Res Life: Behind the scenes

With 2,100 students housed on campus, Luther College relies heavily on the Residence Life office.

“Res Life works to provide a living and learning community where student needs can be met in unique ways,” Brandt Hall Director Lindsey Bulger said.

In addition to finding suitable housing for all students, Residence Life puts on over 700 events a year, including BOMB, Humans vs. Zombies and Hall Brawl.

“These events help make Luther feel like home,” Ylvisaker Assistant Hall Director Jake Wessels (‘11) said.

From advocating for more efficient shower heads to the eco-friendly Sustainability House to be opened this fall, Residence Life is not only trying to meet the housing desires of students on campus but, through working alongside eco-concerned students, trying to help Luther go green. Living environments such as the Sustainability House are student preferences that Residence Life works to accommodate.

To take on the daunting demands of Luther’s large on-campus student body, the Residence Life Office has a staff of over 80 workers. The workers range from office positions, such as Housing Coordinator Renee Bay or Director of Residence Life Kris Franzen, to positions that are placed within the setting of residence halls, such as hall directors and area coordinators. Also, many of Res Life’s student workers are also RAs.

Some responsibilities of these workers include going through hundreds of first-year housing applications by hand in order to find suitable roommates for incoming students, a job for Bay.

“Initially, we had a computer system that did the sorting out of roommates for us, but we got rid of the system and found that, though it is more work, sorting through rooming applications by hand has led to less roommate complaints among first years,” Franzen said.

Another annual and extensive task for Res Life is the RA selection process, which is currently in process for this fall, involving around 100 applicants. This process is conducted by Franzen, hall directors and Area Coordinator Tiffany Knauf.

“It’s safe to say we work past 5:00 most days,” Franzen said.

Aside from responsibilities such as RA selection, Residence Life supervises residence halls and also handles any emergencies on campus in conjunction with any necessary security.

“We work close with security to ensure a safe and healthy community,” Bulger said.

Knauf stressed that Res Life is not a police organization.

“Discipline is a small part of what we do and we don’t desire it,” she said.

Other ways in which Res Life affects the living atmosphere for students at Luther, other than through disciplinary measures, includes the development and introduction of living environments, such as increased wellness floors and housing.

Campus-wide activities for students are provided by Residence Life, such as movie nights, canoe rides on the Upper Iowa, the “Dress for Success” interview fashion show and other events.

In addition, Residence Life provides class-targeted programs, such as the senior-directed “Move On Past Luther” and “Love and Marriage.”

“These meetings are designed to help seniors prepare for life after Luther,” Knauf said.

All this is just a sample of student orientation and outreach Residence Life provides for the Luther student community. Ranging from the hand selection of first-year roommates to senior professional development, there is no aspect of student life on campus that Residence Life is not involved with.