ResLife Information

Our Why | Our Staff | Frequently Asked Questions

OUR WHY

Welcome from the Director

Welcome to your spot at Indiana State University! We are thrilled that you have chosen to become a Sycamore and we look forward to welcoming you to the neighborhood over the next four years.

Our Commitment to You:

It's our job to create a sense of home for you, and to help you learn, excel, and grow as people, as students, and as young professionals. We also want to make sure that your living environment is safe and comfortable and helps to support your academic success. As part of our commitment to you, we promise to:

•     To role model a passion for community living and the development of you as a student.
•     To demonstrate at all times ethical and professional behavior in our work with you.
•     To show strong financial stewardship of the resources you have provided us through your food and housing dollars.
•     To be responsive to the needs of our community through the sharing of timely information, open communication, a desire to listen to feedback, and an openness to make changes based on your feedback.
•     To communicate our expectations for living in our community to you as a student, to your parents and families, and members of our own staff and faculty.
•     To strive to create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community where all members of our community are celebrated. We promise to be advocates and allies in the important work of overcoming barriers and oppression to create a more inclusive and just global society.
•     To develop mutually beneficial relationships with our campus partners that lead to opportunities to connect what you are learning inside the classroom with your lives outside the classroom.
•     To promote sustainable behaviors around the triple bottom line (social justice, environmental sustainability, and financial sustainability).
•     To regularly assess and evaluate our programs and services in an effort to continuously improve our program and services.

Our Expectations of You:

We expect each member of our community to:

•     Take responsibility and ownership for your own experience.
•     To strive to be successful academically, personally, and professionally.
•     To your fellow community members.
•     To recognize, respect, accept, and appreciate individual rights and differences in people, ideas, cultures, and identities.
•     To explore your own sense of self.
•     To be civil in your communication and to work out differences in a manner that demonstrates respect for yourself and the person with whom you are having a conflict.

Our Dream for You:

It starts with a dream.
Add faith,
and it becomes a belief.
Add Action,
and it becomes a part of life.
Add Perseverance,
and it becomes a goal in sight.
Add patience and time,
and it ends
with a dream come true.
By Zoe Zantamata

Please contact any Residential Life team member if you have any questions or concerns. Our primary role is to support your success.

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Educational Priority

Through living in community together at Indiana State University, students will explore, practice, and act as engaged citizens of the world.

Mission

Connecting people by providing quality residential facilities, services, and learning opportunities.

Vision

We provide residential communities where students live with purpose, learn through experiences, and lead with integrity.

Values

Values: Inclusion | Sustainability | Social Awareness | Life-Long Learning | Innovation | Engagement | Well-being

OUR STAFF

Student Staff

Resident Assistants (RA): 

The mission of the RA is to create a welcoming and inclusive community for all residents living in their building community. Being an RA involves building personal connections, getting to know your community and being there for them as a resource. The RA is also responsible for supporting department curriculum initiatives, mediating conflicts, supporting building safety, working the front desk, serving on the student staff on-call rotation, assisting with building administrative tasks and duties, along with ongoing training, and more.

Social Justice Educator (SJE):

The mission of the Social Justice Educator is to create educational opportunities in partnership with our residential community that foster self-exploration, facilitate conversations across difference and support actions that create social change on campus. The position requires a strong commitment to the principles of and action for social justice. The SJE is responsible for the implementations of residential curriculum, supporting and developing initiatives for inclusive excellence, helping mediate conflicts over differences, working the front desk, serving on the student staff on-call rotation, assisting with building administrative tasks and duties, along with ongoing training, and more.

Desk Manager/Desk Attendant:

The Indiana State University (ISU) Office of Residential Life Student Desk Staff includes Student Desk Managers (DM) and Student Desk Attendants (DA) as members of the department. They work in a residence hall or apartment setting and are collectively supervised by the Assistant Director of Desk Operations or work in the central Residential Life Office under the supervision of the Residential Life Office Coordinator. The role of the desk staff is to support student success with great customer service to residents, students, faculty, staff, and all visiting guests.  Additionally, all desk staff will support the departmental educational priority to support the growth and development of students in the areas of Self-Efficacy, Inclusive Excellence, and Professional Success within the residential communities. The Desk Staff positions convey to residents the philosophy and policies of the Office of Residential Life and Indiana State University, and also help represent the voice, personal growth, and success of students to the administration. The following are basic expectations of the Desk Staff.