Final Assessment Paper Niu Rha CC Assessment

Running head: RHA AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL ASSESSMENT
Northern Illinois University RHA and Community Council Assessment
Bernadette Heitschmidt, Mary Jo Frichtl, Corbin Tyson, Emily Tudor
Northern Illinois University

RHA AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL ASSESSMENT 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2
Executive Summary 3
Literature Review 4
History of the Residence Halls and Residence Hall Association 4
Student Leadership Development 5
Student Leadership Development Research 7
Employability Skills for College Graduates 8
Residential Housing Project Introduction 10
Methods 10
The Individual Interviews 12
The Document Review 12
Results Error! Bookmark not defined.

Demographics Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Survey - Residence Hall Association (RHA) Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Survey - Community Council (CC) Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Individual Interviews 19
The Document Review 190
Recommendations For the Future 20

Résumé’ Building 20
Mentorship 21
Ongoing Assessment 22
Conclusion 22
References 24
Appendix 26
Appendix A - The Survey 26
Appendix B - Individual Interview Protocol Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix C - Interview Questions 30
Appendix D - Facebook Social Media Posts 31
Introduction
Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a mid-sized institution located in DeKalb, Illinois.
The Housing and Residential Services Department is made up of four residential complexes:
Gilbert/Neptune, New Hall, Stevenson, and Grant/Northern View. Together, these complexes
house almost 5,000 students that range from first year students to graduate students. The
organization that gives students a voice to student living in the residence halls is called the
Residence Hall Association (RHA). The Northern Illinois University Residence Hall
Association is made up of seven e-board members that have a specific job to serve the
community. The Residence Hall Association is the organization that also connects the six
individual residence halls’ community councils: Gilbert, Neptune, New Hall, Stevenson, Grant,
and Northern View. The community council serves as a voice for each specific hall because
each hall has their own needs. On Northern Illinois University’s campus, the Residence Hall
Association executive-board (e-board) members, community council members, and general body
members, gather in the New Hall Swing Space for a general assembly meeting to discuss
upcoming events within the residence halls, for voting purposes, and for gathering student
opinions, amongst many other things. Tuesday nights are when community council holds its
general body meetings and they are held within each individual residence hall in order to
accommodate students.
The Residence Hall Association and Community Council’s motto is to be the voice,
community and change for the students living in residence halls on campus. There are many
skills that are gained while participating in RHA and community council at Northern Illinois
University and national awards are evidence. Northern Illinois University RHA and community
councils have dedicated members that graduate and continue onto their career path. While they
leave the organization behind, the alumni take the skills they learned through participating in
RHA and community council along with them in their careers. The purpose of this assessment
project is to understand what skills alumni have gained from participating in Residence Hall
Association and/or community council and if they apply those skills to their current job position.
Data for these questions were collected through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The
data tools that were used included a survey, individual interviews, and a documents review that
consisted of résumés. Through these methods of data collection, an understanding of the skills
alumni gained through participation in the Residence Hall Association and/or community council
and if they currently use the skills in their job position have been recorded and recognized.
Literature Review
The literature review supporting this project will explore the history and structure of
residence halls, theory and research related to leadership development in undergraduate students
and leadership skills needed for 21st Century employment. Leadership development theory will
also be briefly presented.
History of the Residence Halls and Residence Hall Association
While the curriculum model was for U.S. higher education was adapted from the Oxford
and Cambridge model of higher education, the residential living model is unique to the United
States (Blimling, 2003; Thelin, 2011). Today, at colleges and universities in the United States,
they are known as residence halls because these spaces are not just for students to sleep, but a
space to live, learn, and socialize (Blimling, 2003). While resident halls are now well established
at most major colleges and universities, that was not the case at their inception. The American
college’s residence halls experienced limited success in the beginning, due to university
professors having to not only teach classes, but also oversee the residence halls (Blimling, 2003).
The faculty living with the students caused much tension and served as a deterrence from
students attending college (Blimling, 2003). In addition, many families were unable to relinquish
their children from working the family farm; viewing college as a waste of time and unnecessary
to their ultimate successful (Thelin, 2011). In response to the opposition of faculty overseeing
residence halls and to increase college attendance, a new model of supervision was enacted.
Residence halls moved to the model of having resident assistants oversee the residence halls
instead of faculty – a model which remains in place today. Resident assistants were students that
were specifically trained and assumed various roles to support student residents including role
model, counselor, administrator, and teacher (Blimling, 2003).
Residence halls also came to have their own form of governance called the Residence
Hall Association (RHA). There is little literature that reflects the governance of the first
residence hall, but the National Association of College and University Residence Halls
(NACURH) outlines the history of residence halls, beginning with a conference that brought four
school residence halls’ governances together at Iowa State University in 1954. The universities
were Iowa State University, University of Colorado, University of Missouri, and University of
Northern Iowa. NACURH is the governing body that oversees individual colleges and
universities’ Residence Hall Associations. What started as only four institutions at a conference
spread throughout the nation where hundreds of schools can now attend the yearly NACURH
conference.
Student Leadership Development
The importance of developing leadership skills and abilities in college students is a
common and worthwhile goal. Doing so not has the potential to enhance engagement in college
life but also to prepare graduates to function as leaders in their chosen careers. Many colleges
and universities may claim to develop leadership skills and abilities in students and profess doing
so as an essential aspect of forming an educated individual. However, limited attention has been
given to leadership programs or curricula (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001).
Given the current climate of Higher Education, with increased pressure and accountability of
institutions by constituents to prepare graduates to deal with major environmental, economic and
societal concerns, the need to develop leaders has become increasingly important (Cress, Astin,
Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001).
Theories of leadership that rely on behaviors, attributes and situations to describe
leadership may have been appropriate in the industrial era, as the major focus was efficiency and
production (Rost, 1993). However, such theories are no longer applicable in the current
“information age” with ongoing growth in technology, complexity, globalization and
interconnectedness. The changing focus in society from industry to informatics has resulted in
the need for “new ways of leading, relating, learning, and influencing change” (Allen, &
Cherrey, 2000, p. 1; Rost, 1993). In this Post-Industrial age, Principle-based leadership is
needed, focusing on collaboration, moral objectives, ethical actions and leaders who are able to
transform followers into future leaders (Burns, 1978; Covey, 1992; Rost, 1993).
Leadership models have been constructed with a special focus on college student
leadership development, and contend that collaboration among individuals, groups and
communities is necessary to enact social change. In addition, the model of relational leadership
(Komives, Lucas, & McMahon, 1998) identifies leadership as a “relational process of people
together attempting to accomplish change or make a difference to benefit the common good” (p.
21). This model of leadership includes components of empowerment, inclusiveness,

