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Residential Education and Services (RES)

Parents & Families

What is RES?

RES is about much more than putting students in a room and hoping that they get along. The department of Residential Education and Services is committed to developing meaningful living communities through maximizing co-curricular opportunities, modeling lives of faithfulness in Christ, and empowering students to intentionally contribute to the Concordia University Irvine community.

The Office of Residential Education & Services purposes to:

  • Embody the mission of the University
  • Develop students (holistically)
  • Help students find their uniqueness and how it relates within the context of community
  • Live out our faith in practical and tangible ways as we live with students
  • Create opportunities for intentional engagement
  • Establish and provide structure/guidelines leading to a safe living environment
  • Initiate programs, conversations, and procedures that educate and prepare our students for the world beyond Concordia University Irvine
  • Create and maintain a community for our students to be a part of something bigger than themselves

What is "programming"?

Programs (or programming) are events/activities developed by the RES Staff to encourage student interaction, growth, and development. We firmly believe that there is a large amount of learning that occurs outside the classroom and our events are designed to complement academic education. To that end, each RA is required to sponsor three hall events per semester. These events are themed and timed with student development throughout the academic year. For example, in October all hall events promote healthy relationships at a time when roommate tensions tend to surface. We believe offering activities that help students grow in these areas will help them leave Concordia University Irvine as well-rounded people.

How does RES use "teachable moments"?

We believe that everything we do teaches a lesson! As a result, we do our best not to teach students anything they will have to unlearn. For example, many students believe (or have learned) that having their parents call or intervene will change the outcome of a particular situation. RES firmly believes in serving students to the best of our ability, regardless of parental involvement. So you can rest assured that your son or daughter will receive the same service regardless of your involvement. Many of our "teachable moments" occur during a conflict (usually roommate) where a staff member helps the student learn from a mistake or teaches them how to handle a particular situation on the spot.

What are RAs and RDs?

RA stands for Resident Assistant. RAs are students who live in the hall with your student and serve as a resource for students. Some of their responsibilities include sponsoring events, mediating roommate conflicts, and conducting weekly Health and Safety Checks. RAs are selected during the Spring semester and are trained and mentored by the professional staff. RD stands for Resident Director. The RDs are highly trained, experienced, and gifted professionals that live in the buildings and are responsible for their housing area.

What if my son or daughter has a problem with his or her roommate?

As with any relationship, it sometimes takes students a while to learn how to live together and to share the same living space. The RA will sit down with the roommates during the first month of school to help them complete a roommate contract. The roommate contract is designed to help them communicate their boundaries and expectations. The roommate contracts are kept on file in the RES office and can be viewed/altered at any time by the resident students if the need arises.

While sharing a room with another person can be a test of one's patience, it can also be a very rewarding experience. Once students understand the importance of communicating their feelings, compromising and exercising patience, problems are often easily resolved. You may want to suggest that your son or daughter take the following steps to hopefully resolve the problems he/she is currently having with his/her roommate(s):

  • Air gripes and concerns immediately, before they escalate.
  • Acknowledge and respect one another's feelings.
  • Be realistic about expectations.
  • Keep the lines of communication open at all times.
  • Be considerate of one another's privacy and possessions.
  • There is a lot of learning that occurs outside the classroom and our goal is to help your student develop into a well-rounded individual. Some very important parts of human development are learning how to live with different people, communication skills, and conflict resolution skills. We view a roommate conflict as one of the greatest opportunities to learn all these skills. Therefore, we take a very developmentally focused approach in addressing these issues.

For instance, we require students to speak with their roommates first so they can have the experience of confrontation and develop their communication skills. If this is too much for a particular student, we try to coach them through the process so that they can go into the experience with all the necessary tools. If the confrontation of a roommate does not resolve the issue, we progressively become more and more involved. Our next step would be mediation with their RA and if that does not solve it, then the issue would go to the RD for final resolution.

What if I have questions?

If you have general questions about Residence Life, please contact the main office. However, if you have a specific question about a roommate conflict or a specific building issue it is best that you speak with the RD from that building.

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