Moving in, moving through, and moving on helps us in determining what kinds of programs to plan that will most greatly benefit your residents based on where they are in school.

Moving In:  All first year students in their first semester are considered to be generally in this area. This is the transition from high school to college, learning what college is really about (and don’t say drinking and partying!). It’s learning about the campus, what we have to offer, learning about opportunities like SAIL, student organizations, the Career Center, Tutoring and academic resources, how to use the Portal and Blackboard, what it’s like living on campus and eating on campus, etc. You are welcoming them to campus and helping them get to know their new home.

Moving Through: All students starting in their second semester of their freshman year until about their last year of college are considered to be generally in this area. This is continuing to show them what the campus has to offer in the sense of internships, study abroad opportunities, volunteer and community service opportunities, leadership opportunities, etc. It’s also helping them in other areas of their lives, building friendships, learning to budget their time and money, time management, study skills, academic help, and other areas like developing character, morals, values, challenging beliefs, learning about politics, resume building, basically how to be a responsible adult within the campus community.

Moving On: All students in their last year of college are considered to be generally in this area. This is when students start preparing for life after college. They develop their resumes, sharpen their interview skills, start looking for jobs and planning for their first year after college. Students need to start preparing for their transition out of college and as an RA you can help this process by providing the information they need to succeed after college.

Your programs should be tailored to your residents, based on what stage of community with which you are working. No matter what stage you are working with, there are four areas (pillars) we, as HRE, commit to helping students find challenge, support, and growth. These pillars, and examples of areas of focus for each one, are laid out in the following chart. As you can imagine, each of these areas of focus can be approached through any of the Moving In/Through/On stages, and would simply result in a slightly different program, based on the level of knowledge and need of the residents.

It is also worth noting that your residents and community, though generally categorized above in an In/Through/On community, may actually be at different levels within these pillars. It is important to consider if your specific group of residents is just starting to think about a specific pillar, or if they are ready for more challenging or complicated concepts. For instance, we may have folks who choose to live in a Reach Out community, because they have lots of experience with civic engagement and working within a community, but who are just learning life skills (like laundry!) for the first time. In getting to know your residents on a personal level, you will be able to appropriately match the level of your programs to the level of your residents and their needs.