Marquette University RA Inservice September 2016 Includes slides from Roompact regarding roommate agreements

1. RA INSERVICE
SEPTEMBER 2016

2. MU Homecoming

3. Training
Roompact
ROOMMATE
AGREEMENTS
AND MEDIATIONAudience: All Staff

4. Hi! I’m Wolfe.
I’ll be your guide through this training about how to
use the Roommate Agreements feature and utilize it in
meetings and potential mediations.

5. Session Outcomes
As a result of this session, participants will be able to…
• Describe all of the components of a Roommate Agreement.
• Teach and guide roommates though completing the Roommate Agreement.
• Utilize a Roommate Agreement in a mediation or meeting.

6. Agenda
• Why Roommate Agreements
• Residents Complete Roommate Agreements
• Viewing Roommate Agreements
• Mediating Roommate Conflict
• Review and Assess

7. First
Let’s Discuss Why Roommate
Agreements Are Important

8. You might be familiar with the
roommate agreement in the
popular TV show, The Big
Bang Theory…

9. Meant to be comical,
Sheldon and
Leonard’s roommate
agreement has a
number of funny
clauses…

10. Body Snatchers Clause:
Leonard will help Sheldon destroy
someone who they know that has been
replaced by an alien pod.
Unnamed Clause: Leonard will name Sheldon as his
sidekick if Leonard obtains superpowers
Friendship Clause:
Sheldon will take Leonard swimming to Bill
Gates' house should he ever be invited.
Addendum J:
When Sheldon showers second, any and all
measures shall be taken to ensure an
adequate supply of hot water.
Unnamed Clause: Any changes in furnishings have to be approved by the
furnishing committee (who is Sheldon) which meets on alternate years.

11. Roommate Agreements, however, serve a
number of important functions…
Ensure roommates discuss
expectations and understand
what’s important to one
another.
Help preempt potential conflicts
before they occur.
Provide staff with a tool to help in
mediating conflict and making conflict
about behaviors rather than individuals.
Teach
students
negotiation
and
collaboration
skills and how
to clarify
values and
compromise.

12. The Roompact Software helps this process…
But the staff member is still integral to…
• Ensure residents take the process
seriously—spending time discussing the
agreement.
• Discuss potential areas of conflict with
residents that they may not have thought
about.
• Help residents understand the importance of
this tool and the outcomes surrounding it.

13. Completing a
Roommate Agreement
What does the process look like to a resident?

14. RESIDENT VIEW
Upon logging in for the first time, residents will receive a reminder that they need to complete
their Roommate Agreement.

15. RESIDENT VIEW
Residents can also access this reminder from the Incomplete Tasks tab from the Hub.

16. RESIDENT VIEW
Residents
can begin
by using the
Agreement
Helper.
They should
complete
this
together.

17. RESIDENT VIEW
The Agreement Helper guides the residents
through the process question-by-question.

18. RESIDENT VIEW
Although residents may skip any question,
they will be prompted to answer why.

19. RESIDENT VIEW
Once complete, residents can review,
modify and sign their Agreement.

20. RESIDENT VIEW
Residents can modify their
answers or add custom
categories unique to them!

21. RESIDENT VIEW
To complete the process,
residents can log into their
individual accounts to sign.

22. RESIDENT VIEW
Later on, at any point in the semester,
roommates can propose changes to the
agreement. Residents should always
discuss this in person first. You can also
use this as a tool when mediating conflicts.

23. RESIDENT VIEW
Changes will be made on this screen. Residents can add or modify. Then they must sign the Agreement again.

24. Viewing Agreements

25. The Search Bar…
You can access Roommate Agreements by searching for a Resident or Room.
OR

26. Access agreements by
View Buildings → View Floor
(depending on your level of access)

27. You will see an overall status indicator at the top of
your Floor page.

28. Access agreements by
View Buildings → View Floor
(depending on your level of access)
A “checked box” means the agreement is complete.

29. After accessing a room page, there is a tab for Roommate Agreement.

30. Here you can Review, Download, or Reset
a Roommate Agreement.

31. Scroll to Review.

32. Download to print or email as an attachment.
TIP: If you’re sitting down with residents to
do a mediation. You may want to print a
copy so you can all review it together.

33. Reset can be used to unlock the Agreement. Residents will
need to update/complete the Agreement again…

34. When you Reset the Agreement, you have the option to
include a note that is emailed to the resident along with
the notification.
TIP: Successful
staff members
discuss this with
the residents
in-person before
sending.

35. Mediating A Conflict

36. During the course of the school year, roommate
conflicts will occur.The Roompact software
complements with this process, but cannot
replace person-to-person dialogue.

37. How can you leverage Roompact
Software in mediating conflicts?
•Meet with the roommates in-person. Print a copy of the Agreement to
review.
•Document issues in a Room Note (only viewable to staff) in case your
supervisor receives a call from a parent or needs to access updates
quickly.
•Use the Alert Staff feature to notify relevant staff quickly.

38. Green means #good
Yellow means #ok
Red means #bad
By default, all your rooms are visually represented as “#green,
but they can be changed.

39. When a roommate conflict occurs
(or any other issue arises) you can
change the room status/color, and
make a note of it in the system.

40. Remember to keep your comments brief,
but with enough detail so others
understand what is occurring. Be factual.
Avoid giving opinions or making guesses.

41. The “Alert Staff” feature allows you to quickly message a staff member about a
resident or room, even if you don’t know who the relevant contact is.

42. Name one of the important
goals/functions of a
Roommate Agreement?
Question

43. 1. Ensure roommates discuss
expectations.
2. Preempt conflicts
3. Teach skills like negotiation,
values clarification, and
compromise
4. Provide staff with a tool for
mediation
Answers

44. Can residents skip
questions on the
Roommate Agreement?
Question

45. Yes, but they will be
asked to provide a reason
why. You should review
these skipped questions
with them.
Answer

46. True or False.
Roommate Agreements
can be accomplished
entirely online.
Question

47. FALSE.
Roommates completing it and
discussing it in-person and
reviewing the agreement with a
staff member in-person is an
important part of the process.
Answer

48. Methods of approach

49. Discuss:
How should I prepare for the roommate
agreement?

50. Preparation
• Set up a time with all roommates
• Review the agreement in advance
• Send back edits in advance
• Note any concerns you have seen
• Write down questions and Notes
• Concerns
• confirmations

51. Discuss:
How do I start the agreement conversation?

52. Start the conversation
• Example:
The agreement is just the beginning of the
conversation. I want to help you be
successful as roommates. In-person
conversation is important so that I can be
a support person to you.

53. The roommate agreement

54. Not a question of if
but when

56. Psychology of
Conflict

57. Hot
• 3 situations create heat:
• Controversial/Limited info
• High Uncertainty
• High Stakes
• Emotional
• Quick
• Heat of the moment
Cool
• Pure task
• Facts + reasoning
• Deliberate
• Careful
• Self-regulated

58. IdentifyNatureofConflict
Understand
types of
conflict
Modelgoodcommunication
OARS Skills
Thoughtful
statements
Thoughtful
questions
Seek
understanding
Identifysharedgoals
What is in
common
Overcome
attribution
errors
Critical to
creating trust
Encouragedifficultconversations
Authenticity
Resilience
Work to
move through
ideological
differences

59. Prep for community
development

60. Expectations for
continued
inclusivity traning

61. Fin.