purposefulness, ethics and orientation to process, and is favored for college students by many
leadership educators (Komives et al., 2005).
Student Leadership Development Research
Komives et al. (2005) found that leadership identity occurred as a result of
developmental influences, such as family, peers, meaningful involvement, and reflective
learning. Leadership identity also occurred through the development of self, including deepening
self-awareness, building self-confidence, establishing interpersonal efficacy and applying new
skills.. Yet another method by which students developed a leadership identity was through group
influences. These influences included engaging in groups, learning from membership continuity,
and changing the view of self by broadening one’s view of leadership. The researchers also
identified six stages of leadership identity including: Awareness, Exploration/Engagement,
Leader Identified, Leadership Differentiated, Generativity, and Integration/Synthesis (Komives
et al., 2005).
Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, and Burkhardt (2001) identified the effects of leadership
development programs on college students of ten institutions. Students who participated in
leadership training activities were more likely to show significant growth four years following
college matriculation than nonparticipants, regarding leadership understanding and commitment.
Participants also more readily developed a sense of civic responsibility, aiding in the
development of cultural awareness and community orientation. In addition, leadership skills
were enhanced in the participants including decision making skills, dealing with issues of
complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty, and being willing to take risks (Cress et al., 2001).
Smith & Chenoweth (2015) explored undergraduate students and the role of active
membership in student organizations and students’ perceptions of how these activities impacted
their leadership traits, abilities, and behaviors. Involved students rated themselves higher on a
number of related leadership traits including honesty, confidence, persistence, optimism, and
responsibility. These students also had a more positive self-perception of leadership traits than
those who did not participate. Regarding relational leadership behaviors, students who were
engaged in co-curricular organizations rated themselves significantly more positively on serving
as a role model for others, having stronger people skills, coping well with stress, dealing
effectively with failure, conflict resolution, effective communication, working well in a team,
and being a good listener (Smith & Chenoweth, 2015).
Employability Skills for College Graduates
While college students may develop and enhance leadership skills through co-curricular
activities, of equal importance is their ability to transfer these skills to the work environment,
post-graduation. According to Bok (2006), students begin college believing that they will acquire
the knowledge, abilities and skills to successfully enter the workforce, and will be adequately
prepared to perform their jobs and advance in their careers. In addition, employers expect that a
college education will provide their employees with the employability skills needed to perform
their jobs (Bok, 2006). Basic employability skills refer to transferrable core competencies which
involve essential knowledge, skills and abilities required to be successful at all levels of
employment in the workplace of the 21st Century (Overtoom, 2000). Eight employability skills
identified and operationalized by Rosenberg, Heimler, and Morote, (2012) include:
1. Basic Literacy and Numeracy Skills- The ability to read, write, speak, listen, and perform
basic mathematical procedures.
2. Critical Thinking Skills- The ability to make decisions, think creatively and solve
problems.
3. Leadership Skills- The ability to motivate others to achieve organizational goals.
4. Management Skills- Activities such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling,
which are necessary to meet organizational goals.
5. Interpersonal Skills- The ability to work in teams, help others to learn, provide customer
service, negotiate agreements, resolve differences and work in a multicultural
environment.
6. Information Technology Skills- The ability to select necessary equipment, tools, and
procedures to access and analyze data.
7. Systems Thinking Skills- The ability to understand and function within organizational,
social and technological systems.
8. Work Ethic- An individual’s disposition towards work including attendance, punctuality,
professionalism, motivation, patience, attitude, dependability, the ability to make
deadlines, and a realistic expectation of job requirements and career advancement.
The educational system and industry often operate apart from one another and,
historically, employers have not communicated their expectations of the graduates they seek to
employ (Rosenberg, Heimler, & Morote, 2012). Therefore, it would be beneficial for college and
university faculty and staff to have a clear understanding of basic employability skills. Further,
students should be encouraged to participate in co-curricular activities which may help them
develop needed skills. Facilitating the development of employability skills, through co-curricular
activities, is likely to enhance the ability of students to not only remain engaged and persist to
graduation, but to be successful as they graduate and transition to their careers.

