Running head: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Individual Assignment: Academic Liaison Program

Leeza Thomas
Azusa Pacific University

Thomas 1

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 2
Table of Contents

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Academic and Student Affairs Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Campus and Residence Life Liaison Program Model
Other Campus Faculty and Residence Life Programs
CSUDH Faculty and Residence Life Liaison Program Proposal
Program Assessment and Challenges
References

Faculty and Student Affairs Partnerships

Campus Partner Liaison Program Model
Purpose

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 3

The Campus Partner Liaison Program currently used by CSUDH Residence Life has been
used for the past four years. This program was originally created as an effort to build lasting
relationships between University Housing Services and other departments that are found on the
main campus. The purpose of the Campus Partners Liaison Program is for each Resident
Assistant to create partnerships with on-campus departments through weekly meetings and
programming that takes place primarily in Housing.
Current Campus Departments and Expectations
The 2014-15 Resident Assistants are partnered with the following departments: Career
Center, Toro Learning Center, Womens Resource Center, Student Health and Psychological
Services, Toro Productions, Athletics, EOP/ETE, Male Success Alliance, University Advisement,
Financial Aid, Multicultural Center, and Disabled Student Services. With these departments, each
Resident Assistant is expected to meet/communicate regularly with a member or director of a
campus partner to gather information that would be beneficial to residents in Housing. Resident
Assistants are also asked to provide the their campus partners with information pertaining to
upcoming or ongoing Housing events. Resident Assistants are also encouraged to discuss
collaborative programming ideas between the campus partner and Housing, in addition to oncampus volunteer opportunities for residents.
Examples of Campus Partner Liaison Programming
Two of the most highly attended collaborative programs that were held in the fall of 2014
were in partnership with the Womens Resource Center and the Career Center. The program with
the Womens Resource Center took place around the time that NFL players and domestic
violence were a hot topic. One Resident Assistant, in conjunction with the director of the
Womens Resource Center coordinated a program in which all that attended viewed an NFL

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 4

football game together and immediately following the game dialogued about recent news
headlines, domestic violence, and the media. The Residence Life staff was surprised that those
who attended were more interested in the conversation following the game than the game itself.
The other highly attended program was with the Career Center. For this program, the Resident
Assistant Coordinated a time during the week that a career counselor could host a workshopstyle presentation discussing the upcoming job and graduate school fairs. The career counselor
discussed practical dos and donts, provided resources (i.e., flyers, brochures, web addresses)
and offered any further assistance to the residents who attended. These programs were successful
both contained content that was relevant to the residents.
Other Campus Faculty and Residence Life Programs
Faculty Partner Program Proposal
Purpose
The purpose of the Faculty Partner Liaison program will be to strengthen the relationship
between academic and student affairs, specifically with Residence Life. Through the Faculty
Partner Liaison Program, residents will have an increased opportunity to interact with faculty
informally through various educational and collaborative programs. Similarly to the structure of
the Campus Partner Liaison Program, two Resident Assistants will be paired up with one of the
colleges. Within these colleges are a number of degree programs. The Resident Assistants will
have the ability to choose a degree program or an area of study that they are most interested in
(within each of the colleges) and collaborate with a full-time faculty member.
Academic Disciplines to Partner With
The CSUDH campus has six colleges: 1) College of Arts and Humanities, 2) College of
Business Administration and Public Policy, 3) College of Education, 4) College of Natural and

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 5

Behavioral Sciences, 5) College of Health, Human Services and Nursing, 6) College of Extended
and International Education. As mentioned above, each college contains different degree
programs and more specific areas of study. The Faculty Partner Liaison Program will only be
interested in working with full-time faculty members. Limiting the participation to only full-time
faculty members will hopefully allow for more faculty participation in collaborative
programming, and more availability to meet regularly with a Resident Assistant.
Expectations
Resident Assistants will be expected to meet/communicate regularly with a faculty
member or department chair of an academic college to gather information that would be
beneficial to residents in Housing. Resident Assistants are also asked to provide the their faculty
partners with information pertaining to upcoming or ongoing Housing events. Resident
Assistants are also encouraged to discuss collaborative programming ideas between the campus
partner and Housing, in addition to educational volunteer opportunities for residents.
Mission of Academic and Student Affairs at CSUDH
The Faculty Partner Liaison program aligns with the Division of Enrollment Management
and Student Affairs mission by providing programming that is supportive of the educational
development of students (CITE). The program also aligns with the Academic Affairs mission by
providing students the opportunity to work toward academic excellence (CITE). In collaboration
with the Resident Assistants, this program will also strive to create an environment that
encourages study learning.

Program Assessment and Challenges

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 6

References
Hirsch, D. J. & Burak, C. (2001). Finding points of contact for collaborative work. New
Directions for Higher Education, 116.
Kezar, A. (2001). Documenting the landscape results of a national study on academic affairs
collaborations. New Directions for Higher Education, 116.

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 7

Blimling, G. S. (2013). Challenges of assessment in student affairs. New Directions for Higher
Education, 142. DOI: 10.1002/ss.20044
Getty, L. J., Young, D. Y., & Whitaker-Lea, L. D. (2008). Casting the assessment net wide:
Capturing all student learning. About Campus. DOI: 10.1002/abc.247
Komarraju, M., Musulkin, S., & Bhattacharya, G. (2010). Role of student-faculty interactions in
developing college students academic self-concept, motivation, and achievement.
Journal of College Student Development, 51(3). DOI: 10.1353/csd.0.0137
Kuh, G. D. (2009). What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement.
Journal of College Student Development, 50(6). DOI: 10.1353/csd.0.0099
Nesheim, B. E., Guentzel, M. J., McDonald, W. M., Wells, C. A., & Whitt, E. J. (2007).
Outcomes for students of student affairs-academic affairs partnership programs. Journal
of College Student Development, 48(4). DOI: 10.1353/csd.2007/0041
Rhoads, R. A. (2009). Reflections of a professor on nine years of living in the dormsI mean
residence halls. About Campus. DOI: 10.1002/abc.291
Shushok, F. & Sriram, R. (2010). Exploring the effect of residential academic affairs-student
affairs partnership: The first year of an engineering and computer science living-learning
center. The Journal of College and University Housing, 36(2).

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Thomas 8