SEAHO Report - Winter 2020 - 40

SEAHO Feature Articles
coach!" all whilst doing the quick math in our heads of how on earth to carve out an extra five or so hours in
that already well-past 40 hour workweek.
I will be completely honest when I say that I do not have a solution to this problem. We continue to have
staffturnover, and yet we can't just close halls when a building supervisor leaves unexpectedly. So, I turned
to one of my many live-in staff members who is currently pulling double-duty for our department, Ben Huff.
Ben is a Community Coordinator in his fourth year, and I asked him to share how he has managed to keep both
himself and his staff and students on track when he was unexpectedly asked to add a whole new residence hall
to his area of supervision in January.
Ben Huff, Community Coordinator for Pittman Hall (and as of January, Minor Hall as well):
A diminished staff does not diminish the needs of our students, and certainly should not hamper the
performance of the department. As a member of the professional residence life staff with our department, we
have the opportunity to supervise one to two graduate students. As our department worked to bring our fall
semester to a close, I had the opportunity to see one of my graduate assistants move into a professional role
leaving an open graduate assistantship. In addressing the staffing vacancy, I absorbed his direct staff, nearly
doubling the number of student staff that report directly to me. For some, they would view this as an emergency;
for me, I viewed this as an opportunity, but not without its challenges.
Blending two staffs together in the middle of a year guarantees certain challenges. Examples of these include
working through team dynamics at a macro-level while the communities each of the CAs serve continue to grow
at the micro-level. To help address the issue of blending two staffs together to create a team of 18, we as a staff
have worked through a restorative justice lens to set expectations of ourselves, each other, and our community.
As my team worked through establishing expectations, I was also caught between the expectations of the
institution and the needs of my students. As of writing, my position is still classified as non-exempt, meaning that
I am limited to 40 hours per week. 40 hours to adjudicate conduct, conduct 8-10 one-on-one meetings per week,
write community learning lesson plans, recruit graduate students for the 2020-2021 year, serving on multiple
larger committees and what I would argue is most important, being present and available for nearly 600 direct
students.
To balance the needs of these 600 students and the needs of my department, self-management rather than
timemanagement has become a critical component of my practice. My time is split as evenly as possible
between my two residence halls, to build relationships with five Living-Learning Community partners, and
meeting with residents about their concerns and successes. My position was written to manage half of the work
that is now expected of me, but I have welcomed the opportunity to take on more and to find new ways to engage
with a new direct community.
The act of blending these buildings has also necessitated that I advocate even more openly and honestly with my
supervisors and the leadership team of the department. Those that have worked with me in the past or know of
me in the region know that I am a fierce advocate for students and will do all that I can to serve, support, and
develop students within my area of responsibility. I have also learned that I cannot do everything alone. I see
with a greater clarity the importance of effective communication with my supervisor and that the phrase, "Can
you help me with this" is not a sign of professional weakness-it is a sign of professional strength.
The idea of doing more with less has become a popular catchphrase within higher education as resources have
been diminished, whether they be financial or personnel. I believe we do not do more with less, we adapt more
with less. I am proud of the ways in which my staff and my students have adjusted to their new reporting

SEAHO Report - Winter 2020

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