Residential Housing Assessment Project
This assessment project focused on the leadership qualities which were developed in
undergraduate students participating in the Residential Housing Association and Community
Council at Northern Illinois University. Further, the leadership skills acquired through these
programs were explored as well as whether these skills were transferable to their employment
following graduation.
Methods
Three data collection methods were used to gather needed data from alumni who
participated in RHA or Community Council and included a survey, interviews and documents in
the form of résumés of respondents attached to completed surveys. In total, seven interviews
were conducted, ten resumes were received and reviewed, and fifty-two surveys responses were
received. While 63 individuals started the survey, 11 cases were removed from the data set
because they were incomplete.
The Survey
The content of the survey was developed in consultation with the Housing and
Residential Services leadership team, project members, faculty input and published literature
concerning the development of valuable leadership skills in undergraduate students and their
transference to the work environment following graduation (Appendix A). The survey not only
addressed leadership skills, but also questions related to the Residential Housing/ Community
Council program and its advisors, and various other demographic data. The Qualtrics survey
system was used to administer the survey online. The potential respondents were invited to
participate in the survey through Facebook posts on behalf of the Housing and Residence Hall
Association. The survey was also spread through private Facebook messages, word of mouth and
through emails. The snowball sample was used to further increase the number of respondents of
the survey.
The survey included a total of 33 questions which were asked in varying formats
including rating scales, fill in the blank answers, and yes/no responses. Demographic content for
the survey included the respondents’ undergraduate major and whether they graduated from
Northern Illinois University. Respondents were also asked the date of undergraduate graduation,
undergraduate major and minor, grade point average, whether or not they were currently enrolled
in graduate school and, if so, the institution. In addition, respondents were asked their current
employment status, position and income. Respondents were then asked about their experiences
participating in Residential Housing Association/ Community Council (RHA/CC), what they
liked most and least about the experience, and personal qualities of their RHA/CC Advisors.
Following the demographic questions, respondents were asked about the skills they acquired
from their experience participating in (RHA/CC), and whether these acquired skills were used in
their current positions of employment. Finally, respondents were asked for suggestions
regarding how the RHA experience might be improved for future student participants.
The survey opened on October 30, 2018 and closed on November 20, 2018. Sixty-three
surveys were received. However, 11 cases were removed because they were incomplete.
Majority of the data coming from 52 respondents because the first questions of the survey had to
make sure the correct audience member was answering the survey: an alumni of Northern Illinois
University that participated in RHA and/or community council. All respondents did not answer
all questions and the survey divided up questions between respondents who participated in RHA
and those who participated in Community Council. The data were tabulated, and descriptive
statistics were used for analysis.

