Mission, Vision, Values
Residence Life is driven by student feedback and strives to realize its aspirations and uphold its commitments to enhancing the student experience.
Aspirations
Residence Life aspires
- to nurture a welcoming and inclusive environment.
- to understand and meet residents’ needs.
- to provide student-centered programs and services to promote growth.
- to create an engaging environment for living and learning.
- to foster community and family among residents and Residence Life staff.
- to emphasize a culture of respect for self and others.
- to contribute to student satisfaction and retention.
- to inspire confidence, creativity, and collaboration.
- to recognize and highlight many types of success.
- to collaborate with campus partners to enhance the student experience.
- to streamline processes to enhance sustainability and effectiveness.
- to create a place that students want to come back to.
Mission
Residence Life fosters belonging and responsibility to one’s community. We partner with our residents to nurture a safe, inclusive, and engaging environment that supports student success and growth.
Vision
Residence Life will be recognized for creating community, inspiring pride, and encouraging individual development.
Values
In addition to the MSOE Values, Residence Life has three core values.
- Students – We value students; their needs guide decision-making, program development, and leadership opportunities.
- Community – We value building relationships that foster respect, inclusion, and belonging.
- Development – We value opportunities that promote individual growth, lifelong learning, and well-being.
Commitments
Our four commitments enhance the student experience and provide a model to guide
our programs, activities, and events. In addition to our commitments, every floor includes
a program, activity, or event cultivating cross-cultural connections, promoting health and wellness,
and engaging residents with music and arts.
We encourage our partners to fulfill these commitments to our residents in meaningful and engaging ways. The three examples accompanying each commitment are not all-inclusive. The Residence Life team is available to discuss brainstorming, planning, and carrying out activities that support these commitments.
Cultivating Connections
- Organizing events that bring students, faculty, and staff together.
- Developing personal connections with students, faculty, and staff.
- Creating opportunities to identify and mobilize on-campus resources.
Creating Communities
- Building relationships based on respect for self and others.
- Creating opportunities for authentic engagement with diverse people, beliefs, and ideas.
- Fostering acceptance and promoting understanding.
Developing Individuals
- Creating opportunities for residents to develop and practice leadership skills.
- Promoting self-awareness, self-worth, and well-being among residents.
- Enhancing residents’ goal identification, pursuit, and attainment.
Celebrating Successes
- Creating opportunities to recognize multiple types of success.
- Creating opportunities for reflection, discussion, and expressions of gratitude.
- Sharing success stories through events, posters, and media.
Goals
The Residence Life Plan has four goals, each with eight accompanying actions. Key Performance Indicators include (a) Retention, (b) Persistence, (c) Satisfaction, and (d) DEIB Ambassador training completion.
Actions
- Increase student voice and buy-in by engaging in listening sessions at least once per semester to understand and meet student needs.
- Incorporate inclusive DEIB topics into programmatic and engagement opportunities that encourage a sense of belonging.
- Incorporate MSOE Mindset and Common Learning Outcomes into programmatic and engagement opportunities to support student learning and development.
- Implement activities and programs that foster community and promote pride in Residence Life.
- Review existing Living-Learning Communities and themed communities to align with student interests.
- Identify and implement new Living-Learning Communities for first-year and sophomore students.
- Enhance student social, collaboration, and study spaces in residential buildings
- Achieve a 90% student satisfaction rating with on-campus living.
Actions
- Commit to $2,000 per professional staff member for annual professional development.
- Implement a professional development plan for each professional staff member and student employee.
- Implement a Residential Fellow Program to support experiential education opportunities for students and support Residence Life operations and programmatic needs.
- Achieve 100% completion rate for DEIB Ambassador training among professional staff.
- Achieve 85% completion rate for DEIB Ambassador training among student staff.
- Identify and foster staff recruiting efforts that reflect the demographics of the building population.
- Partner with Public Safety to strengthen emergency response training and planning among Residence Life communities.
- Develop a fund to support student staff travel for professional development.
Actions
- Examine and revise Residence Life policies, practices, and assessment plans to support mission, vision, and strategic plan attainment.
- Review community standards and conduct processes to promote developmental and restorative justice approaches focused on education, accountability, and responsibility (i.e., minimize punitive approaches in favor of developmental and educational approaches).
- Create and implement a comprehensive maintenance plan to enhance the appearance and maintenance of residential buildings.
- Implement a single application and assignment process across all residential buildings (i.e., GT, MLH, RGN, VT).
- Increase Residence Life capacity by aligning student or professional staff positions with student and department needs.
- Implement a 5-year program review cycle to assess and address organizational effectiveness and continuous improvement (e.g., self-study, external review).
- Retain 90% of first-time, first-year students living on campus.
- Achieve a 95% persistence rate among sophomores, juniors, and seniors living on campus.
Actions
- Strengthen the relationship with University Advancement to support student/staff needs, facilities improvement, and program development.
- Partner with the CREATE Institute to enhance leadership and MSOE Mindset development among Residence Life students and programmatic activities.
- Partner with Marketing and Communications to review and revise the Residence Life website to enhance user experience and content
- Co-lead event planning and activities with Campus Life to enhance the student experience (e.g., Welcome Week, spring movie night).
- Broaden engagement and strengthen communication with campus departments, programs, and services through intentional collaborations and events.
- Create partnerships with student and professional organizations to enhance engagement and the student experience.
- Strengthen relationship with Athletics and Wellness Center to support student health and well-being.
- Strengthen partnerships with Academics to increase faculty involvement in Living-Learning Communities, educational activities, and events.