Talking Stick - November/December 2013 - 32

decided what the hall experience would be and created
a new structure for the board. Some halls continued
operating under the traditional structure, while others
held meetings, planned programs, and delegated tasks
based on a program that offered more roles in leadership.
Meanwhile, RHA kept its traditional executive board
model. The new model worked well, though it took some
time for new hall directors to feel comfortable with the
perceived lack of structure. At first, the residents were
interested and engaged, and they stayed with the hall
council longer than they
had in previous years, but
their interest started to
wane by spring. Though
the programming seemed
effective, there was still
no push for any legislative
action.

which was based on the model of Community Renewal
International in Shreveport, Louisiana. RAs were tasked to
build relationships with residents and help them develop
relationships with each other. Rather than being tied to
the choices offered by formal programming, they had
the freedom to brainstorm and implement ideas on their
own. After a year of articulating the community renewal
model to RAs, housing and residence life decided to
define it more in terms of its specific relation to the RA
role. Three key words emerged as the focus: knowing,
connecting, and empowering,
which came to be referred
to as KCE. Knowing meant
forming an individual in-depth
personal relationship with the
residents in the community.
Connecting meant providing
different opportunities for
group interactions so that
residents could more easily
create relationships with their
peers. Empowering meant
establishing an atmosphere
within the community that
encouraged residents to
create their own knowing
and connecting experiences
by going beyond what was
organized by student staff.

During the same period,
a student group named The
Crew had been formed in
the student activities office,
which had undergone a
complete overhaul in the
previous five years, during a
time when the TCU campus
had dramatically changed
with the completion of the
Campus Commons, a unified
space that included new
After a short pilot program
residence halls, a student
in the previous spring, Hall
union with dining facilities,
Crews were formed in each
an academic building, and
residence hall in the fall of
recreational spaces. The
2012 in an effort to enhance
desire to become a more
the ability of residents to form
Join us for the webinar "Partnerships
residential campus led to
relationships with each other
among residence life and student
significant changes in how
through programming. During
activities,"scheduled for Tuesday,
activities were implemented.
that time, a conversation
The Crew was established to
began between housing
nov. 19, 2013, at 2 pm esT.
create a dynamic atmosphere
and student activities about
on campus by providing
the potential of off-campus
events not just every month
programming. Though this
or week but every day, which
idea was not feasible at the
they accomplished by organizing into teams that plan
time, it led to a discussion of programming in residential
and implement events, each one responsible for a specific
communities that could provide students with quality
day and time, each week. The traditional programming
leadership opportunities.
model that had been used for years - a board representing
The Crew Academy was created within the student
various committees that would oversee programming
activities office as a way of enhancing the leadership skills
for students on campus - produced, on average, 15 to
of Crew members. Each year participants are given the
20 events per semester. In their first year, The Crew
opportunity to plan and implement a program of their own
increased their programming from 40 events a year to
on campus. The student activities office took advantage of
more than 200.
this to pilot programming in the residence halls, testing
Housing and residence life was also fine tuning its
community development model for RA programming,
32

TalkiNg STick

eight programs in several halls. The programs were a
success: Survey data revealed that residents believed the
Talking Stick - November/December 2013

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