The Individual Interviews
The interviews were conducted by reaching out to known participants of RHA and/or
community council by obtaining names through current Northern Illinois University staff
members. The call out to participate in an interview for the project were done through the
conclusion of the survey, by email, and by Facebook messenger. A total of seven interviews
were conducted. Five interviews were held face to face and two over FaceTime. Before each
interview a protocol was read by the proctor and the interviewee was asked if they were okay
with the interview being voiced recorded. The interviewees were asked a series of nine
questions and no interview took longer than 30 minutes (Appendix C). There are several major
findings from the interviews.
The Document Review
In addition to the survey, the idea of collecting a document was also developed with
combined efforts of the Residential Housing leadership members, project members, and faculty
input. The document that our working groups concluded with would examine was the survey
participants’ current résumé. The objective of collecting the participants’ résumés was to find
any connections between their experiences in RHA and CC compared to their skills described in
the participants’ early career positions within five years of undergraduate degree completion at
Northern Illinois University.
The method our assessment used to collect résumés was to include a optional item at the
end of our survey. This item asked survey participants to please upload a copy of their recent
résumé and were suggested to anonymize them if they would like. That is where the majority of
the documents came from. After participating in an individual interview, the participant received
an email thanking them for their time and then also encouraged them to submit their current
résumé via email if they had not done so already through the survey. A total of 10 documents
were collected and reviewed for participant’s recognition of being able to collaborate/work with
a team, verbally communicate, facilitate a meeting, develop a program, and use decision making
skills.
Results
Results include each method of assessment that includes the survey, individual
interviews, and document resume reviews.
Survey Demographics
The majority of respondents (87.30%) graduated with an undergraduate degree from
Northern Illinois University between 2002-2017 while the résumés responses came from
graduates between 2005-2017. There were numerous undergraduate majors represented in the
survey, but Business Administration (with various focuses), Communications, Psychology, and
Political Science were among the most prevalent. Several respondents listed a minor, which also
varied, but many listed none (36.54%).
Undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA) of respondents ranged from 2.7 - 4.0 with
most reporting 3.0 or greater (63.46%). When respondents were asked whether or not they were
currently in Graduate School, most stated they were not (76%). Of the respondents who were in
Graduate School, various programs and universities were listed, however, 50% were enrolled in
a program at Northern Illinois University. The majority of respondents (96.08%) stated they
were currently employed and working in a wide variety of fields; the median annual salary
reported was between $30,000- $44,999.
Traits of Advisors
When respondents were also asked to identify three traits of their RHA/Community
Council advisor, some of the descriptors included being present, kind, encouraging/motivating,
fun, helpful, kind, understanding, supportive, an advocate, organized, open-minded, friendly,
patient, optimistic/positive/upbeat, charismatic/outgoing, inspirational, passionate, disciplined
and brilliant mentor. While most of the descriptors were quite favorable, three respondents
provided only negative descriptors of their RHA advisors.
Positive and Negative Aspects of RHA/Community Council
When respondents were asked what they liked most about their involvement with
RHA/Community Council, most noted the people they met, the friends they made and the sense
of community they experienced as the most meaningful. They enjoyed getting involved, getting
things done, having a team experience, program development and the activities. They also
appreciated having the opportunity to develop leadership skills. When asked what respondents
liked least, some of the issues reported included the time commitment, paperwork, e-board
structure, internal politics and drama, apathy/ lack of interest from other members, inconsistency
of advisors/poor guidance from advisors. The respondents also disliked the lack of diversity,
poor attendance at events, low level of resident involvement, and not feeling respected.
Suggestions for Improvement of Student Experience
Several suggestions were offered by respondents to improve the experience for the
student participating in RHA/Community Council including having more leadership training,
being more inclusive and collaborating with other campus groups and alumni. Other suggestions
included having less competition between residence halls and making a concerted effort to
decrease drama and cliques.

Skill Development
The results of the assessment project provided valuable demographic data, addressed
characteristics of advisors, positive and negative aspects of participating in RHA/Community
Council, and offered suggestions to improve the experience of student participants. However,
perhaps the most valuable information gained from this project was the identification of
leadership skills acquired through participation in RHA/ Community Council and the
transference of these skills to the work environment following graduation.
A strong triangulation of the data was found, regarding acquired leadership skills in
participants, using survey data, interviews and document review. All leadership skill under study
were found to increase in participants, with the exception of written communication skills, which
remained essentially unchanged. Ninety-four percent of respondents also reported regular use of
and continued growth in all identified skills since their employment following graduation. The
alumni who participated in RHA/Community Council identified five major leadership skills of
which they experienced the greatest amount of growth. These skills included
collaboration/ability to work with a team, verbal communication skills, the ability to facilitate a
meeting, project development, and decision-making skills.
Collaboration Skills/Ability to Work with a Team
According to the survey, the greatest area of growth was found in collaboration/ ability to
work with a team (88% stated skill improved). When observing the content of the submitted
résumés, collaboration was the second-most observed leadership skill apparent in the résumés of
RHA and Community Council alumni. There were six (60%) résumés that clearly expressed an
aspect of collaboration in the form of working with a team, co-leading a function, and serving on
a committee among other collaboration efforts.

