The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 67

Leadership and Alumni

They described how their most powerful and significant learning occurred when they recognized that they must learn from peers and accept that others had skills in some areas that were more developed than their own .

conflict, and create an environment for students that is open to individual differences. Lastly, hall governments must be given the resources necessary to help them succeed. This includes the financial resources to have an impact within their environment—through effective large-scale programming, marketing, and training—as well as to effectively participate in regional and national organizations. As mentioned, participants identified challenging experiences in general, and regional/national involvements specifically, in helping them grow and develop. It is difficult enough to provide appropriately challenging experiences for growing student leaders; to do so without financial resources would likely result in fewer students being able to attend off-campus conferences or engage in large-scale programming initiatives. These findings lend evidence to the importance of funding such experiences.

lasts the presence of any particular student leader, particularly when budget issues or relationships with local agencies are concerned. The need for effective advising is another implication that emerges from these interviews. These advisors can help find a balance between the challenge and support necessary for learning (Sanford, 1962) and can identify when it may or may not be acceptable to fail from the perspective of the institution. Hiring and training such advisors is not a simple matter. Advisors of hall governments and other student groups are often entry-level or graduate student professionals. Advisors must balance their advising responsibilities with the supervision of student staff, the administrative and crisis management of residential facilities, and other inter-hall and departmental responsibilities. Therefore, advisors should receive adequate supervision from mid- and senior-level staff, where advising can be made a priority. Advisor training should include how to appropriately balance the roles of both supporting and challenging students and how to build an effective team, manage

LIMITATIONS
As with any single-site research design, several limitations exist in the context of our study. The most significant limitation is related to the population and sample used in this research. The sample included only a relatively small number of recent alumni, all of whom had graduated from the same institution within three years of the research being conducted. While this meant that participants were asked to remember things from only a few years prior, the study was limited to only younger alumni and entry-level professionals. Moreover, the size of the sample limits the ability to make robust recommendations for a larger population of students. Similarly, the sample utilized alumni of only a single private institution in the north-

V o l u m e 3 7 , No. 2 • 2 0 1 1

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2