Talking Stick - May/June 2015 - 32

BUSINESS OPERATIONS
ask for or do during this time?" This
way, she does not miss things such
as reports that could have helped her
and others with decision making, and
she is able to be proactive instead of
reactive. She notes that "Gaining trust
from various established stakeholders
is very important" and that strong
relationships should be developed
from the start, by having informal
meetings and getting to know each
stakeholder both in and outside of the
work environment. This is valuable
as these relationships will support
occupancy managers in getting
information in the future. Having
strong relationships will better equip
them to know when enrollment
cycles occur and who the key decision
makers are so that intentional efforts
can be made to best strategize for the
department's occupancy plan.
Clear and honest communication
is key at the University of Tampa

in Florida during times of over
occupancy. Nora Jarmon, director
of housing, residence life, explains
that "maintaining strong lines of
communication with stakeholders,
including the enrollment management
team, and being forthright that
students will be in a hotel is
important." Ultimately these situations
"can impact retention . . . and that is
something everyone needs to be aware
of." Retention numbers often impact
future yields for returning students
and can impact not only the current
melt of enrolled students, but also
housing occupancy.
In some instances, a strong
and collaborative relationship
with enrollment management and
admissions staff does not guarantee a
positive impact on campus occupancy,
which may be under housing capacity.
One reason for this is the lack of
growth in the traditional age first-year

NEW

student cohort. "A live-on requirement
for first-year students does not help
you out unless that population can
grow to keep up with your available
capacity," says John Malsam, assistant
director of residence life at Colorado
State University in Fort Collins. Josh
Ashcroft, chief housing officer for
housing and residential life at Eastern
Washington University in Cheney,
agrees. "While our first-year student
enrollment anticipates minimal
growth in the upcoming years, there
is an opportunity with our transfer
student population. Due to this,
we decided to research what types
of housing would entice a transfer
student to live on campus and created
a living-learning program to facilitate
meeting their needs." Offering oncampus housing to transfer students
is also of great benefit to the students,
 CONTINUES  66

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Talking Stick - May/June 2015

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