University Housing Manifesto

I expect that staff of University Housing approach their work with the following ten core principles to their work. These principles should provide sufficient coverage to be an outstanding employee at the University and within the department. The challenge is yours.

Ethics
Ethics requires honesty and integrity in our work. What one should ask when making a decision is How would I feel if this was to show up on the front page of the newspaper? Could I lose my job by making this decision? Karen Kitchener (1985) broke it down to five ethical principles that we should utilize in our work: Respect Autonomy It is assumed that individuals have the right to decide how they live their lives, as long as their actions do not interfere with the welfare of others. One, therefore, has the right to act as free agent, and has freedom of thought and choice. Do No Harm The obligation to avoid inflicting either physical or psychological harm on others may be a primary ethical principle. Benefit Others There is an obligation to improve and enhance the welfare of others, even where such enhancements may inconvenience or limit the freedom of the person offering the assistance. Be Just To be just in dealing with others assumes equal treatment of all, to afford each individual their due portion, and in general, to observe the golden rule. Be Faithful One should keep promises, tell the truth, be loyal, and maintain respect and civility in human discourse. Only in so far as we sustain faithfulness can we expect to be seen as being trustworthy. Ethics is doing the right thing when the right thing isnt always the easiest.

Innovation
I have the expectation of this department to be a leader on our campus, regionally and nationally when it comes to the work that we do (residence life, facilities, housing, student affairs, auxiliary operations). We have excelled as a department when we have allowed ourselves to think outside of the box and discover solutions that not only solved problems but had a level of forward-thinking and innovation. We should approach each of our jobs by looking for best practices and then seeing if we can innovate based on those best practices. Lets not simply settle lets discover whats not yet been considered.

Mentoring
Kouzes & Posner in their book A Leaders Legacy stated, The best way to learn is to teach. One of the most powerful legacies you can leave is to turn every person you lead, whether a manager or an individual contributor, into a teacher. When they become fully engaged in the experience of learning not just the experience of doing people will realize a benefit that extends far beyond the production of a quality product or the performance of exemplary service. We need to help our staff learn what it is that we expect of them. We cannot simply dismiss the opportunity we must engage. I also believe that one way to learn is through teaching subject matter. Think of opportunities as we move forward with those people you find challenging and see if there are ways for us to teach them their job. We need to see the opportunity to develop our replacements through mentoring and teaching. This does require a level of engagement that we have not always taken part in.

Learning
I believe it is important to grow in our positions. Just because we know what is expected of us, we should not rest on our laurels and not expect more of ourselves. An indicator of integrity is an individual who wants to learn and grow in the position. Robert Kriegel wrote a book, If It Aint Broke.Break It! Krigel wrote, Today, business people have to turn the old rules inside out, upside down, and backwards not only to succeed, but to survive! Kriegel suggests that with society moving faster everyday, we have to approach our work as not complacent. We have to look at what we are doing and learn how to do it different more efficiently, more effectively, and more innovatively. As a life-long learner, I value surrounding myself with people that want to learn and improve upon performance. Understand and take meaning from what is going around us (through data, through trends, through best practices, etc.). It is critical for people who want to excel and provide the best possible results, to continue to learn through: Reading Professional networking Best Practices Research and Study Take Classes Job Shadowing Webinars Professional conferences Writing Other

Content Experts
You each have unique job descriptions and expectations related to your job tasks. I was not hired to do your work; I was hired to provide leadership and vision for the work that you do. Exemplify this in terms of your job. Know your responsibilities, become good at your responsibilities, and then become the best at your job responsibilities. Jim Collins writes about what it takes to take an organization from Good to Great. For me, it requires for you to be the expert in the department with regard to your job. I want staff that aspires to be the best in the world at their work. This does not mean that you do not have work to do and growth to occur it does mean though that when a specific content question is asked of the department, I would look to each of you in relation to that question to provide insight as to how we move forward. Become experts at your job.

