RESIDENT DIRECTOR/ASSISTANT
Back to Table of Contents for the On Course I Workshop
1. Strategy: The Late Paper (Case Study), Responsibility Model & Language of Responsibility
Application: Hall Director & Resident Assistant Training
Educator: Doug Baer, Area Coordinator/Residence Life, Frostburg State University, MD
Implementation: Hall Directors and RA’s are often the first to discover when a student encounters issues such as roommate conflicts, academic difficulties, home sickness, and abuse of alcohol or drugs. To help them empower students who are experiencing these difficulties, use “The Late Paper” during HD & RA training. The purpose is to help trainees begin thinking about the issue of personal responsibility and how it relates to their roles as a Hall Director or Resident Assistant. After discussing the case study, have participants look at the Responsibility Model, with a focus on the kind of language that people use when they are in Victim mode. Next have the trainees write a list of Victim statements they anticipate hearing from students in their residence halls or even Victim statements that they might utter themselves. Last, have them translate the list of Victim statements into Creator statements. Make copies of the list, and have them keep the list with them or post it in their rooms as a reminder to be a Creator and help the students they work with be Creators as well.
