Residence Life Office

Residence Hall Living

The residence halls are a vital part of the collegiate experience and an integral part of the College’s mission.  At SUNY Potsdam, students spend a major portion of their time at college outside of the classroom, and the residence halls are at the center of the students’ day-to-day life. The College’s Residence Life Department believes that a residence hall should contribute to the student’s educational and personal growth. At the core of this philosophy is the sense of community, which staff members strive to create in the halls.  While students may not always agree, you are expected to treat every member of the College community with respect, especially the hall staff, and comply with their requests.   Cooperation, commitment to the welfare of the group, and a sense of responsibility to self and others define this community that develops as a result of living and learning together.  We believe the essence of this commitment can be seen in the residence halls, which provide an opportunity for exchanging divergent views and beliefs and sharing in the diversity of our campus community.

The key element to a successful residential experience is the willingness to get involved. You can have an impact on the direction of your hall and the College through your participation in activities. We hope that you make the most of this opportunity by accepting the challenge and responsibility of being an active and concerned member of the residential community.


Mission

The Department of Residence Life Office at SUNY Potsdam provides a safe and clean environment, resourceful staff, and learning experiences for the members of our residential community in pursuit of their educational goals.


Vision

We aspire to be a distinctive educational community where intentional student learning is our focus.  We will be a catalyst for student excellence by providing staff, facilities, services, programs, and activities that foster student retention and success.

  • We will provide facilities that are accessible, modern, sustainable, and technologically advanced.

  • We will provide staff who are dedicated, knowledgeable, well-trained, supportive, professional, and diverse.

  • We will provide a variety of social and educational programs and activities.

 

The Staff

  • Director of Residence Life
    The Director of Residence Life coordinates all aspects of our housing process, both new and returning students and manages the occupancy of the halls after opening.  The Director works on single requests (including medical singles) and petitions for releases and exemptions from our residency requirements.  The Director works with the Physical Plant staff on renovations of existing buildings, summer projects, enhancement of the facilities, and new construction projects.  S/he is involved in overseeing various budgets.  S/he is ultimately responsible for maintaining the educationally based residence hall communities that are conducive to both living and learning.  As such, the Director will be involved with the resident student discipline process and emergency on-call coverage.  The Director supervise the office support staff as well as the other professional staff in the Central Office.

  • Assistant Director of Residence Life for Housing & Operations
    The Assistant Director is Residence Life’s liaison with the Physical Plant staff and helps to ensure safe and clean residential facilities.  In addition, the Coordinator is responsible for such things as storage areas, damage billing, and the keyless entry system.  S/He coordinates housing for periods of time when classes are not in session (i.e. early arrivals, breaks and summer), as well as for visitors to the campus, (i.e. graduation and conferences).  S/he is also involved in the housing process, summer projects, and coordinates the equipment replacement process.
  • Assistant Director of Residence Life for Staff & FYE
    The Assistant Director is responsible for a majority of the staff in the department. S/he directly supervises the full-time Residence Directors, part-time Graduate Residence Directors, and indirectly supervises the Resident Assistants and Mentors.  The Director oversees the coordination of the recruitment, selection, training and evaluation of all of the RD staff.  In addition, the Assistant Director coordinates the First Year Experience (FYE) program and is responsible for FYE staff training and development, large-scale program planning, and the Residential Fellows program.
  • Program Coordinator
    The Program Coordinator is responsible for the ongoing development and enhancement of the educational program within the residence halls.  S/he coordinates student and staff leadership development through organizing various training programs including RA/Mentor Fall, January, In-service, and Pre-Service Training.  In addition, the Program Coordinator organizes ongoing appreciation events and provides development opportunities for student leaders and staff.  S/he oversees staff programming, develops programming resources and organizes large-scale campus programs.  The Program Coordinator leads our RA and Mentor Selection process as well.    
  • Residence Hall Director
    The Residence Hall Director (RD) lives in and is the primary person responsible for managing a residence hall environment and supervising the residence hall student staff (RAs and Mentors).  There are 9 RDs who are directly supervised by the Director of Residence Life.  The positions are split between full-time RDs and part-time graduate RDs.  The RDs coordinate many of the activities within the Department of Residence Life and aids in processes such as room selection. The RDs are involved with programming, housing, discipline and maintenance requests, etc. in their assigned residence hall.
  • Resident Assistant
    The Resident Assistant (RA) is probably one of the better known positions on campus. Each residence hall has a staff of RAs who are selected for their enthusiasm, organizational skills, maturity and willingness to help others.  They participate in training sessions, attend weekly staff meetings, elect several “in-service” training programs on relevant topics throughout the academic year and meet individually with their RD biweekly. The RA lives on a floor with 15-30 residents and answers questions, confronts violations, refers students to counseling, solves maintenance problems, and plans activities for their residents.
  • Academic Peer Mentor
    The Academic Peer Mentor (Mentor) is an upper-class student who lives on an all freshmen hall within the First Year Experience program.  The Mentor provides many programs for the students within the building, especially academic ones.  They also serve as peer mentors, helping students with daily tasks and adjustments without dealing with discipline issues.  Finally, each mentor has administrative and programming responsibilities within FYE.


Specific Staff names and contact information can be found in the Residence Life Directory.