The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 140

David H. K. Nguyen * Joan Collier * Angela Watts * Camille Cartwright * Amelia King-Kostelac

IMPLIcATIOns fOR PRAcTIce
& fUTURe ReseARcH
Considering the limited participant sample
size, the results of this study may not be broadly
generalizable at a regional or national scale
(moustakas, 1994; thomas, 2016); however,
the case may provide a basis for structuring
further research into the impacts of different
university housing policies and for developing best practices. from the findings of the
study, having a higher education law course
or a course examining legal issues in the educational setting provides a good foundation of
the law for paraprofessionals to understand the
impact of the law in their professional work
and understand compliance with the law and
institutional policies. if professionals did not
gain this knowledge through their professional
preparation programs, then learning through
trainings helped supplement their knowledge
to utilize the law in their practice. however,
given that on-the-job trainings can be limited
to narrow topics, professionals may not be able
to gain the broader application and implications of the law.
since purposeful learning of the law
through trainings was found to be helpful,
institutions may find that it is beneficial to
support more in-depth professional development for their professionals at on-site, face-toface conferences or seminars on legal topics

140

pertaining to residence life. on-site in-depth
seminars or conferences focusing on legal and
policy topics would be an example of purposeful training that would allow professionals to
gain knowledge to bring back to campus and
share with their colleagues. the participants
noted that the areas of the law that were of
most concern for them were federal compliance laws, such as ferpa, the Clery act,
and title iX. given this need, future research
could further examine which areas of law are
most impactful to residence life professionals and compare these areas based on the
percentage of time professionals spend daily
or weekly. since the professionals noted that
legal consciousness is an essential function
of their job, graduate preparation programs
and institutions should be more intentional
in how they deliver the learning of and training of the law. future research may examine
the various formats that professionals utilize
to learn the law and the impact of the various
delivery methods.
there is no doubt that the law is a critical
aspect of the job for a residence life paraprofessional. graduate preparation programs and
employers should understand the importance
of a legal foundation, especially for non-lawyer
professionals, and how this foundation can
assist professionals develop a further understanding of the law while on the job.

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. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3
