Responsibilities of the Position
Founded by Thomas Jefferson with a vision to advance human knowledge and cultivate leaders, the University of Virginia (UVA) blends historic purpose with modern innovation. At UVA, ideas grow and shape the future.
Reporting to the assistant vice president and executive director of housing and residence life, the director for housing assignments (director) provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for all aspects of student housing assignments, camps and conferences, occupancy management, room selection processes, and related customer service functions. This role ensures an equitable, efficient, and student-centered housing experience that supports institutional goals for recruitment, retention, and student success. The director collaborates extensively across the university and uses data-driven practices to optimize occupancy and operational performance.
The UVA housing and residence life portfolio encompasses approximately 110 residential buildings, including traditional residence hall rooms, suites, and apartment complexes. Residential students can participate in specific living and learning programs such as residential colleges and language immersion houses.
Other key responsibilities of the role:
- Oversee a team inclusive of the director of Conferences@UVA, assistant director of housing assignments, assistant director for conferences, two housing assignments coordinators, marketing coordinator, and approximately 30 student staff members working in conference services.
- Develop and implement comprehensive housing assignment strategies to ensure efficient occupancy management and to support enrollment planning, student success initiatives, and institutional priorities.
- Oversee the management of housing assignments, camps, and conferences, occupancy planning, forecasting, and data analytics to ensure optimal utilization of the housing inventory and efficient workflow.
- Oversee the management of Conferences@UVA, which coordinates all tasks and activities related to camps and conferences at the university.
- Evaluate and adjust assignment policies and procedures to align with best practices, legal requirements, and other considerations.
- Manage the full lifecycle of housing assignments, including applications, room selection, waitlists, and contract management.
- Ensure timely preparation and rollout of timelines, communications, and system updates.
- Manage and ensure effective use of housing management software and databases. Collaborate with university information technology (IT) and software vendors to maintain and enhance housing management systems.
- Serve as the subject matter expert for the StarRez Housing Management System and/or other systems directly supporting assignments and conferences.
- Oversee occupancy reporting and prepare data for leadership, finance, and facility partners.
- Ensure a high-quality, student-centered service experience through transparent processes and effective communication.
- Resolve complex or escalated concerns from students, parents, and campus partners with professionalism and empathy.
- Develop communication strategies around assignments, deadlines, policies, and appeals.
- Partner with the student disability access center (SDAC) to support housing accommodations based on disability or medical needs.
- Foster a culture of customer service excellence, continuous improvement, and professional development.
- Manage staffing structures, workload distribution, and team priorities.
- Continuously review and enforce housing policies, assignment guidelines, and contract terms, and analyze trends and emerging needs to recommend policy updates.
- Ensure compliance with Fair Housing, ADA, FERPA, and other applicable regulations.
- Contribute to revenue forecasting and housing demand analysis.
- Manage operational budgets related to areas of responsibility.
- Support long-range planning for housing expansion or renovation impacts on inventory.
- Advise the executive director and university leadership on matters relating to housing assignments, camps, and conferences.
- Represent housing and residence life on committees and special projects as needed.
Qualifications and Characteristics of the Successful Candidate
A bachelor’s degree in higher education, business administration, or a related field, and a minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in university housing, occupancy management, enrollment services, or closely related areas, are required. A master’s degree and experience in large, residential university settings, navigating housing operations during construction, renovation, or enrollment shifts, are preferred.
Candidates must demonstrate advanced proficiency with the StarRez housing management system and possess strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret data, develop reports, and support forecasting and decision-making. Evidence of effective communication, customer service, and conflict-resolution skills, as well as experience supervising staff within a complex, fast-paced operational environment, will also be important considerations in the selection of the next director.
In addition to the qualifications stated above, key stakeholders identified the following capabilities and attributes of a successful candidate:
- A strategic thinker with a detailed and analytical approach to managing complex housing processes (room selection, assignments, waitlists), and the ability to align housing assignment work with institutional goals.
- A professional who capably prioritizes the student experience through a student-centered mindset and utilizes a fair and inclusive approach to policy creation and decision-making.
- A collaborative leader who partners effectively with university stakeholders and housing and residential life team members to design and implement a comprehensive assignment process that accounts for intersecting priorities and operational needs.
- A skilled and experienced supervisor who can train, support, and encourage a professional staff team.
- An innovative thinker who can solve problems creatively and decisively.
Opportunities and Challenges of the Role
In transitioning to the University of Virginia, the director of housing assignments will encounter the following opportunities, priorities, and challenges, as shared by key campus stakeholders:
- With over 2,000 new non-UVA residential beds opening near the university in the coming years and no projected growth in incoming class size, housing demand will become significantly more competitive, requiring proactive efforts by housing and residence life, especially by the director of housing assignments.
