The Division of Student Life fosters student success by creating and promoting inclusive educationally purposeful services and activities within and beyond the classroom. The departmental program review process empowers departments within the Division of Student Life to critically evaluate their work and its effect on the UI student experience through a lens of continuous improvement. University Housing & Dining engaged in a program review in April 2019. The process included a self-assessment review by staff members in University Housing & Dining, selection of three external reviewers, Dr. Paul K. Jahr, Mari Strombom, and Shaun N. Crisler, and meetings with staff members, stakeholders, and campus partners. University Housing & Dining created the following action plan in response to the program review team's recommendations.

Table of contents

Recommendations and priorities

Recommendation: create and solidify relationships with campus partners

Plan

  • Utilize a time to invite campus partners to meet and taste test catering offerings to promote catering’s menu and sales staff.
  • Provide information to university staff on housing summer camps and conferences in the residence halls.
  • Create a “what’s happening in housing and dining” program for the upcoming year.
  • Invite interested campus faculty and staff to learn about housing and dining and tour the residence halls/dining facilities.
  • Create memorandums of understanding with Living Learning Communities (LLC) partners.
  • Identify individual UH&D staff members who are responsible for specific processes and programs that take place within the department.

Success measures and updates

  • Lunch with the caterers-type event, resulting in an increase in event reservations
    • Update spring 2022: UHD returned "Lunch With the Chefs" program in 2021-22
  • Increase in the number of camp nights in residence halls
    • Update spring 2022: Returned to a more typical camp and conference season
  • Presentations within and outside the Division of Student Life, including a presentation or video to go on the website after in-person presentations
  • Attendance by faculty and staff for tours of the residence halls/dining facilities
    • Update spring 2020: Working on virtual tour options for individuals to learn about UH&D
    • Update spring 2021: Virtual tours are currently being planned with Admissions staff for filming this fall
    • Update spring 2022: Residence hall "show" room will be built in IMU. UHD will reopen rental spaces in the halls for campus partners.
  • Firm agreements with campus Living Learning Communities (LLC) partners
    • Update spring 2020: Met 1:1 with all campus partners and have updated or written an MOU for each LLC community. MOUs to be signed during fall virtual meetings.
    • Update spring 2021: Residence Education staff will be meeting with LLC partners throughout the summer to talk about needs related to future staffing and program development, revisit MOUs
    • Update spring 2023: Developed "maker space" in Burge Hall for People in Engineering LLC.
  • Clear information for campus partners about individuals and programs within UH&D, updated regularly. Communication plan for regularly sharing information with campus partners
    • Update spring 2021: A potential “What’s happening in housing” communication is being developed for late July/early August 2021
    • Update spring 2023: Contracts and Assignments has prepared important information regarding the housing application process due to the change in practice.

Recommendation

Data analysis of student demographics to improve response to student needs

Plan

  • Gather data on the composition of various populations by building to allow deliberation on housing assignments and student support.
  • Utilize organizations for underrepresented students (including those needing accommodations) to query their experiences with housing and dining.
  • Conduct data scan on roommate changes involving students of color to determine if there is inequity in the room change process.
  • Develop a “true cost of living on vs. living off campus” for students to make informed decisions regarding their future living arrangements.

Success measures and updates

  • Recommendations for improvements utilizing data from the new UH&D demographics dashboard
    • Update spring 2020: Reports are being developed to capture student data at the time of contracting and for monitoring throughout the year.
    • Update spring 2022: Completed data gathering on student GPA and persistence by booking data. Found no disparity between URM and non-URM students.
    • Update spring 2023: Moved Young, Gifted, and Black from Slater Hall to Petersen Hall to manage LLC size better and provide opportunities for athletes to participate in activities.
  • Recommendations for improvements utilizing feedback from students
  • Review of equitability of room decisions and training for staff to ensure consistent application of policies and decisions
    • Update spring 2021: Student demographic data is currently being analyzed for deliberation on how we assign housing to students
    • Update spring 2022: Completed initial gathering on roommate changes and will analyze and validate in fall 2022
  • Document that supports students in making clear decisions about where to live based on all factors they should take into consideration
    • Update spring 2020: Information has been gathered regarding the cost of living off-campus
    • Update spring 2021: True cost of living on vs. off campus” analysis and recommendations were completed and presented to UH&D for implementation
    • Update spring 2022: In process fall of 2022

Recommendation

Involve more departmental staff in departmental and university committees and task forces.

