In this post I will be introducing a new research project, exploring how Residence Life approaches social media, including training new staff such as Resident Directors. To begin this research I started with an informal poll that turned into something much more substantial that I couldn't wait till a journal article, conference presentation or speaking engagement to share. Check out the full blog post here: http://wp.me/p5t7je-1Dx Watch the full training video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlBowWaHH_g

1. Your Digital Life
as a New Resident Director
Social media skills for new RDs
Inspired by survey results from current housing professionals
Collected & analyzed by Dr. Josie Ahlquist

2. Twitter Convo
#SAsome
@josieahlquist

3. Congratulations! 👏🏾
You have a new job 👍🏾
A new apartment 🏠
So what does this mean for your
digital life?📱 💻

4. Results from 73 housing professionals
about being a resident director and key
considerations about your digital life

5. Major themes
A “privacy” wake up call
Time to get professional
It’s ok to interact with students
Making digital decisions
Focus on building community online

6. #reslife Community

7. Years in the Field
4-6 Years 1-3 Years
7-10 Years
+15 Years
11-15 Years

8. Theme #1:
A privacy
wake up call

9. Privacy wake up call
“Privacy is an illusion.
You may think your account is private
and have set up all the privacy settings
possible. It always gets back to your boss
one way or another.
Think before you post.”
“A Resident Director has minimal privacy and
student access to social media postings may only
complicate the personal/professional boundaries.”

10. “I'm noticing professional branding as a bit of an issue
with my RD staff. They want to be seen as professional
but do not seem to be able to make the connection
between how talk, behave, post, etc. impacts their
professional persona.
Additionally, they seem well versed in talking to students
about appropriate social media behavior, but don't
always seem to walk the talk.”

11. Theme #2:
Time to go #SApro

12. “As a professional, you have a responsibility of building
your own brand, what you stand for and what you
support through your online activity. Regardless of who
you allow to follow you or type of account you have,
always know that at any point, what you put out there,
may BE OUT THERE for all to see, regardless of your intent
and account safe guards.”
Time to go #SApro

13. How did you learn to use social
media professionally?

14. Tweet-able
#SApro
Advice

15. Don't post anything that you
wouldn't want your boss to see
(even if they don't follow you). Your
professional identity needs to be
reflected in your social media
identity.
Remember all the warnings about
minding what you say in elevators
at placement exchanges? The
same holds true for Twitter.

16. Theme #3:
Interact with
Students

17. Interact with Students
(with healthy boundaries)
“Don't be afraid to be friends with your
students online as it helps them ultimately feel
more comfortable with you as a person. Help
students understand what their online
presence can do both bad/good in their
actual life.”

18. “I believe my social media presence is
important to my relationship with students. If I
want to get to know a student, I should be
willing to let the student get to know me; and
that involves opening the door to social media
connections.”

19. Social media philosophy
with students
Friend requests
from students
No social media
with students
Other

20. Challenges with students on
Social Media
Once per year
Monthly
Once per Semester

21. Tweet-able
#SApro
Advice

22. “The question isn't if you should be on
social media, it should be how you
decide to use it. Our students use it daily
and we are missing out on a huge
opportunity to interact with them if we
neglect to utilize this powerful tool.”
Don't be afraid to connect with
students via social media. If you are
comfortable communicating with
them face to face, then you should
be comfortable communicating with
them online. Treat the online
interaction as you would a face to
face interaction. -Greg Bowers

23. “We need to not be afraid
to interact with students on
social media. There are
healthy ways to set
boundaries without
needing to create a ghost
account.”
-Kathryn Magura
@kmagura

24. Theme #4:
Digital decisions
with ethics &
authenticity

25. “I inform my students that I am happy to connect with
them if they wish to add me, however that it's their
responsibility to make sure that they're conveying a
positive presence, particularly if they wish to connect with
me.”
“I will not request students (generally Resident Assistants),
but if they reach out to me, I will accept. I do generally
like to have a quick conversation-either in person on by
message about the fact that I can now see what they
post and to remember they reached out to me.”
Digital Decisions with
Ethics & Authenticity

26. “I accept FB requests from all students, but categorize
them into a limited viewing capability so that my personal
posts are not seen by them.”
“They can no longer be students at my institution.”
“I inform my students that I am happy to connect with
them if they wish to add me, however that it's their
responsibility to make sure that they're conveying a
positive presence, particularly if they wish to connect with
me.”

27. “If they want to connect with me, I accept since I don't
have anything to hide but I don't want to assume they're
comfortable with it. I'd assume they'd feel obligated to
accept any of my requests, so I tend to wait for their
request to me since it means they want to connect. I
appreciate being able to help celebrate their successes
that they share online, which is a big part of the decision
to connect.”
“My overall questions to myself are:
What is the worst thing that could happen?
Is it worth going through that just to avoid the
temporary awkwardness of addressing a friend request
denial?
If I'm struggling with my answer, I take the cautious route
and go with no.”

28. -If they are my staff members, I will accept them without
hesitation, explain my expectations off the bat, and
address any issues that arise.
-For other students, I base it off of the rapport I have built
with them, and my trust that they understand my
boundaries. I more often will deny a student through
Facebook, but instead connect with them on Twitter or
Linked In.

29. “Your social media presence should be
an authentic representation of who you
are as a professional and person. While no
platform is a completely accurate
representation of the complexities that
are a part of every person there should
be consistencies in your portrayal so be
authentic and professional as you
engage with others.”
“Don't limit your social media to
#studentaffairs or #reslife solely. You
are an RD, but there's more to you than
that and your
colleagues/friends/students will want to
see that.

30. “If you aren't the
same person in
real life as you are
in social media,
then you're doing it
wrong.”
@JoshuaTepps

31. Social media philosophy
with #reslife colleagues
Connect with
housing colleagues
on social media

32. #SApro Facebook Friends

33. #SApro Instagram Followers

34. #SApro Twitter Followers

35. Social Media training in
Residence Life

36. {New} RDs need to be trained,
socialized &/or educated on:
1. Community Building
2. Technology & Student Development
3. Digital Conflict Resolution Skills
4. Professional Branding
5. Social Media Strategy

37. Theme #4:
Build Community
Online

38. “A topic on community building with online tools has the
potential to be so powerful. Online communities do
"community building.” We HAVE to be able to translate
that in the residence halls!”
“There is a need for professionals to understand how
social media impacts our ability to build community.
Social media is merely an extension of all of our real,
physical communities now.”
Build Community Online

39. “Social media has become an
extension of the actual, physical
communities that exist on our
campus. We should be training our
student and graduate students how
to capitalize on this very important
community building tool.”
“Embrace social media as a powerful
tool to share information, celebrate
successes, and create community with
students as well as families. It's a
valuable and highly accessible platform
to engage with.”

40. Your identity on social media should
be a reflection of your identity in real
life. The closer these two identities
align, the greater the trust you can
build with students who have access
to both.
Technology is a tool. How we use or
abuse it determines it's effects on our
communities. Therefore, we must
teach about technology just as we
would any other substance or tool.

41. Wish List for Resident Directors
all educators really…
• Be an ethical & authentic digital role model
• Reflect on & apply a digital decision making
model to your practice
• Integrate your whole self in-person & online
• Seek out skills for community building
methods through technology

42. Be part of this
research!
Go to http://bit.ly/RDdigitalWishList
Email info@josieahlquist.com
Tweet out #SAsome

43. www.josieahlquist.com
info@josieahlquist.com
@josieahlquist
/josieahlquist/