Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol 49, No. 1 - 43

NACE Competencies Within Collegiate Residential Life
A time for firsts. For a majority of participants, their residential community has
been a place for firsts. While reflecting on NACE competencies, such as intercultural
competence, teamwork, and written communication, participants shared prevalent experiences
like interacting with other members of the community or their roommates,
community involvement opportunities, and living on their own. Participants utilized
words such as " first experience, " " first time, " and " first opportunity " to characterize
this theme. One participant (White, female, junior) shared the following:
I really had a big culture shock coming to college because for the first time, I was
interacting with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds, from various ages . . .
it's fascinating to get to see all the different worldviews and how they interact with each
other. If I hadn't stayed on campus . . . I doubt that I would have as much insight now or as
much of a well-roundedness of my own worldview that I have today without that.
Through the residential experience, this participant was able to engage with NACE's
intercultural competence and develop her own worldview by interacting with members
of her residential community.
Living in a collegiate residential community was a first for many participants, who
reflected on how their current residential experience differs from their previous experiences
living with parents, guardians, or siblings. Participants discussed NACE's competency
of problem solving and decision making in light of facility issues. For instance, as
one student (Hispanic, male, sophomore) explained, " You got to fix it yourself . . . and
not being reliant on your parents anymore. Just being surrounded by all these people
that are also living on their own . . . has been very beneficial. " This participant's sentiment
on the necessity to problem-solve on your own and no longer having the same
tools to solve a problem was also illustrated by two other participants.
Participants also highlighted their residential community as a unique context
for new involvement and leadership opportunities. As shared by one student (Asian,
female, junior), residential leadership council " was one of my first leadership positions
. . . or involvement on campus " and the residence hall " was the first place where
I actually had a chance to be in a leadership position. " In this example, she credited
her residential community for affording her the first opportunity to hold a formal
leadership role. These leadership roles were unique and unlike other recognized
student leadership positions. Seven other participants acknowledged that their residential
community was their first form of involvement or their first experience with
the NACE competency of leadership on campus.
Unintended outcomes. Thematic analysis revealed another subtheme of unintended
outcomes within the theme of unique context. We understand this subtheme to mean
a residential experience that the participant was not expecting as a result of their
Leadership roles such as Community Council and
RA positions emerged as influential in experiencing
a NACE competency.
40 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol 49, No. 1

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