As young adults, campus residents and resident advisors function best when they play an active role in managing their own affairs. Building Campus Community teaches resident advisors and their supervisors how to establish an effective community and, when problems arise, to use their authority to reliably achieve positive outcomes.

Through collaborative processes, resident advisors establish norms and build relationships, empowering residents to take active responsibility and build and maintain a cooperative residential environment. Campuses implementing this program reduce formal disciplinary procedures because conflicts are less likely to occur and less likely to escalate.

With a comprehensive implementation model, administration and staff develop a customized plan based on their own goals. Staff are organized into “professional learning groups,” which foster peer learning. IIRP staff provide onsite professional development, follow-up phone consultation and ongoing evaluation of progress.

Once established, the Building Campus Community program is sustained by a cost-effective strategy that develops on-campus training capacity, so that selected residential staff provide professional development for new staff in the future.

Preliminary steps

Three days of onsite professional development instruction for all resident advisors and related staff

Monthly phone consultation and support for one year

3-day Training of Trainers for up to 12 staff

Resources provided

Supplemental opportunities