Responsibilities of the Position
Reporting to the dean of student affairs at Prescott College, the director of housing and residence life (HRL) assumes responsibility for all facets of the college’s housing operations and residential student engagement. This responsibility encompasses supervision, assignments, student support, academic partnerships, and various administrative duties essential for a robust residential life program. Currently, the campus accommodates approximately 150 residential students across one LEED Platinum certified, 122-bed facility, and one apartment community.
The director is responsible for the comprehensive logistical management of the residence halls year-round. Moreover, the director is tasked with organizing and conveying protocols for significant events, including move-in, move-out, returning student reapplication process, and the new student housing application process. The director is responsible for conference housing, including scheduling limited-residency students during colloquiums and hosting local conference groups. The director must strategize plans to facilitate seamless transitions across all areas.
By overseeing and providing direct supervision and support to residential life staff and collaborating across departments within the college, the director must achieve the overarching objectives of nurturing a welcoming community for all residents. The director supervises one full-time resident life coordinator, one office assistant, and a team of five resident assistants.
Additionally, the director for housing and residence life will:
Supervision and Leadership
- Train, supervise, and collaborate with the resident life coordinator and other student employees.
- Coordinate and lead weekly staff meetings with the HRL team to ensure effective communication, collaboration, and alignment of goals and initiatives.
- Plan, supervise, and co-facilitate ongoing resident assistant training and development.
- Serve as the designated representative for the HRL department on campus, ensuring that the department’s perspectives and interests are represented and advocated for in relevant discussions and decision-making processes.
Residence Operations and Management
- Manage the annual housing application and assignment process.
- Manage the logistical aspects of occupancy, which includes handling room change requests, coordinating room turnovers, and preparing occupancy reports.
- Create detailed guidelines and schedules outlining the steps and deadlines for opening and closing the residence halls, including room inspections, key distribution, check-in/out procedures, and facility maintenance.
- Supervise and conduct health and safety inspections.
- Monitor expenditures for residential operations.
- Utilize the Schlage/SMS database system to manage key access.
- Utilize Power Campus and other college software to perform work responsibilities.
- Utilize SLATE, the college’s content management system, to manage the housing application process.
- Coordinate summer conference housing.
- Support limited-residency students who arrive for campus colloquia and symposiums.
- Oversee the accommodation of overflow residential students from neighboring universities.
- Maintain the Prescott College student housing policy and procedure handbook.
Student Support, Development, and Academic Collaboration
- Offer guidance and refer residents to suitable professional and academic services as needed.
- Create a safe and inclusive residential community that supports student success, is alert to student behavioral needs, and promotes necessary social connections.
- Serve as a student conduct officer.
- Collaborate closely with facilities management to bolster student development and academic success by ensuring proactive and timely maintenance of residential facilities.
- Collaborate with other academic departments to create, support, and facilitate living and learning communities.
Safety and Security
- Collaborate with university risk management and facilities to enhance resident safety and security.
- Coordinate 24-hour, on-call emergency coverage, including weekends and holidays.
- Instruct staff in safety and security protocols, including participating in simulations and emergency drills, and conducting fire drills.
- Respond to emergencies or crises on an as-needed basis.
- Recommend improvements in policies and procedures to enhance safety and security.
Qualifications and Characteristics of the Successful Candidate
A bachelor’s degree and previous housing or residence life experience are required. A master’s degree in college student personnel or higher education administration and supervisory experience is strongly preferred.
A successful candidate should have or be able to acquire knowledge of department and college policies. They must demonstrate excellent proficiency in efficiently managing high-volume administrative tasks. Additionally, they should be adept at working collaboratively within a diverse environment and be proactive in enhancing residence life and student retention. Effective verbal and written communication skills are essential, as is the ability to make sound decisions.
In addition to the qualifications stated above, key stakeholders identified the following capabilities and attributes of a successful candidate:
- Experience working with diverse populations and a commitment to a just, sustainable, and inclusive community.
- Ability to handle crises and emergencies calmly and keep the care of the community in mind.
- Experience mediating conflict and providing conflict resolution.
- Shows adeptness in handling evolving priorities and challenging circumstances with resilience and flexibility.
- Demonstrates the capacity to work autonomously or collaboratively within a team setting.
