Talking Stick - July/August 2014 - 49

involving conference guests, and our
staff serve in more of an informational
role; however, this is an area I
personally would like to see changed.
The camps are in the residence halls;
therefore, res life staff should be
an intricate part in the process and
oversight in my opinion.

now has less than ﬁve a year. While we
do not have a stafﬁng model that has
direct interactions with the groups right
now, we are planning on expanding this
area for summer staff, and the training
will be critical to the success of the
positions.

Joshua, would you be able to
elaborate on the training about working
with minors you mentioned? I ﬁnd that
intriguing.

Christopher C. Stone-Sewalish:

Lawrie: For minors, we do have it in
our contracts that the camp itself is
responsible for providing supervision
and live-in chaperones. Our training is
more around how to work with minors
and what is appropriate. We built the
training around key points, such as
keep kids out of danger, avoid being
alone with minors, and stay vigilant. We
focus in on the importance of reporting
what you hear and see.

Chan: Working with minors, it is
the same here at WWU; beyond
the compliances and liabilities, it is
important to protect children from
harm. Training all staff involved and
providing information to all guests is
helpful.

Vass: Joshua, I love the topics
covered with the training. I think it
is overlooked at times that the minor
campers are just that - minors -
and are a completely different set of
individuals than the traditional students
at the university. They are individuals
with different needs, ideas, and
expectations.
My previous institution had a
robust summer conference program
with easily a dozen groups or more on
campus over the summer term. My
current one is now expanding but until

Campus leaders have spent the last
year developing policy related to youth
camps. All youth camps work through
a central entity that collects important
information, veriﬁes adherence to
policy, and ensures that campers and
camp staff are properly managing their
group. In housing, we've redeveloped
our youth and adult camp onboarding
process to reﬂect and support the new
policy. All youth camps are required
to complete background checks
on camp staff, submit lost camper
protocol, undergo emergency training,
complete a building orientation, and
submit essential staff and participant
information.
We focus on training our team
to effectively train the camp staff,
as they're often unfamiliar with our
campus, procedures, and facilities.
In addition, we spend time with
individual camp organizers early on to
teach best practices related to camper
recruitment, staff selection, and staff
training. While I think it's great for
a campus to have a smart policy, it
doesn't mean much if the camps
aren't properly training their camp
staff and managing their participants.
We focus on creating open, consistent
communication throughout their stay
to head off any problems before they
happen. An example of this is our red
lanyard system. All camp staff that
have access to lost camper protocol,
emergency contact information, and
camp procedures wear a red lanyard
throughout their stay. This lets our
staff know who to go to when essential

information is needed or in the event of
an emergency.

Stone-Sewalish: Joshua, do they ask
for permission from the camp (and
does the camp in turn ask the parents)
to collect this?

Lawrie: It is on the form that is ﬁlled
out at check-in which most parents ﬁll
out. It is an opt-in process. They have to
check that they want their information
shared. If they do not check the box, we
do not share their information.
Stone-Sewalish: I think this is a
potentially sticky area. I wonder if
there are any national standards or best
practices for collecting information
from campers under 18.

Vass: Another area for me is the
pricing structures. There is a delicate
balance between the cost for operations
on the university side and the ability
to offer quality services/venues at a
reasonable cost. While we love to have
conferences, there is the dilemma of
whether we are, in fact, making any
money.
Historically speaking, our
conference services staff handle the
bookings of facilities, and, traditionally,
we turn over the halls to them for the
summer - except for the two that are
open for summer students. We have
not normally had a large summer
conference program; however, this is
rapidly growing, as we now have two
fully air-conditioned residence halls,
and our main dining facility has been
renovated, including air conditioning,
over the past two years. As these
facilities have been improved, we have
become more of a desirable campus
for groups, leading to the increased
possibility of minors coming to campus
JULY + AUGUST 2014

49
Talking Stick - July/August 2014

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