Verbal Communication Skills
Among survey respondents, 80% stated that their verbal communication skill had
increased as a result of participating in RHA/Community Council. Interestingly, only 36% of
respondents stated that their written communication skills had, while 64% stated that skill was
unchanged. Within the résumés, verbal communication appeared to be the most prevalent
leadership skill demonstrated by the RHA and Community Council alumni. There were eight
(80%) résumés that clearly reflected some sort of verbal communication skill, such as a public
speaking ability, conducting workshops or meetings, and in-person communication with clients
and/or teammates.
Ability to Facilitate a Meeting
Regarding the skill of facilitating a meeting, 82% of survey respondents stated that skill
had improved. Out of the ten résumés submitted by RHA and Community Council alumni, half
(50%) of the résumés that explicitly stated some sort of meeting facilitation duty, such as leading
team meetings, workshops, or in a teaching-type role.
Program Development
When survey respondents were asked about their ability to lead a project to completion,
only 73% stated that skill had improved. However, program development was the skill most
frequently identified among the major three skills they had gained. Descriptors related to
program development included project management, event planning, budgeting/budget
allocation, delegation, marketing and follow-through were listed. Developing programs was the
skill that was least demonstrated by the alumni of RHA and Community Council. Only two
(20%) résumés had explicitly described some sort of program development duty, which
happened to only be individuals who worked in higher education or student affairs during their
early-career positions.
Decision Making Skills
Among survey respondents, 80% stated that their decision-making skills had improved.
When examining the 10 résumés submitted by survey participants, decision-making skills was
determined to be the most difficult skill to list, describe, and quantify in a job duty or
responsibility. Since the nature of this skill is difficult to articulate in those job responsibilities,
we judged that the résumé collection results for this skill are inconclusive.
Transferable Leadership Skills
All identified skills continued to improve for the majority of respondents, throughout
their employment, with the exception of a sense of civic responsibility. For a small percentage of
respondents (3.23%), the skill got worse. The greatest gains were found in collaboration/ ability
to work with a team (89% stated skill improved), and decision-making skills (83% stated skill
improved). The skill of leading a group to the completion of a project also showed significant
gains, with 71% stating the skill had improved.
Through the analysis of data, it was clear to see that students who participated in
Residential Housing Association/Community Council acquired and/ or developed valuable
leadership skills which transferred to their employment following graduation. The major skills
identified included the ability to work with a team/collaboration, verbal communication, program
development, and the ability to facilitate a meeting.
These five skills, along with several other skills explored in this assessment, are among
the Eight Employability Skills identified by Rosenberg, Heimler and Morote (2012) and include
Basic Literacy, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Management, Interpersonal, and Systems

Thinking skills. The findings from this assessment underscore the value of developing leadership
skills in undergraduate students, through programs such as RHA/Community Council, which are
highly transferable to their employment post-graduation and constitute basic employability skills
which are needed for the 21st Century workplace (Rosenberg, Heimler, & Morote, 2012).
The Individual Interviews
Out of the five competencies of student leadership that ranked high in the survey,
collaboration/working with a team ranked the highest within the individual interviews because
there was a specific interview question asking about what they, as student who participated in
RHA/Community Council, learned about team collaboration. A variety of answers were given
on behalf of the alumni. Alumni associated collaboration learning with learning different
leadership styles, being able to learn each position executive board position, having ownership of
ideas, communication, listening actively, open mindedness, reflection, cliques/conflicts,
programming, respect, and taking the job tasks seriously.
Being able to program was also frequently discussed by alumni because they learned to
program an event through from beginning to end. Alumni got really passionate about learning
how to properly verbal communicate. Alumni felt this was valuable because they were able to
talk through conflicts with peers, articulate their talking points clearly, and have ownership of
their ideas. Facilitating a meeting and decision making skills were discussed by alumni, however
there was not enough information to conclude specifically what skills were learned to establish
these competencies.
Other Important Results
One major finding from the interviews was that interviewees found their friend group in
participating with RHA and/or community council. This means that even though RHA is a
primary event planning organization for the residence halls, student members were able to make
planning a social event, sociable for themselves too, not just for the intended audience. When
friends were constantly together by participating in RHA/community council, living together,
and hanging out all the time sometimes personal issues could get in the way of contributing to
the community. Once this was able to be navigated, members were able to leave personal
thoughts aside in order to best serve the Northern Illinois University residential community.
Another finding is that members were also a part of the National Residence Hall
Honorary (NRHH) organization. This organization has two pillars of service and recognition.
NRHH is another organization that is only for those living within the residence halls and that is
why NRHH members would support NRHH. Some duties that NRHH members upheld was
being part of RHA by attending the general assembly meetings to keep up to date with events
happening in the halls, NRHH had voting privileges, and to make sure neither organizations were
repeating similar events. NRHH supported RHA and vice-a-versa, they promoted each other’s
events.
The Document Review
For the document collection, the 63 survey attempts yielded only ten résumés (15.8%).
More than half of the résumés collected (60%) were from respondents that went on to complete a
graduate degree or are currently enrolled in a graduate program. Only three résumés (30%)
listed their experience in RHA, one of which (10%) listed both RHA and Community Council.
Résumé Skills
In regards to the document review, our assessment team examined some early-career
positions, within five years of graduation dates, to see how participants self-reported leadership
skills translated after graduation. Although the majority of RHA survey respondents (94.74%)
self-reported that they use various leadership skills acquired through RHA in their current
employment position, the respondents who submitted résumés only display their use of some
skills through their duties and descriptions in early-career positions. In order for skills to be
recognized as being present in a résumé, out team decided to use a high level of scrutiny when
observing the five issues. The criteria included: the skill must be explicitly demonstrated in a job
duty, the duty needed to appear within five years of graduation. In addition to the skills
identified, some other notable self-reported skills that were clearly demonstrated in three (30%)
or less résumés in early-career positions included: public speaking, civic responsibility, diversity
and inclusion among many others.
Résumé Observation Note
As assessors of RHA and CC, we acknowledge that some leadership skills are difficult to
quantify on résumé job duties, may not have been significantly used enough to be listed, or there
was simply not enough room to list every skill used. There is also the chance that some of the
skills learned or used during the respondent's RHA or CC experience did not need to be utilized
in their early-career positions. The individuals who submitted their résumés certainly could have
used the skills our team attempted to perceive, but we were unable to find them explicitly
demonstrated.
Recommendations For the Future
Recommendations were found from the analysis of each of the assessment methods:
survey, individual interviews, and document resume review.
Résumé’ Building
While our assessment has shown a bevy of skills are gained from RHA and CC, there
seems to be a disconnect between the skills students learn through their participation in the
programs and what their résumés reflect post-graduation. In total we felt there was an
underutilization of RHA and CC participation on individuals that have moved into their careers.
In moving forward, it is advisable to hold programming opportunities to teach students involved
with the program how to best utilize their skills on their résumé and job hunt. It may be
advisable to collaborate with career services in order avoid duplication of effort and to get
students involved with Career Services to aid them in bolstering their job skills for post-
graduation.
An added benefit of teaching students to better utilize their skills on their résumé as
helping students add those skills to their résumé will also serve as a reminder of the benefits in
participating with RHA and CC. Not only will the programs be of benefit to the students, but it
will remind the students involved of the benefits of RHA and CC. All of this can be completed
on NIU’s campus for low to no cost at all which would be ideal in tight budgetary times.
Mentorship
While presently engaged in RHA and CC affairs, students would also benefit from more
intentional mentorship. One interview reported the great benefit from the informal mentoring
she received from her supervisor when involved as a CA. The same level of mentorship was not
reported in student’s involvement in RHA and CC. As such, students participating in RHA and
CC are gaining skills through the work they do but have little guidance to develop their
leadership styles. Additionally, students reported strong gains with verbal communication skills
but did not report the same level of gains in their written communication. Adding a mentoring
component to the programs would be hugely beneficial to be able to apply current best practices
to students involved with RHA and CC and work to develop areas of skills that are not
developed to the same degree naturally through RHA and CC activities.

