Our Philosophy
The Resident Director position at the University of Washington offers a unique student affairs experience in housing. Though the work of our RDs is administrative in nature, we maintain the focus of the role on student development and community building. Each RD has overall responsibility for developing and administering a comprehensive residence hall program that meets the goals of Housing & Food Services and the UW through four main areas of emphasis: supervision, student conduct, student group advising, and building management. Each area of focus is contingent on the strong partnerships RDs create with HFS partners in Facilities, Custodial, Dining, and Desk Services in an effort to provide a robust residential experience.
Our values of intentionality & proficiency, staff accountability, and work/life balance allow us to ensure every resident living in our communities has a rich residential experience rooted in student support while encouraging our staff to cultivate a rich life outside of work:
- Intentionality & Proficiency: RDs are viewed by residents as campus administrators who manage the building and provide student support. For RDs, this means conducting yourself at work in a way that is grounded in preparation, demonstrating efficient and effective written and in person communication, contributing to a culture of collaboration, and building relationships throughout HFS.
- Staff accountability: RDs oversee an average of 500 students and supervise an average of 10 RAs, with RA staff sizes ranging from 6-18 staff members. RDs are expected to model appropriate boundaries and hold student staff accountable to high expectations to ensure our student staff and leaders are benefiting both professionally and personally from their experience working with us.
- Work/life balance: The RD position is intentionally structured to promote efficient workdays that allow professional staff to experience a more traditional workday. RDs can expect some busier times at key points throughout the year as well as extended hours on Mondays, when both hall council and staff meetings take place in the evening. RDs serve on-call an average of 30 days per academic year. When not serving-on call, professional staff are encouraged to use personal time to explore interests outside of work and enjoy the benefits of living in the Seattle area.