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Making Your Way Into the Housing Profession
You're an RA. You love your
job. You think you might want to go into housing as a career,
or at least for part of your career. But you don't hear a
lot of people say "I want to be a Residence Hall Director
when I grow up", so you may not know how to go about
making your way into the field of student affairs and housing.
The good news is that it is not a complex process. The next
few paragraphs will hopefully help you embark on your journey!
We will start with the assumption that you want to work in
housing as a full-time professional. The first thing to know
is that you do not need a specific undergraduate major to
enter the field or to go to grad school for student affairs/housing.
Housing professionals have very diverse undergraduate majors,
from Spanish to Psychology and Education to Biology. The first
decision to be made is whether or not you want to go to grad
school and earn a Master's Degree. The majority of large,
public universities require a Master's Degree for their entry-level
full time housing professionals. However, some colleges (mostly
smaller and private) only require a Bachelor's Degree and
some residence hall experience, which you probably will have
attained through being an RA. A little bit of research on
the internet will help you figure out the requirements that
varying universities have. (See the list of job search websites
at the end of this article.)
If you've decided you want to go on to graduate school and
earn some type of Master's degree, the next step is to pick
some schools that interest you and research them. The majority
of Master's level full time housing professionals have their
degrees in Higher Education Administration, Counseling, Educational
Leadership, College Student Personnel, or a Master's in Business
Administration. If you know for sure you want to work in housing
full time or in another college student affairs environment,
one of the above mentioned degrees will probably prove most
helpful. However, there are other housing professionals who
have Master degrees in psychology, communications, general
education, etc. - usually these candidates have a lot of residence
hall experience to back them up.
Items to think about during your research:
- What colleges/universities offer the degree you're looking
for
- Requirements to apply for the desired graduate program
(undergraduate GPA, GRE/MAT, essay, letters of recommendation)
- Degree requirements (36/48 hours, thesis/non-thesis, comprehensive
exams, internship)
- Is the program theory-laden or is it more practical-oriented?
Counseling-based or administrative based? Which styles appeal
to you?
- Availability of graduate level internships in housing
or another student affairs department on campus
- Remuneration for grad internships: tuition waiver, salary,
furnished room/apartment, meal plan, parking spot
- Duties entailed in the grad internship: hours per week,
supervision/advising duties, administrative duties, number
of people supervised, flexibility of schedule, on-call/duty
requirements
- Other financial aid options if the grad internship does
not cover all expenses
- The pros and cons of possibly continuing your graduate
education at the same institution where you received your
undergraduate degree
- Talk to housing professionals that you work with (your
supervisor, Director of Housing, Asst. Directors of Housing)
to get their input and advice on good grad school programs
- To facilitate your research, use these websites:
http://www.residentassistant.com/gradschool/index.htm
http://www.acpa.nche.edu/c12/directory.htm
After you've done your research - both online and talking
with current/past full time housing professionals - you can
continue with the grad school application process at the schools
of your choice. Rely on your heart and head to help you narrow
down the list. Once you've applied for grad school, there
may be additional processes (depending on the university)
to apply for internships. Consult with the individual university
for additional information. Once the application processes
are under your belt, you are well on your way to starting
your career in housing.
Regardless of how much time you have left before earning
your undergraduate degree, you can still make the most of
your time as an RA to prepare you for the future.
Seek out opportunities to gain experience:
- Participate in RA recruitment and interviewing
- Assist with RA Training
- Serve on departmental teams/committees
- Present programs to large audiences; develop a repertoire
of topics that you're knowledgeable about enough to present
on
- Attend conferences (RA Drive-In's, RHA conferences - NACURH,
regional/state RHA conferences)
- Get involved with your Residence Hall Association
- Ask your supervisor if you can lead a staff meeting
- Ask your supervisor if you can sit in on some of his/her
meetings
- Submit program ideas and other RA tips to Resident Assistant.com
- If your current college/university has a Higher Education
(or related) Master's degree program, visit one of the faculty
members; ask to sit in on a class
- Borrow some of your supervisor's books/journals on developmental
theory, diversity, legal issues, leadership, higher education
administration and read some things that interest you
Participating in the above activities will not only help
to confirm whether or not you want a career in housing, it
will also make you more knowledgeable and marketable when
you apply to grad school and eventually when you apply for
your first professional job.
A career in housing can be exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding
in many different aspects. The road to that career can also
be exciting. At times it may seem overwhelming - so many choices/decisions
to make, grad school admissions requirements, etc. But always
remember, there are a plethora of resources to help you and
support you - including your supervisor, your housing department,
and ResidentAssistant.com to name a few. Best of luck and
enjoy the journey.
Housing/Student Affairs websites (each has it's own job
search link within the main site):
Written by:
Karen McLaughlin
Residence Hall Coordinator, East Carolina University
mclaughlink@mail.ecu.edu
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