- With approximately 750 new beds coming online in the fall of 2027, housing and residential life must actively increase demand for on-grounds housing; the next director must leverage strategic assignments and early, targeted marketing to boost student retention from 40 percent to 60 percent by encouraging students and families to choose on-grounds beyond the first year.
- The next director will be responsible for building a cohesive, high-performing team following the integration of the housing assignments and Conferences@UVA teams. They must establish a unified culture, strengthen collaboration, and align staff around the unit’s shared goals and priorities.
- UVA’s housing portfolio includes historical and newly built state-of-the-art facilities. The director will join a department with a strong working relationship with facilities management, no deferred-maintenance backlog, and a facilities plan for all necessary future upkeep.
- Conferences@UVA generates approximately over $2 million in annual revenue; the director will partner with the director of Conferences@UVA to identify innovative strategies to increase revenue and develop new income streams.
Measures of Success
The items listed below will define the director of housing assignment’s success throughout the first year of employment:
- The housing occupancy rate remains at 95-99 percent with a managed waitlist reflective of strong demand.
- The director has established and sustained strong cross-campus partnerships with key stakeholders, including admissions, student financial services, and the dean of students, while ensuring clear and timely communication of critical housing dates, processes, and timelines.
- A strong sense of ownership and accountability within the housing assignments and conference team is established, ensuring staff understand their contributions to, and alignment with, the broader mission and strategic vision of housing and residence life.
Overview of Housing and Residence Life
Housing and residence life (HRL) provides services and programmatic direction for on-grounds residents. With over 2.5 million square feet of residential building space, HRL strives to create welcoming communities that empower residents to engage their potential as scholars and leaders. HRL offers a variety of living environments, including traditional residence halls, suites, and apartment complexes, as well as opportunities to participate in specific living and learning programs such as residential colleges, language immersion houses, and a transfer student-focused community. More than 15,000 guests are extended the hospitality of university housing facilities through Conferences@UVA, which hosts conferences, camps, and academic programs at UVA each summer.
HRL’s residential program supports the goals of student self-governance. To this end, HRL recruits and selects upwards of 240 students to serve as peer leaders and a means of support for their fellow students.
Student Self-Governance
The University of Virginia prides itself on maintaining a residential program firmly rooted in the spirit of student self-governance. Selected student leaders are immediately allowed to lead within their residential community as first-year students through UVA’s Residential Leadership Experience and may be elected to represent their class as a member of the first-year council or to represent their residence hall in their respective association council.
Housing and Residential Life Staff
Housing and Residential Life Leadership
Ron Thompson
Ron Thompson is the recently named assistant vice president for student affairs and executive director of housing and residence life at UVA. He will assume the position effective April, 13, 2026. Thompson will continue the legacy of excellence as he provides strategic leadership for a residential system that houses students across the full arc of their undergraduate experience. His work reflects a deep understanding of the residential experience as central to student development, institutional mission, and the cultivation of belonging at scale. In this role, Ron will have a dual reporting line to the associate vice president for business services and the vice president and chief student affairs officer.
With over 25 years of experience in higher education and student affairs, Thompson will join UVA after nearly 15 years of progressive leadership experience at Furman University. At Furman, he led transformative initiatives in housing and residence life, strengthened organizational systems, and built high-performing teams grounded in trust and shared purpose. Thompson is recognized for developing comprehensive communication strategies that improve clarity, align stakeholders, and elevate both the quality of work and the strength of relationships. His leadership has consistently focused on creating conditions where students and staff can thrive, with particular attention to the long-term developmental impact of residential experience.
Thompson leads with an integrative leadership philosophy that connects vision, people, and systems. He approaches leadership as the work of bringing alignment across complex environments, ensuring that strategy, operations, and culture reinforce one another in service of meaningful outcomes. Complementing this philosophy is a deeply relational leadership style, in which he invests in people and believes that trust, care, and accountability are essential to building strong teams.
Thompson earned his bachelor of science degree in African American studies from Western Illinois University and a master of science degree in higher education administration from Eastern Illinois University. He previously served in other roles at Florida International University and Marquette University, as well as in the United States Marine Corps.
Learn more about housing and residence life at the University of Virginia.
The Office of Business Services
The office of business services is a unit reporting to the senior vice president for operations at the University of Virginia.
The mission of the business services units is to provide quality services at competitive prices in an attractive and comfortable environment to students, faculty, staff, and guests of the university.