- Maintain a high energy level and positive attitude, communicate effectively, and manage multiple priorities.
- The ability to build strong residential communities, which integrate academic and co-curricular priorities to support student success and engagement.
- Adhere to a student-centered approach in all aspects of residence life management, including prioritizing the needs, preferences, and well-being of students in decision-making processes, program development, and daily operations.
History of the Position
Prescott College welcomed a new president in 2021 who developed a strong focus on the student experience, and as part of this focus re-envisioned the division of student life, a new dean for student affairs was hired in January of 2024 to continue the development of the student experience. The division of student life is now concentrating on the student residential experience and seeking a new director for housing and residence life. This individual will lead the redesign and advancement of an on-campus residential community that authentically reflects Prescott College’s values.
Opportunities and Challenges of the Role
In transitioning to Prescott College, the director for HRL will encounter the following opportunities, priorities, and challenges, as shared by key campus stakeholders:
- As a non-traditional institution of higher education, Prescott College’s housing and residence life department experiences patterns of move-in, move-out, and turnovers throughout the year. The incoming director must swiftly master coordinating administrative procedures to maintain organized, student-centered experiences throughout these transitions.
- There is a significant opportunity to mold the trajectory of residence life at Prescott College. The campus’s intimate setting lends itself well to fostering a robust residential community deeply intertwined with learning and aligned with Prescott’s College’s mission. The next director must craft a living and learning model that seamlessly aligns with the needs and values of the scholars who consider Prescott College their home away from home.
- The incoming director must prioritize revising and reviewing existing policies, calendars, and expectations across the entire housing and residence life department.
- All facilities and maintenance concerns are managed through a centralized facilities department. The college has an online work order system used to notify facilities of concerns across the campus, including student housing. The director must immediately prioritize a strong working relationship with campus facilities. A proactive, consultative and collaborative relationship with the director of facilities will be necessary to address maintenance and facilities concerns that impact the living environment for residential students.
- The director must find avenues to assess the full life-cycle of the student experience, and develop a strategic, student-centric, and forward-thinking vision for the department.
Measures of Success
The items listed below will define the new executive director’s success throughout the first year of employment:
- The director has collaborated with the dean of student affairs to identify and prioritize professional and organizational goals. Throughout the first year, the director has devised a strategic plan to achieve these goals over a defined timeframe.
- The director has hired a permanent resident life coordinator and has begun to build a robust residence life team to meet the needs of Prescott College students.
- A strong relationship has been forged with campus partners, and the director understands key campus dates, events, and expectations due to their intentional, collaborative approach.
- The director is a prominent representative of housing and residence life, embodying its values and principles.
- The residential experience, under the director’s leadership, has become highly sought after.
- The director has established a strong partnership with facilities management and, together, they have started to strategically address pressing short-and long-term facilities needs.
Overview of the Department of Housing And Residence Life
At Prescott College, housing and residence life offers a distinctive on-campus living experience. The residence life program is tailored to foster a sense of belonging, forge connections among residents, and optimize their Prescott College journey. With support from trained staff, residents are empowered to flourish in a sustainable and inclusive community.
In 2012 the college constructed student housing, called The Villages, which attained platinum LEED certification, the highest level in the standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building exterior is corrugated steel, which is versatile, innovative and energy efficient, and solar panels support 60 percent of the total KWh consumed by the residence halls. Since 2016, the college has been purchasing one hundred percent of the electricity used on campus from renewable sources.
The Villages accommodates 122 residents throughout multiple two-story suite-style apartments, each housing six to eight students. The second residential complex, called The Cottages, houses approximately 30 residents in several studio-style apartments. The Cottages are clustered into two areas, Tsegi and Cholla. In 2022, the college reconditioned the Tsegi portion of this complex.
The landscaping is dotted with native dryland plant species that do not require intensive irrigation and cisterns catch rainwater for the irrigation of food producing landscaping. The campus has compiled a list of energy efficiency measures and is reinstating two on-campus rainwater catchment systems.
The Villages and The Cottages are located within walking distance of each other and located in, what the college refers to as, the “Activities Zone,” because of the area’s proximity to student clubs and other hubs of student activity.
More about Housing and Residence Life here.