Accountability
Your actions (or inactions) are a reflection on those within the organization, your supervisor, and the department as a whole (many times also on the institution). I expect staff to own their choices, decision, and behaviors. If you fail, own it. The only thing that is worse than failure is someone who wants to place blame rather than taking responsibility. I have little tolerance for this type of leadership. Accountability requires you to know what is expected of you (i.e. job responsibilities, supervisor/department expectations, policy and procedure manuals, common sense). I can understand that sometimes people make mistakes the lesson is to not repeat the same mistake. I also believe that when your staff makes a mistake, accountability lies on the supervisor as well as the staff member. That is why I can accept responsibility for any member of University Housing because each member of the team is a reflection of the work that I lead.

Communication
We cannot over communicate. My expectation is that we understand the impacts of our work and communicate them to impacted parties. We have to not live in bubbles. I am looking for staff that can see the bigger picture

and communicate that to the rest of the department. I also need for us to create better communication with our staffs. We cannot expect our staffs to know what is expected of them if we do not communicate clearly. From daily tasks to general expectations, we must utilize different communication vehicles for content delivery: In-person one-on-one In-person staff/group meetings In-person site/office visits Email Telephone/Cell Phone Text Messenger/Instant Message Letter/Memo Tweet/Other Social Media Vehicle Communication is the most important skill that each of us has to develop otherwise we can assume failure. Further, we have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation (i.e. staff member, supervisor, parent, student, etc.) I do not want to hear that you arent comfortable with talking to someone else. Gossip and rumor should be eliminated from the workplace. Lets focus on being honest with one another and making sure that we communicate clearly.

Empowerment
Every member of the department is critical in our future success. We need to look at everyone as a potential solution to our day-to-day problems. If we overly manage (rather than lead our team members), we give them no opportunity to exceed our expectations. I believe we need to give our staff opportunities to be outstanding in their work settings. We need to empower our staffs by affording opportunities to show their leadership and problem-solving abilities. From The Mid-Level Manager in Student Affairs: Supervisors demonstrate trust when they believe there is more than one way to achieve goals and expectations. If supervisors afford staff members the opportunity to reach these goals in the manner they feel is best and most appropriate, staff members are more likely to be creative thinkers and decision-makers. Likewise, they become more confident in their skills, abilities, and talents. (Buckingham & Coffman) This should not be about an individuals ego lets not micromanage but allow our staff to find solutions to the problems that they face on a daily basis. Empowerment allows that but requires the staff to look for solutions, not simply identify the problem. Challenge your staff to find the solution leaders do not need to be the only problem solvers in the organization.

Collaboration
We are part of one team, who is part of two distinct teams (Student Affairs and Auxiliaries), who are part of one large team (University of Idaho). We need to be team players to each of those respective entities. This means that when we are asked to collaborate, we jump at the opportunity. It also means that when we arent asked, we ask how might we collaborate with this partner? This institution cannot succeed based on our separate silos. We have to find ways to bridge our work and collaborate with one another within our department, units and as the university as a whole. We also need to find ways to support our colleagues and decision makers on campus when it comes to the decisions that are made on campus that impact us. We may disagree with the decision (and it can be appropriate to show dissent in private discussions), but publically we need to speak from one voice WE. Even though a decision is made at the highest levels, we have to be able to represent that decision as one that is a collective decision we should not place it upon the decision maker as one that we disagree with in public settings.

Find ways to understand each area of the department, each area of the units (Student Affairs and Auxiliaries) and our various partners across the campus and how we can work together for common purposes.

Vision Aligned
Your decisions have to be developed through the lens of Student Success. I need staff who can think about what our institutions ultimate measuring stick is student retention and matriculation. Our department has aligned itself with student success we should use that lens in every decision that we make as a department. In fact, if a decision does not tie back to student success, we need to ask ourselves why are we doing it. Staff that have been the most successful at University Housing have been able to consistently show their commitment to student success.