The office of business services includes the following units:
- University mail services
- University bookstore
- Housing & residence life
- Parking and transportation
- Printing & copying services
- Cavalier card office
- Dining services
- Cavalier advantage
- Cavalier computers
Business Services Leadership
Gheretta Harris
Gheretta Harris is the associate vice president for business services at the University of Virginia, a position she has held since 2023. Prior to UVA, Harris served as Ferris State University’s associate vice president for campus auxiliary services. Harris’s career in higher education spans over 30 years, predominantly in purchasing and auxiliary services. She previously served as executive director of auxiliary and business services at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; director of purchasing and auxiliary services at Oakland Community College, which operates five campuses in Oakland County, Michigan; and as a purchasing agent at the University of Michigan.
The Division of Student Affairs
The division of student affairs at the University of Virginia consists of over 200 employees who work together, for and alongside students, to create a unique student experience for which UVA is known.
Student affairs seeks to be attentive to student needs, receptive to student feedback, and quick to pivot when solutions fall short. The division recognizes the reverberating impact of education on students’ personal and professional journeys and is determined to honor students’ time and trust by serving them well.
Housing and residence life and student affairs maintain a collaborative, dual-reporting partnership grounded in shared commitments to student success, empowerment, and self-governance. For more than 15 years, they have worked in close alignment to deliver a best-in-class student experience at UVA.
Student Affairs Leadership
Kenyon R. Bonner
Kenyon R. Bonner joined the University of Virginia as vice president and chief student affairs officer in January 2024. In this role, Bonner oversees a diverse portfolio, including, but not limited to, student health and wellness, housing and residence life, the career center, and areas reporting to the office of the dean of students. He and his staff support student self-governance, partnering with student leaders involved in the honor committee, the university judiciary committee, student council, class councils, and hundreds of other student-led organizations.
Bonner previously served as vice provost for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where he held various roles since 2004. He began his college journey at Washington and Jefferson College and has graduate degrees from Kent State and the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on student belonging.
Institutional Overview
The University of Virginia is a proudly public institution, consistently ranked among the best universities in the United States for excellence and value. UVA serves the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world by advancing knowledge and preparing students to be citizen leaders guided by empathy, integrity, and truth. The University of Virginia, founded in 1819, was the first of its kind. The University of Virginia’s world-class research programs advance knowledge and enable discoveries that enrich and improve lives. The University of Virginia comprises 12 schools in Charlottesville, the College at Wise in Southwest Virginia, and UVA Northern Virginia, representing nine UVA schools in Fairfax and two in Arlington, as well as a comprehensive health system and six pan-University research institutes. In the 25-plus years since U.S. News & World Report began ranking public universities as a separate category, UVA has appeared in the top five every year. The university has been a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) since 1904.
Learn more about UVA’s Lingo and Traditions here.
Student Body
Total Enrollment: 26,685
Undergraduate: 17,848
Graduate: 8,837
Male: 44%
Female: 56%
Virginian: 67%
Non-Virginian: 33%
Institutional Leadership
Scott Beardsley
Scott Beardsley became the tenth president of the University of Virginia on January 1, 2026. Having formally served as the dean of the UVA Darden School of Business, Beardsley was appointed by the board of visitors to focus on institutional leadership and building global relations. At the time of the board of visitors’ vote, Beardsley was the University’s longest serving active dean. As the dean for the UVA Darden School of Business, he led them to consistently being ranked among the top business schools in the world, and delivered historic levels of student success and academic excellence.
Throughout his career, Beardsley has successfully helped complex and large, global organizations thrive in the face of technology and strategic discontinuity. He has helped transform and deliver billions in impact for leading public and private sector educational, health care, professional services, and technology institutions. He is one of McKinsey’s most prolific global thought leaders, having worked with McKinsey Belgium until 2015. He was among the fastest ever to rise to senior partner.
Beardsley holds a doctorate in higher education management with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania, a master of business administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Tufts University. He is currently a part-time philosophy student at Oxford’s Pembroke College and a 2026 candidate for a master of studies in practical ethics (artificial intelligence).
Direct Reports to the President
Benefits Overview
Employees receive a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, retirement, paid leave, tuition assistance, and professional development opportunities. Click here to learn more about the benefits offered by the University of Virginia.
Application
Review of applications will begin on April 27, 2026, and continue until the position is filled. To apply for this position, please click on the Apply button, complete the brief application process, and upload your resume and position-specific cover letter. Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should contact Spelman Johnson at 413-529-2895 or email info@spelmanjohnson.com.
Visit the University of Virginia website at https://www.virginia.edu/
The University of Virginia does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, military status (including active duty service members, reserve service members, and dependents), national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information, in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and other applicable laws, statutes, and university policies. UVA prohibits sexual and gender-based harassment, including sexual assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence.
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