what
they need me for and what they can rely on
each other for, and so I haven't really been
bothered a whole lot after I leave the office.
The establishment of these slightly firmer
boundaries through transparent discussions
with the staff is characteristic of those in the
middle of the continuum. Rules are not simply
made; instead, negotiation of boundaries

T h e J o u r n a l o f C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t y St u d e n t H o u s i n g

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2