Housing & Residential Education Student Affairs

We commit to continually advance our skills in order to better serve the students, the HRE team, and the greater University of Utah community. Each team member strives to evaluate current practices and their individual contributions to the team. Every supervisor should foster the growth of their staff and provide them with the tools and opportunities to grow. We encourage creative thinking, innovation, and the sharing of knowledge and experience for the advancement of new ideas. Teach when you are able to teach, and recognize that learning is an ongoing process.

We are dedicated to being truthful to students and one another. We demonstrate this by being respectful in our words and actions, by holding ourselves and others accountable. When situations or issues arise, we take timely ownership and offer solutions.

We affirm our commitment to the HRE team by avoiding behaviors that may undermine the team or service to the students, such as gossiping or mean-spirited attacks. We apologize to one another when appropriate and recognize our roles by being self-aware and continuing to self-evaluate.

We exude professional excellence by maintaining confidentiality and protecting sensitive information of both our staff and students.

Our team prioritizes the collective results of the department, starting first with the success of our students. Our mission is their success and it takes the effort of all HRE staff working together to accomplish this. We relish and celebrate individual and team accomplishments. Each team member takes opportunities to respect and praise co-workers and is open to accepting praise and constructive feedback. We look for opportunities to resolve conflicts and problems, to engage in proactive communication and to respond, learn, and seek solutions that will minimize the likelihood of problems in the future. Each team member undertakes the initiative to approach others to offer assistance and build trustworthy relationships.

We believe in the impact our work has on the student experience and are dedicated to creating a warm, welcoming environment for students and staff. We strive to provide our students and co-workers with prompt, ethical, high quality service. We recognize the needs of our students, tailor our resources accordingly, and prioritize them in our work. Serving the diverse community across the University of Utah is a complex task and we must balance efficiency with care for each person. We must also anticipate and plan for the future needs of our community by gathering student feedback and identifying trends within our field.

We commit to take our work seriously while not taking ourselves seriously. We encourage fun and laughter at work whenever it is appropriate and find creative ways to incorporate fun into daily activities. Each team member has the ability to decide their attitude, the energy they bring, and find the positive aspects of that moment. We give and accept feedback, both positive and constructive, and we keep positive attitude while facing adversity.

As individuals & a department, we recognize social justice is an active and ongoing process in which we strive to be self-aware. Equitable environments for the most marginalized is central to developing inclusivity and an engaged community within housing. Through trainings and hiring of diverse staff, we reflect on how histories and current systems impact systems of oppression. We hold ourselves and team members accountable to those negatively impacted by systems of power and privilege. We strive to create restorative practices through validating the experiences of marginalized folx in our day-to-day, 1:1 interactions, and in our policies.

• Building Safe Communities For All To Thrive - Housing & Residential Education is committed to centering our Social Justice & Inclusion value in everything we do. We recognize the systems of oppression in place that negatively impact those with marginalized identities, and we want to be a safe space where all community members can find support and belonging. Along with the work that your Resident Director and RAs will be engaging in to support our communities, Housing & Residential Education also offers the Equity Lounge (located in Benchmark building 820) and the Equity Living Room (located in Kahlert Village) that are safe places for students from marginalized communities to feel welcome to be themselves. 
• Requirement for Full-Time Staff Members - Our full-time staff members are required to participate and engage in diversity and inclusion trainings.
• Enhancing Student Leader Trainings - We understand the importance of having a support system in place while living on campus, for both our physical and mental well-being. Your Resident Advisor and the Social Justice Advocates are trained in competencies meant to create greater inclusion for all members of our communities, including intersectionality, implicit bias, privilege, systemic racism, allyship, and anti-racism. 
• Ensuring Inclusion, Representation & Accessibility - We are continually assessing and improving our marketing and communications efforts to ensure our language is inclusive of all identities, our visuals are accessible, and all groups and ideas are represented.
• We’re Counting on U, Too! - If you see something, say something! We empower our residents to play an active role in keeping our communities safe and inclusive. All campus community members can submit an incident report from bias incidents, policy violations, or concerning behavior. You can find the incident report form here. It is easy to fill out, and it only takes a few minutes.

In 2016-2017 HRE engaged in an internal and external program review to inform our strategic planning efforts. Following this review, a HRE constructed a five-year strategic plan by synthesizing program review results, divisional, and institutional goals. In the 2018-2019 academic year, Housing & Residential Education launched the 2018-2023 Housing & Residential Education strategic plan.

The seven primary goals reflected in Housing & Residential Education’s strategic plan are:

• Create and facilitate access to on-campus housing for University of Utah Students
• Enhance services supporting engagement in the residential experience
• Provide financial stewardship in a timely and accurate manner to internal and external stakeholders
• Develop an inclusive and engaged community where all members thrive
• Provide a high quality, comfortable living environment for all residents
• Provide dining experiences and environments that enhance the university experience
• Cultivate principles of staff excellence among all Housing & Residential Education Staff