Talking Stick - July/August 2015 - 12

JUST IN

Take the Long
Way Home
A week before the
Canadian Association of
College and University
Student Services
(CACUSS) 2015 annual
conference, six student
affairs professionals
at Ryerson University
in Toronto, Ontario,
embarked on a crosscountry road trip as part
of an unconventional
accelerated professional
development program.
Driving through Canada
and the United States in
an RV, they visited three
provinces, seven states,
and six universities. At
Michigan State University
(East Lansing), University
of Notre Dame (Indiana),
Northwestern University
(Evanston, Illinois), The
Banff Centre (Alberta),
University of Calgary
(Alberta), and UBC
Okanagan (Kelowna,
British Columbia),
the #RoadToCACUSS
team met with their
counterparts and gained
deep insights into the
challenges, opportunities,
and possibilities for
student affairs in North
America. They returned
to their home in Toronto
better prepared for the
longer roads that they
must travel as student
affairs professionals in
an ever-changing world.
To find out what their life
on the road was like, go
to https://www.facebook.
com/RyersonSA/photos_
stream?tab=photos_albums.
-Hamza Khan
12

TALKING STICK

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

You're Hired!
Hiring traditions or ceremonies get new staff pumped up for the upcoming year
before they leave for the summer. Newly hired RAs at the University of Colorado,
Colorado Springs, are surprised with a baseball that has their name on it since
staff selection day coincides with Major League Baseball opening day. "We've
started having returning RAs help us, which they love doing," says Molly Kinne,
associate director of residence life. "Every RA also remembers how they got their
baseball too."
At North Dakota State University in Fargo, the hall directors play the role of
coaches as the new staff come and sign with their team. This turns the traditional
paperwork into fervor and anticipation for the next year. Staff at Southern
Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, perform a rap or call out the new RA's
name in a creative way as they are announced. How do you welcome new staff?
Tweet at @acuhoi.
-Elizabeth Cox

Affordable Care Act and RA Hours
ACUHO-I surveyed its members in April 2015 about how they were keeping track of their
resident assistant hours in adherence to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Some of the highlights
of the survey reveal that 92 percent of those surveyed have not made changes to RA training as
a result of ACA stipulations, 85 percent have not made changes to record keeping or tracking
processes as a result of ACA stipulations, and 40 percent have reduced the total number
of allowable hours as they relate to student employment. To view the presentation by Kathy
Hobgood and Steve Waller that was built around this survey, go to the association's library at
www.acuho-i.org, and search keyword ACA.
-Camille Perlman

https://www.facebook.com/RyersonSA/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums http://www.acuho-i.org

Talking Stick - July/August 2015

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