Description:
This course is designed to help entry-level (three years or less) residence life staff, especially those who are starting their first professional position, develop needed skills that will help make them successful. The critical skills needed include:

• Effectively supervising staff, including setting the tone right from the start, writing action-oriented goals and evaluations, coaching, and disciplining staff
• Handling being the "new kid on the block"
• Improving interpersonal communication skills
• Running successful staff meetings
• Motivating staff
• Holding staff accountable
• Effectively managing multiple priorities
• Maintaining balance in your life
• Tips for managing crises that may arise

Course Outline:
Week I will examine the following topics:

• What do you need to get out of this course?
• Using your "honeymoon" period effectively
• Establishing yourself as a supervisor instead of an outsider
• Effectively managing multiple priorities

• Staff supervision skills, including setting the tone, writing action-oriented goals and evaluations, coaching, disciplining, and motivating staff
• Tips for running effective meetings
• The importance of having strong written and verbal communication skills and ways to improve them

• How do you hold your staff accountable for what they do or don't do?
• Important tips for appropriately managing crises
• Academic year stressors to watch out for
• Finding balance in your life so work does not become your life

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Be better prepared to step into their positions (or get refreshed in continuing positions), and appropriately and confidently handle basic supervisory responsibilities
• Learn steps for making powerful presentations, both verbally and in writing
• Be mindful of their own accountability as it relates to others and articulate steps to take to help subordinate staff be accountable for their actions
• Gain knowledge of some steps to keep in mind before, during, and after a crisis
• Verbalize major stressors that occur during the academic year and develop strategies to help reduce them
• Develop strategies to ensure they maintain a balanced lifestyle between work and personal time

Instructor Bio:
Joanne Goldwater has been working in residence life since 1987. She worked at Western Maryland College (now known as McDaniel College) and is currently at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Before coming to work in higher ed., she worked at the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf. As the Associate Dean of Students, Joanne supervises the Health Center, Counseling Center, Residence Life, and manages the after-hours On-Call system, and teaches sign language classes. She is a MACUHO past president, a former ACUHO-I Research and Education Foundation trustee, served as an ACUHO-I Eastern District Representative and past chair of the ACUHO-I Women's Issues Network and the Small College Network, and is currently the MACUHO Archives Coordinator. Joanne is the recipient of the 2003 ACUHO-I Herstory Award and the 2005-2006 Omicron Delta Kappa Robert Morlan Faculty Secretary of the Year Award. She has written articles for Reslife.Net and Residence Life Executive as well as made keynote speeches and numerous presentations at regional and national conferences. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Regional Entry-Level Institute (RELI) based in the MACUHO/NEACUHO regions, and authored the "Regional Entry-Level Institute: A Guide for Success" for ACUHO-I.

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