Administrators, students respond to ResLife structural reforms

According to Associate Dean of Student Affairs Christopher Rossi, Associate Director of Housing OperationsMatt Austin and Associate Director of Residential Education Sarah D’Annolfo, the structural reforms that the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) put in place last semester have yielded positive outcomes so far.

The reforms include a reorganization of the dorm model, creating two groups of student-dorm staff to have a separate group to work with first years and modifying the lottery system, D'Annolfo said.

According to a September 2017 Daily article, dormitory organization was revised in the fall to create a new model of seven designated areas, with each area led by a Graduate Residence Director (GRD). D'Annolfo noted that this change has effectively provided another layer of support for student staffers and non-staffer students alike.

“The GRDs have come up with creative ways to support our students [that] have really been an amazing addition,” D'Annolfo said, explaining that GRDs are constantly on call to help Community Development Assistants (CDAs) and First Year Assistants (FYAs).

Sara Kalra, a CDA in Lewis Hall, shared D'Annolfo's sentiment that the GRDs have been an accessible resource for CDAs and FYAs.

“GRDs have been very helpful, as they’ve allowed CDAs and FYAs to receive support without having to contact the ResLife office directly every time we have a concern. They’ve served as a good bridge for us in that regard,” Karla said.

The redefined student staff roles, with FYAs catering to first-year students and CDAs catering to upperclassmen, have so far been an effective distinction, according to D'Annolfo.

“As this year, all first-year students are housed in first-year buildings, the specificity of the FYA role has been positive for students," D'Annolfo told the Daily in an email.

Karla also views the separation of these roles as a step in the right direction.

“Freshmen and upperclassmen need different types of support and having distinct CDA [and] FYA roles allows us to serve them better," Karla said.

Additionally, Austin explained how improvements in the housing lottery for rising juniors and seniors have allowed students more time to figure out their plans.

“We have a better sense of how many juniors and seniors live on campus and how many beds we have. Additionally, we launched the housing waitlist in December this year, four months earlier than last year, when it was released in March. We feel these were welcome changes that provided these students more time to find housing,” Austin said.

Despite these changes, some students still feel that ResLife has a long way to go to ensure that students have the support they need.

Rachel Herman, a first-year, told the Daily that although she requested a single for medical reasons before arriving on campus, her request was not approved and instead she was assigned to a triple. She said that after contacting ResLife staff, who did not get back to her, she took the situation into her own hands, switching rooms with another student and later finalizing that decision with ResLife.

“I was put on a waitlist for any low-occupancy room, like a double or a single, so I decided to find someone on social media and switch rooms with them on my own,” she said.

Herman further explained that she did not receive the assistance and attention she felt she needed from ResLife, and that she also has heard similar stories and sentiments from other students.

“It was more of a hindrance to work with them than beneficial,” she said.

Another first-year, Jady Zhang, had a similar experience. She said that after being assigned to a triple, she requested a single for medical reasons and ResLife did not take her request seriously. Zhang added that, later in the semester, she noticed a vacant single on her floor. She said that once she contacted ResLife to express her interest in that room, she received a vague response.

“ResLife didn’t inform me of any of the details as this was going on. Although I understand the need for some impersonal interactions, I feel like ... there’s a lot of things they could have done better," Zhang said.

While ResLife declined to comment on these individual cases, Austin said that ResLife works with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to attend to each student request.

“Although we have more students interested in singles than singles on campus, when SAS informs me that a student needs a single for medical purposes, I do my best to accommodate that. The students, predominantly first-years, that SAS sends over to me are the first ones I place in housing. I want to accommodate students just as much as they want accommodation,” Austin said.

Austin emphasized that ResLife and SAS have a good rapport, saying that they work in close coordination on room assignments and when putting together housing assignments.

“I feel like if there’s any person at this university that I’m close with from another department, it would be someone from SAS. I talk with them at least a couple times a week ... especially in June, when we come up with our housing timelines months in advance,” he said.

Additionally, according to Austin, ResLife is dedicated to hearing and responding accordingly to feedback from students in order to ensure positive experiences moving forward.

“Through holding information sessions of up to over 250 students, we have gotten feedback from students and we find it incredibly valuable. I see around 20–30 students in my office per week in order to have feedback across the spectrum,” Austin said.

Looking forward, Rossi noted that ResLife is also working to improve support systems for house managers and residents alike.

“In the future, we would like to add more holistic and financial support when hiring house managers," Rossi said.

D’Annolfo said she believes these new changes are ensuring a brighter future for ResLife and stressed that they have been beneficial overall.

“The new changes mean more students at Tufts have access to support than ever before. In that way, it has been very positive,” she said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misspelled Sara Kalra's name. The Daily regrets this error.