In moving forward mentorship best occurs naturally, where a supervisor or role model
and a student leader interact naturally. It will likely be idea to arrange situations where those
groups of individuals can naturally interact and not through mandated pairings. While there can
be benefits to formalizing the mentorship program, it would take additional work to pair
individuals with mentors and enforce some type of mentorship schedule which would be
problematic for both the participants and the mentors.
Ongoing Assessment
In moving forward, a pattern of ongoing data would be extremely beneficial to the RHA
and CC programs as it would allow for easy tracking of the effectiveness of any changes made to
the program. As such, putting ongoing assessment practices in place ranging from short term
effectiveness pieces such as after meeting surveys, to longer term post-graduation follow ups will
give the organization the data needed to successfully develop students into well prepared leaders.
The main struggle with assessment remains making it a sustainable, well integrated part
of the program. If the assessment portion of programming is not fairly seamless, it will be seen
as an inconvenience and not given the attention required for meaningful data analysis. In moving
forward, assessment that prioritizes concise, specific data will be the most useful.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the assessment data gathered today shows a positively impactful program that
most of the participants had meaningful skill gains from their experiences with. While this
assessment project was a great start to further understanding of the RHA and CC programs, more
data is always beneficial. Continuing with more assessment projects to form a spectrum of data
points will allow for a better understanding of what, if anything needs to change with the
programs as time passes. The team responsible for this assessment thanks you for the opportunity
to learn more about RHA and CC and to help further the goals of Housing and Residential
Services.
References
Allen, K.E., & Cherrey, C. (2000). Systemic leadership. Lanham, MD: University Press of
America.
Bliming, G. (2003). The resident assistant: Applications and strategies for working with college
students in resident halls. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Bok, D. (2006). Our Underachieving Colleges. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Covey, S.R. (1992). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Cress, C.M., Astin, H.S., Zimmerman-Oster, K., & Burkhardt, J.C. (2001). Developmental
outcomes of college students’ involvement in leadership activities. Journal of College
Student Development, 42(1), 15-27.
Komives, S.R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T.R. (1998). Exploring leadership: For college students
who want to make a difference. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Komives, S.R., Owen, J.E., Longerbeam, S.D., Mainella, F.C., & Osteen, L. (2005). Developing
a leadership identity: A grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6),
593-611.
Overtoom, C. (2000). Employability Skills: An Update. Columbus, OH: Center on Education and
Training for Employment.
Rosenberg, S., Heimler, R., & Morote, E.S. (2012). Basic employability skills: A triangular
design approach. Education and Training, 54(1), 7-20. https://doi.
org/10.1108/00400911211198869
Rost, J. (1993). Leadership for the 21st century. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Smith, L.J., & Chenoweth, J.D. (2015). The contributions of student organization involvement to
students’ self-assessments of their leadership traits and relational behaviors. American
Journal of Business Education, 8(4), 279-288.
Thelin, J.R. (2011). A history of American higher education. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins
University Press.
Appendix
Appendix A - The Survey
This appendix entry is the survey that was distributed to the alumni and former participants of
Residence Hall Association and Community Council of Northern Illinois University.
Hello and thank you for participating in the NIU Alumni of the Residence Hall Honorary and
Community Council Survey on behalf of the CAHE 572 Assessment Methods in Higher
Education Class, the Housing and Residential Services Team and the Residence Hall
Association. Your time for participating in this survey is greatly appreciated!
______________________________________________________________________
Did you Graduate from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What year did you graduate from Northern Illinois University with your bachelor's degree?
What was your undergraduate major(s)?
What was your undergraduate minor(s)?
What was your Graduating Cumulative GPA:
______________________________________________________________________
Are you currently employed?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What is your current position title and whom is your current employer?
______________________________________________________________________
Are you currently in graduate school?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What graduate program are you enrolled in and at which institution?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What is your current salary range?
● $0-$14,999
● $15,000-$29,999
● $30,000-$44,999
● $45,000-$59,999
● $60,000-$74,999
● $75,000-$89,999
● $90,000-$104,999
● $105,000-$199,999
● $200,000+
● Prefer not to answer
______________________________________________________________________
Were you involved in the Residence Hall Association (RHA) at Northern Illinois University?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
How many academic years were you involved with RHA?
● 1
● 2
● 3
● 4
● 5+ years
______________________________________________________________________
Did you serve as an e-board member in RHA?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What did you like best about participating in RHA?
What did you like least about participating in RHA?
______________________________________________________________________
List three skills you gained from your involvement in RHA:
Do you use these skills in your current employment position?
● Yes
● No
List three characteristics of your advisor for RHA:
______________________________________________________________________
From your start of your time with RHA to the end, please rate how participating in RHA
has enhanced your: [Ranking: 1) This skill improved 2) This skill stayed the same 3) This skill
got worse 4) I do not have this skill]
Collaboration Skills:
Written Communication Skills:
Verbal Communication Skills:
Ability to Work with a Team:
Ability to be Inclusive:
Ability to Appreciate Others’ Perspectives:
Sense of Civic Responsibility:

