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3. About Residence Life

About Residence Life

To help our students lay the foundation for success while there are on campus and after graduation, we are committed to four core values in our daily living:

• Academic success
• Diversity/Social justice
• Involvement
• Community

Academic Success- We have a highly regarded and growing residential learning community program as well as a number of academic initiatives that are integrated into all of our residence hall communities. Examples of academic initiatives that our professional staff may work with include:

• academic advising offices located in the residence halls
• Connecting in-class and out of class learning through facilitation of study groups
• Residence hall classrooms where tutoring is provided in Math, Writing and Chemistry; and Technology Learning Centers

Diversity/Social Justice- One of the main goals of the Diversity Programs staff is to provide resources and services to traditionally underrepresented groups (i.e. students of color, international students, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students). Highlights of our resources and services include:

• Services are provided via student staff positions and programs offered within the Multicultural Student Center Satellite space
• Ultimate goal is to raise social justice consciousness and provide a supportive inclusive campus environment for all students
• The Diversity Programs staff sets initiatives and priorities in conjunction with all departmental staff

Involvement
We encourage and establish non-traditional Housing structures which ensure that residents can become involved at any time of the year, in various opportunities and in whatever capacity they seek. Some highlights include:

• Interest groups in each hall that are student-driven based upon the needs and social expectations of the community
• Collaboration with many campus offices to connect our students to the Union, Student Organization Office, Multicultural Student Center and Morgridge Center for Public Service (focused on community service and service learning)
• We strive to create leadership opportunities for our residents to grow and develop ascontributing citizens
• Each resident contributes $30 to the hall budget through their room fees which are used for hall programming

Community
Our residence hall staff members encourage and set high expectations for all residents to build healthy and thriving communities. These communities foster:

• student involvement
• academic success
• physical and emotional safety
• Supporting the needs of both the individual and the community
• Encouragement of residents to make decisions which support individual identities and the community as a whole
• Growth to become positive members of communities outside of University Housing