Plan

  • Provide staff serving on division and university committees with appropriate authority for decision-making on behalf of the department.
  • Empower staff to actively participate and provide opportunities for ideas and feedback from all levels of staff.
  • Recommit to sharing information from department and unit leadership team meeting to all staff, ensuring consistent sharing of messaging through each level; provide more information on decisions made and why

Success measures and updates

  • Document for staff regarding expectations; utilization of decision-making matrix across UH&D
    • Update spring 2020: Document has been developed, approved, and provided to each unit director as each employee requests to serve on committees, work groups, or task forces.
    • Update spring 2021: Guiding principles for decision-making have been updated and provided to staff to use on committees and task forces.
    • Update spring 2021: Created talking points for decisions made to share with staff and presented in weekly messages to departmental staff.
    • Update spring 2022: Strategy complete.
  • Implement changes based on useful feedback from staff in various forums. Communication plan for sharing changes made based on feedback
  • Implementation of a communication plan that is timely, relevant, and provided to all staff without a change in the message
    • Update spring 2021: The communication plan for 2021-22 is in development, to be shared by August 1, 2021
    • Update spring 2022: Town halls will resume in fall 2022

Recommendation: improve co-curricular support for residential students

Plan

  • Continually review assessment data about the Residence Education Model to ensure it best meets the needs of individual communities.
  • Continue to refine Hawk Talks as a measure of successful student transition to the university and resource provision that improves their prospects for success.
  • Meet with students and staff to gauge their perspectives on program success and improvement.

Success measures and updates

  • Regular review of student success data for students living on campus
    • Update spring 2020: Currently assess the residence education model (REM) in a few key areas – Fall Feedback Survey, Hawk Talk data, and SWIPE. Assessment data is reviewed over the course of the year and used to make updates/changes moving forward. As we continue to integrate REM into more unit functions, assessment points will be added
    • Update spring 2021: Student demographic data is currently being analyzed to determine the impact of housing on historically underrepresented students
    • Update spring 2022: Completed review of housing assessment data and determined the need for further evaluation. A new assistant director was hired to oversee. REM is showing good results and is assessed annually.
    • Update spring 2023: REM model has been finalized and will be implemented for fall 2023. Ongoing assessment will continue to occur.
  • Integrate common Hawk Talk themes into the curriculum. Maintain or improve Skyfactor results around resident satisfaction.
    • Update spring 2020: Hawk Talks are a cornerstone of the current residence education model (REM) and are reviewed every year to keep current with student needs. In the fall semester, RAs documented a total of 9943 individual conversations with residents. 4875 of these talks focused on the students’ Excelling@Iowa survey results, identifying what the student thought about inclusive communities, and discussing the relationships students were building so far that semester. Another 4796 of these talks focused on understanding the student's experience with alcohol, including talking about reduction strategies and alcohol alternatives, discussing the student's academic prep for finals, and discussing the student's plans and goals for the spring semester.
    • Update spring 2021: Moving into our fourth year of REM, the educational plan for 2021-2022 academic year will be solidified in mid-July, with the goal of returning to in-person programming.
    • Update spring 2021: Associated Residence Halls changed their organizational structure during the pandemic to create different involvement opportunities, which will continue into fall 2021
    • Update spring 2022: REM topics have been determined and remain successful. Since the outset, REM has been established and is now a predictable and managed model.
  • Definitive plans for program improvement based on student feedback
    • Update spring 2020: No student focus groups were held this spring due to COVID-19. Residence Education leadership sat down with every Hall Coordinator and Assistant Director to discuss their understanding of the residence education model (REM) and their ideas for moving forward.
    • Update spring 2022: Change in structure to ARH continues to evolve with a reduction in the size of the executive board and the elimination of NRHH as an organization. RA Council will be reinvented and brought back for the next school year to establish a feedback loop.
    • Update spring 2023: Residence Education staff working on strategies to improve outcomes in Mayflower Hall to roll out in fall 2023.

Recommendation: provide additional support for our non-first-year students

Plan

  • Work with Transfer Think Tank on the needs of transfer students in the halls.
  • Assess the effectiveness of the second-year experience pilot operating in Catlett Hall.
  • Recruit and work with faculty interested in supporting residential students, and create events and opportunities for them to connect.

Success measures and updates

  • Process for gathering feedback and recommendations to improve transfer student success in residence halls
  • Analyze retention, GPA, and satisfaction data, Second Year Experience advisory group feedback, and portfolio response.
    • Update spring 2020: Compared data of all second-year students in residence halls to all second-year students for the fall semester. The number of returning students who chose to live in the Second Year Experience community for fall 2020 was low, and the community is not considered viable.
    • Update spring 2021: Second-year experience advisory group was disbanded, but the department continues to analyze retention, GPA, and satisfaction data from second-year students.
    • Update spring 2021: The number of students wishing to return to the residence halls exceeded 1000 even during the pandemic.
    • Update spring 2023: The second-year experience pilot operating in Catlett Hall is no longer a strategic priority.
  • Implement a robust faculty engagement program in residence halls
    • Update spring 2020: This is an ongoing effort in all LLCs. Leadership has connected with faculty members to assess how they might be more involved.
    • Update spring 2021: Residence Education staff continues to meet with LLC faculty sponsors to improve recruitment for the LLCs and for greater involvement.