Decision Making Skills:
Ability to Facilitate a Meeting:
Ability to Lead a Group to the Completion of a Project:
______________________________________________________________________
Please provide any suggestions for improving the experience of students participating in RHA:
______________________________________________________________________
Were you involved in the Community Council (CC) at Northern Illinois University?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
How many academic years were you involved with Community Council?
● Less than 1
● 1
● 2
● 3
● 4
● 5+ years
______________________________________________________________________
Did you serve an an e-board member on Community Council?
● Yes
● No
______________________________________________________________________
What did you like best about participating in Community Council?
What did you like least about participating in Community Council?
______________________________________________________________________
List three skills you gained from your involvement in Community Council:
Do you use these skills in your current employment position?
● Yes
● No
List three characteristics of your advisor for Community Council:
______________________________________________________________________
From your start of your time with Community Council to the end, please rate how participating
in Community Council has enhanced your: [Ranking: 1) This skill improved 2) This skill stayed
the same 3) This skill got worse 4) I do not have this skill]
______________________________________________________________________
Please provide any suggestions for improving the experience of students participating in RHA:
______________________________________________________________________
From your start of your employment, post-graduation from NIU, please rate how being
employed has enhanced your: [Ranking: 1) This skill improved 2) This skill stayed the same 3)
This skill got worse 4) I do not have this skill]
______________________________________________________________________
Optional - Please upload a recent copy of your resume. (You may remove your name and contact
information to remain anonymous)
● “Drop files or click here to upload”
______________________________________________________________________
If you would be interested in participating in an Online or Face to Face Focus Group,
discussing your experience with RHA and/or Community Council, please contact: Graduate
Residence Hall Director Bernadette Heitschmidt at bheitschmidt1@niu.edu.
______________________________________________________________________
We thank you for your time spent taking this survey.
Your response has been recorded.
Appendix B - Individual Interview Protocol
The individual interview protocol was read to every interview in face-to-face meeting as
well as digital meetings online.
Good {Morning/Afternoon/Evening}. Thank you for taking the time to join the discussion about
your experience as a student participating in RHA/ Community Council.
My name is {name} and I will be facilitating the interview today. I am a {Doctorate/Graduate}
student enrolled in CAHE 572- Assessment Methods. As part of our final project for the course,
we are conducting interviews to gather information regarding the experience of alumni who
participated in RHA/ Community Council as an undergraduate student. Because of your
involvement, you have been recommended to us as an individual who will be able to provide
insight regarding the student’s experience in RHA/ Community Council.
In order to ensure accuracy of the information you will share, we will be recording our
discussion. For the interview, we’ll only use first names. We will not share your name in our
report or with anyone else outside of the assessment team of 4 people. In this way, we will
maintain confidentiality.
Before we begin, let me suggest some things to make you feel more comfortable participating.
Because we’ll be recording for an accurate report, it is important that you speak up and be clear.
Your voice and perspective are important and I don’t want to miss any of your valuable
feedback. If there are any questions that you are not comfortable answering, do not feel
obligated to respond.
If this is okay with you, we will turn on the recorder and start now.
Appendix C - Interview Questions
The individual interview questions were read to every interview in face-to-face meeting as well
as digital meetings online.
1. Please share your name and the position you held in RHA/CC and how you became
involved in RHA and/or Community Council.
2. Can you tell me about your responsibilities as a student involved in RHA/Community
Council?
3. What leadership skills did you gain from being involved in RHA/Community Council?
4. Tell me what you learned about team collaboration through participating in RHA and/or
Community Council.
5. Tell me what you learned about being responsible through participating in RHA and/or
Community Council.
6. Tell me what you learned about being inclusive through participating in RHA and/or
Community Council.
7. Can you tell me about a particularly successful experience you had as a student
participating in RHA and/or Community Council?
8. Can you tell me about a particularly challenging experience you had as a student
participating in RHA/Community Council. How did you resolve the situation?
9. Tell me something you would change or improve to better RHA and/or Community
Council.
Appendix D - Facebook Social Media Posts
The survey was launched on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 5:16pm on the NIU Housing
Facebook page.
“NIU Alumni: We'd like your thoughts… If you’ve participated in NIU Residence Hall
Association or your Community Council as an undergraduate at NIU in the past, we’d like your
thoughts! go.niu.edu/zg7pdm”
The NIU Residence Hall Association also shared the post on their facebook page on October 1,
2018.
“Hey RHA!
As many of you who like this page are alumni of RHA, NRHH, and our Community Councils,
we wanted to let you know that we are currently doing an assessment of our leadership programs
over the years and would love your feedback!
If you would be interested in taking a quick survey or potentially being part of an online focus
group to discuss your leadership experience at NIU, please email ccherry@niu.edu and he will
put you into contact with the graduate class which is taking on this assessment project for us.
Thank you in advance for your assistance!”

