This semester and the semester to come, Residence Life has decided to have one-on-one talks between the residents and their community assistants. Although many of the residents have heard about this, they may have some misunderstandings about what the CAs are actually going to do.
A study is behind the reasoning for the one-on-one talks. It shows Generation Z, comprised of students in college from the years 2015 to 2032, has a need for more face-to-face contact.
Residence Life asked residents if they enjoyed their CAs’ programs. The response was high and showed that residents really enjoyed them. When asked whether CAs help with goals, the response was less. It showed that the programs they have were connected to helping with goals.
Some residents were under the impression that this would be a forced conversation and that the CAs would write down everything they said.
Jeff Ward, Area Coordinator for Luzerne and Soltz Halls, helped give more of an understanding of how the one-on-one talks would work.
The individualized peer mentorship, a sit-down conversation, is what residents are looking for.
CAs will attempt to reach out for an intentional conversation, but the conversation is not mandatory.
There are four categories of conversation, such as overall physical and mental wellness, connecting with others, academic issues and general life issues.
There are not checkboxes that they will be using. This is a way for residents to just have someone to talk to and seek help. If someone is struggling academically they can bring this up, and the CA can help them and guide them to available resources.
CAs will only report about the conversation to an extent. They will not share explicit information. There is only a two-sentence summary that they need to write. An example would be that they write the conversation was good and the resident misses their family. The information will not be available to any other students or CAs.
“The only time that staff higher up in Res Life would talk to the resident is that if they need further assistance such as more options if they are struggling academically,” said Ward.