Recommendation: create and maintain a strong partnership with divisional strategic partners

Plan

  • Conduct a SWOT analysis to review how processes are operating, providing evidence of how things have improved and what can be reviewed for adjustments.
  • Create a centralized onboarding program for new departmental employees beyond the typical onboarding and orientation processes at the unit level.
  • Assist the marketing team in identifying the needs of each unit in UH&D to allow marketing to prioritize and manage projects.

Success measures and updates

  • Stronger communication with divisional partners through a report and action items that are updated regularly
    • Update spring 2020: Turnover in the Division of Student Life Human Resources leadership and COVID-19 has tabled this option for the short term.
    • Update spring 2021: UH&D and SLC are working to redevelop our departmental calendar online, allowing for additions and changes to initiatives and dates.
    • Update spring 2022: Maintaining strong communication within the DSL team while all teams are short-staffed. Consider expanding outside the division.
  • Implement a staff onboarding program that aligns with UH&D and DSL priorities.
    • Update spring 2022: Units have their own onboarding program; looking to determine how to best integrate with other units that are short-staffed.
  • Annual marketing plans by unit. Processes in place to include communication and marketing in major projects
    • Update spring 2021: Student Life Communications staff are working with UH&D units to create 2021-22 marketing plans.
    • Update spring 2022: Draft marketing and communication plans are complete and will be shared with units as it becomes final.
    • Update spring 2023: Working on unit marketing plans for 2023-2024.

Priority: Strategize how to improve morale within staff

Plan

  • Work with university human resources to determine ways to improve compensation for staff.
  • In cooperation with HR, assess all current online processes and determine how to make them more accessible for staff without daily access to a computer.
  • Improve staff training to make them more competent and comfortable with their job responsibilities.
  • Promote staff touring newly constructed off-campus residential facilities in our community and on other campuses.
  • Improve professional development plan for staff focused on skill building for advancement in housing or another area of student life.

Success measures and updates

  • Increased wages for all staff
    • Update spring 2020: COVID-19 has put discussions with the Division of Student Life Human Resources and University Human Resources on hold.
    • Update spring 2021: Reclassified some merit staff to job categories that better reflect their job responsibilities, with a commensurate increase in pay.
    • Update spring 2021: Completed a market study of Residence Education salaries.
    • Update spring 2021: Supported an initiative to provide merit staff an additional salary increase above the collectively bargained increase.
    • Update spring 2022: Increased salaries to minimum $15/hr for merit staff; P&S staff received raises; some merit staff received decompression increase for merit with 3-8 yrs experience. More work is needed as inflation and market conditions have increased salaries.
    • Update spring 2023: Approved $2000 sign-on bonuses starting in May for new merit staff in housing and dining.  The new merit staff meal plan was approved in May; roll out will occur in June/July.
  • Processes are outlined online and updated regularly, and there is a communication plan to support staff in accessing processes online.
    • Update spring 2022: UI has continued to support remote work for those whose jobs allow it.
  • Updated training process
    • Update spring 2021: Departmental DEI group actively promoted education to leadership and was prepared to share supervisor self-assessment of confidence and competence in DEI conversations.
    • Update summer 2021: Utilized summer 2021 to create a staff training program for Dining.
    • Update spring 2022: Dining training specialist hired June 2022. Facility managers and facility services coordinators passed ISSA custodial certification.
    • Update spring 2023: A Dining training specialist is now working on training,
    • Update spring 2023: Created two onboarding guides for new P&S employees, with links and resources that are available within the university but can be missed by new hires. 
    • Update spring 2023: Created a tracking document for certifications not connected to Self-Service. This is maintained as a dining team, allowing everyone to know who is due for what certification. 
  • Hire staff to oversee staff training.
    • Update spring 2022: Determined this initiative is no longer part of our strategy.
  • Regular review of Working at Iowa results for change
    • Update spring 2021: Reviewed Fall 2020 Working at Iowa results to determine areas where we can improve the work environment of staff
    • Update spring 2021: When the annual departmental holiday event was canceled due to COVID, we pivoted to produce and deliver gift bags for all UH&D staff with a note thanking them for their hard work and dedication to the department and our students
  • Ideas from staff on renovations and new facilities on campus
    • Update spring 2023: Staff have participated in updates to renovation plans. Leadership and Ops teams have participated in discussions regarding new construction and the potential sale of a residence hall.
  • Low cost professional development model for P&S and merit staff
    • Update spring 2020: Created the Graduate and Team Development Committee. Revised an intentional graduate development plan for all graduate fellows within our unit. Created optional recreational events outside of normal business hours to boost team building and staff morale. Implemented a staff meeting agenda item that allowed staff to connect and learn more about each other over various topics. Fostered opportunities to connect in intramural and physical/mental activities.
    • Update spring 2021: Participated in group registrations to virtual housing conferences that allowed more staff to participate.