Talking Stick - March/April 2010 - 48

SNAPSHOT CHAD NUTTALL ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE MORE TIME FOR IN THE FUTURE IS DEPARTMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND RESEARCH PROJECTS. What’s the ﬁrst thing you do when you get into the ofﬁce each morning? I aim to come into the ofﬁce and bang off a task that I’ve set aside for myself the night before. On days that I am less disciplined, I head straight for the e-mail. What’s the biggest issue for the students on your campus right now? A general lack of time and money. This leads to a perception that the campus population is apathetic. I don’t believe Ryerson Students are apathetic; however, there are some challenges with engaging busy students at a career-focused, predominantly commuter campus. What’s the biggest issue you see facing the profession right now? To sell what we do in student housing to the academic side of the university and develop linkages and partnerships to close the student affairs/academic gap. What makes your campus unique? The edge of our campus is Yonge & Dundas Square: Toronto’s equivalent to Times Square. It is a very exciting and dynamic campus. What resource can’t you live without? My Blackberry. I have terrible memory and rely on the calendar to manage my day. I also take a ton of notes and send myself the occasional e-mail. I do not, however, have my work e-mails go to the device. I can live without work e-mails. What made you decide to work in housing? If you hadn’t chosen housing, what would your job be? My undergraduate degree is in geography. I still feel very passionate about urban and city planning issues. I could see myself working for a research or consulting ﬁrm. For a number of years I invested considerable time into a part-time music career. When was the last time you awoke to a phone call from work in the middle of the night? I’m no longer part of a formal on-call rotation (touch wood). I haven’t had a call in the middle of the night for months. What do you wish was different about your job? I’m a fairly new CHO. I absolutely love the position and the duties. One thing I would like to make more time for in the future is departmental assessment and research projects. New social technology and media like texting and Twitter: How has it helped your communication with staff and students? Is there a downside to this type of communication? I’m one of the only full-time staff in the department on Twitter (@chadtweets). I do spend a great deal of time interacting with other housing and higher ed professionals around the globe. There are a million downsides to social media. One of the biggest is how much time it can suck, but I enjoy using these tools to network with colleagues. What’s your biggest challenge on campus? Ryerson University has over 25,000 students. Only 852 live in residence. This makes us a small ﬁsh in a big pond. Expansion is an expensive proposition in the downtown core of a major city. Best speaker or book you’ve been impressed by? Kawa Ada. He escaped Afghanistan with his family as a young boy and speaks on leadership and diversity topics. His Web site is www.kawaada.com. My favorite books in the last couple of years: StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath, Getting Things Done by David Allen, and The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. Last meal at a campus dining hall? Fortunately I am not responsible for dining on our campus – so I’m not a complete hypocrite when I say that I do not eat on campus. Being in downtown Toronto there are so many good, local food options in the neighborhood. Name the individuals who made the greatest impact on your career. My parents have likely had the biggest impact. From within the ﬁeld: Todd Coomber was my ﬁrst supervisor when I was student staff at the University of Guelph and the ﬁrst one to suggest I might consider a career in student housing. Glen Weppler is my current supervisor. Glen is a supervisor that sets the bar high and is not afraid to challenge me. Favorite campus traditions? Four years ago I introduced the pep rally on residence move-in day. I think this helps new residents quickly feel the pride and spirit that exists within the Ryerson residence population. CHAD NUTTALL is the manager of student housing services at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Who would you like to see featured? Send your suggestions to camille@acuho-i.org.TALKING STICK

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Talking Stick - March/April 2010

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