Talking Stick - November/December 2013 - 34

programs helped them feel more strongly connected to their
residence hall community.
During the spring of 2013, Hall Crew Academy initiated
a pilot project in one of the residence halls. Since one of the
primary focuses was to provide leadership opportunities
for students, a training curriculum was also developed.
Hall Crew Academy is a six-week, small-group, studentled leadership seminar
that is modeled on Kouzes
and Posner's five pillars of
leadership, as set forth in The
Student Leadership Challenge:
Model the way, inspire a
shared vision, challenge the
process, enable others to act,
and encourage the heart. The
program was so successful
that it will be offered to each
Hall Crew member this year.
After housing and
student activities spent the
fall semester sporadically
working together and
learning more about each
other's goals, student leaders
from RHA and Hall Crew
were ready to have regular
meetings to discuss how they
could support each other
more fully. After assessing
each organization's areas of
strength and areas for growth,
they recognized that RHA was
strong in the accountability
of members, meeting format,
and connections to the
residence halls. Hall Crew was strong in programming
logistics on a massive scale, developing meaningful
programs to unite students within their communities, and
utilizing personal interactions to connect with others. It
was apparent from this conversation that one organization
could provide what the other lacked, which set the stage for
a successful collaboration.
In conversations about how the collaboration might
work, the student leaders discussed the possibility of
merging the two organizations into one. As a way to
determine what elements of each organization they wanted
to retain in the new structure, each organization identified
five elements that they wanted to carry forward, which
revealed how they overlapped in many ways. Meanwhile,
the student leaders wanted to gain feedback from multiple
parties: RHA members, Hall Crew team leaders, assistant
34

TalkiNg STick

hall directors (who serve as advisors to this organization),
and hall directors. Information from the surveys allowed
them to develop a draft of the new structure for the student
director board which would be composed of six positions:
director of Hall Crew, director of marketing, director of
operations, director of membership, director of service and
recognition, and director of community relations. They
also proposed that each
residence hall have a Hall
Crew leadership team
with the same positions,
substituting the title of
coordinator for director.
These structural changes
would allow them to
double the number
of student leadership
positions and to provide
them with better direction
and support. The new
structure became
known as the Hall Crew
Association.
TCU is not satisfied
with simply filling a
schedule full of fun
activities but is seeking
something much more
holistic and impactful.
TCU believes that
programming not only
transforms the lives
of individual students
but can also positively
impact the overall campus
culture by connecting
students to the university,
providing opportunities for them to connect with others,
and allowing them to find their own unique place in the
campus environment. This ties directly in with the goal of
housing to provide opportunities for "knowing, connecting,
and empowering."

creighton university: "late
Night recess"
Campuses across the nation provide fun, free, late-night
(alcohol-alternative) programs to their students, and
institutions, offices, student organizations, or committees
coNTINues

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Talking Stick - November/December 2013

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