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Running head: RHA AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL ASSESSMENT

Northern Illinois University RHA and Community Council Assessment

Bernadette Heitschmidt, Mary Jo Frichtl, Corbin Tyson, Emily Tudor

Northern Illinois University

Residential Housing Project Introduction 10

Results Error! Bookmark not defined.

Recommendations For the Future 20

Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a mid-sized institution located in DeKalb, Illinois.

also be briefly presented.

History of the Residence Halls and Residence Hall Association

model, counselor, administrator, and teacher (Blimling, 2003).

Student Leadership Development

The importance of developing leadership skills and abilities in college students is a

Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001).

Theories of leadership that rely on behaviors, attributes and situations to describe

“information age” with ongoing growth in technology, complexity, globalization and

Cherrey, 2000, p. 1; Rost, 1993). In this Post-Industrial age, Principle-based leadership is

21). This model of leadership includes components of empowerment, inclusiveness,

leadership educators (Komives et al., 2005).

Student Leadership Development Research

Komives et al. (2005) found that leadership identity occurred as a result of

developmental influences, such as family, peers, meaningful involvement, and reflective

self-awareness, building self-confidence, establishing interpersonal efficacy and applying new

identified six stages of leadership identity including: Awareness, Exploration/Engagement,

Leader Identified, Leadership Differentiated, Generativity, and Integration/Synthesis (Komives

development programs on college students of ten institutions. Students who participated in

college matriculation than nonparticipants, regarding leadership understanding and commitment.

development of cultural awareness and community orientation. In addition, leadership skills

engaged in co-curricular organizations rated themselves significantly more positively on serving

and being a good listener (Smith & Chenoweth, 2015).

Employability Skills for College Graduates

identified and operationalized by Rosenberg, Heimler, and Morote, (2012) include:

basic mathematical procedures.

3. Leadership Skills- The ability to motivate others to achieve organizational goals.

4. Management Skills- Activities such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling,

which are necessary to meet organizational goals.

service, negotiate agreements, resolve differences and work in a multicultural

procedures to access and analyze data.

social and technological systems.

8. Work Ethic- An individual’s disposition towards work including attendance, punctuality,

professionalism, motivation, patience, attitude, dependability, the ability to make

deadlines, and a realistic expectation of job requirements and career advancement.

graduation, but to be successful as they graduate and transition to their careers.

Residential Housing Assessment Project

undergraduate students participating in the Residential Housing Association and Community

because they were incomplete.

participating in Residential Housing Association/ Community Council (RHA/CC), what they

statistics were used for analysis.

The Individual Interviews

findings from the interviews.

The Document Review

Northern Illinois University.

interviews, and document resume reviews.

The majority of respondents (87.30%) graduated with an undergraduate degree from

varied, but many listed none (36.54%).

reported was between $30,000- $44,999.

fun, helpful, kind, understanding, supportive, an advocate, organized, open-minded, friendly,

patient, optimistic/positive/upbeat, charismatic/outgoing, inspirational, passionate, disciplined

provided only negative descriptors of their RHA advisors.

Positive and Negative Aspects of RHA/Community Council

Suggestions for Improvement of Student Experience

student participating in RHA/Community Council including having more leadership training,

decrease drama and cliques.