Institutional Overview
Prescott College, founded in 1966, has over a half-century of leadership in developing and refining experiential and online educational models that have kept the college at the forefront of institutions seeking to address urgent issues currently facing human societies. Collaborative learning, multidisciplinary studies, and experiential and field-based learning are hallmarks of the Prescott educational experience. Enrolling approximately 1,000 students annually in both on-campus and online programs, Prescott offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Prescott students are educators, activists, counselors, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs—all of whom are eager to make a difference in their local and global communities. Prescott is proud to serve a diverse student body that is passionate about making a long-lasting impact on society and the environment.
Prescott College currently serves 700 online graduate students, and a combined total of 300 undergraduate students, including 100 undergraduates who exclusively pursue their studies online. The campus houses approximately 150 residential students in one residence hall and one apartment community.
Prescott College is located in Prescott, Arizona in north central Arizona and situated approximately 95 miles southwest of Flagstaff and 100 miles northwest of Phoenix. The city of Prescott has a vibrant downtown area and a strong arts community.
Michelle Relyea
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Institutional Leadership
Michelle Relyea, dean of student affairs at Prescott College, has over 26 years of experience as a successful administrator specializing in student affairs and student success. Relyea began her role at Prescott College in January of 2024.
Before joining Prescott College, Relyea was the founding senior vice president for student success at The New School in New York City. Relyea laid the foundation for a new organization to enhance the student experience. Her work included reimagining the division, its structure, and the support provided to students by creating a new set of student policies and programs for the university’s New York City and Paris, France campuses.
During her seven years at The New School, Relyea established a comprehensive student success division that integrated academic advising, student conduct, student support and crisis management, residential life, Title IX, and other departments.
Relyea previously spent 15 years at Long Island University (LIU) in Brooklyn, NY, where she served as the dean of student development and retention. Among her many accomplishments at LIU, she led the restructuring and reorganization of academic and instructional resources into the office of student development and retention to create a fully integrated suite of programs, services, and support through the student’s lifecycle.
Learn more about the division of student affairs here.
Dr. Barbara Morris
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Institutional Leadership
Prescott College’s 18th president, Dr. Barbara Morris, joined Prescott College in 2021 after serving as the associate vice provost and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the State University of New York (SUNY) System. SUNY is the largest university system in the United States, comprising 64 institutions and serving over a million students from diverse backgrounds. Morris led education reform across the SUNY campuses as well as efforts to expand Indigenous learning and support systems.
Prior to her work at the SUNY System, Morris served as president of SUNY Oneonta. One-third of SUNY Oneonta’s students are first-generation and come from under-represented backgrounds. While at Oneonta, Morris launched a $25 million comprehensive campaign, secured funding for a general education pathway for students, and received the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Excellence and Innovation Award for Sustainability and Sustainable Development.
With her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State and advanced degrees from the University of California Santa Barbara, Morris has taught courses on American foreign policy; gender, power, and public policy; and political activism. Her recent work includes co-authoring Recreating the Circle: The Renewal of American Indian Self-Determination, with LaDonna Harris and Dr. Stephen M. Sachs. Additionally, Morris was president of the Race and Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.
Learn more about the organizational structure of Prescott College here.
The Student Body (Fall 2022)
Total Enrollment: 974
Undergraduate: 317
Graduate Enrollment: 657
Male: 36%
Female: 64%
Minority Enrollment: 15%
White: 66%
Black: 4%
Asian: 4%
Hispanic: 4%
American Indian: 2%
Two or more races: 1%
International: 1%
Application Process
Review of applications will begin Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 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.
The public salary range is $55,000.00 – $60,000.00 annually.
Visit the Prescott College website at: https://www.prescott.edu/
Prescott College will not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, student, or applicant for admission on the basis of the following: race, religion, hearing status, personal appearance, color, sex, pregnancy, political affiliation, source of income, place of business, residence, religion, creed, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, disability, age, marital status, family responsibilities, sexual orientation, gender, veteran or military status, predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected category under applicable local, and state or federal law.
Prescott College is committed to Equal Opportunity Employment and supports excellence through diversity. We encourage qualified applicants from historically underrepresented groups along with Veterans and AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service alumni to participate in our recruitment efforts.