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Residential life professionals are on the forefront of scholar well being, happiness, and success. They’ve been within the trenches throughout the pandemic. Steven Couras, affiliate dean of residential life and off-campus housing at Curtis Institute of Music manages a lot in his position.
We caught up with Couras to find out how he is balancing security for a scholar inhabitants whose highschool and faculty expertise has been something however regular.
Eileen Hoenigman Meyer: How has this 12 months been going for college kids at Curtis?
Steven Couras: I feel we’re lastly attending to a brand new normalcy. Security was one of many largest issues as a result of Covid might unfold so rapidly at a music faculty the place of us are singing and enjoying devices.
In March 2020, when faculties and universities shut down throughout spring break, we went absolutely digital. We wished to make it possible for our college students, workers, and college have been secure. That is one thing that I respect and admire about our president. A number of nice know-how and innovation got here from this resolution.
Final August, we returned to campus. A number of preparation needed to be performed to make it possible for our residence halls and our college students are secure. We did every little thing from turning doubles into singles and ensuring that suites weren’t at full capability so that individuals had a bit extra space. Regardless that CDC and native laws did not mandate it, we nonetheless wished to be as secure as attainable for our college students and their mother and father.
Meyer: How has your res life workforce stayed related to college students throughout this tough time?
Couras: After we have been absolutely digital, res life nonetheless had plenty of engagement and did plenty of digital programming. Our resident help workers’s full cost was to maintain college students engaged just about. So, they hosted Zoom chats, conferences, video games, and trivia nights.
We labored with colleagues at Juilliard and Berkeley Faculty of Music. It was a manner for all college students to community, hand around in a digital setting, play video games, and use a chat room.
We’ve got an enormous worldwide scholar inhabitants. Our different college students are unfold out across the US. There was not a lot for them to do at dwelling aside from follow and do the digital lessons. They actually appreciated having a social digital outlet.
My workers additionally appreciated it as a result of we saved our coaching {and professional} growth for them. It gave them a further layer of labor to do. I do know that they have been battling being caught at dwelling, not with the ability to play music. That is why they’re right here, that is their entire function.
2020-21 was a giant problem, after which 2021-2022 coming again into individual. There have been challenges. We had spikes right here and there, however we had such a well-oiled machine. We had our quarantine areas and weekly testing. Music was nonetheless being produced in a phenomenal manner. It was superb.
Meyer: How has it been for you as a pacesetter? How did you discover readability?
Couras: After we have been absolutely digital, there’s an assumption that you simply’re not as busy as you have been whenever you have been in individual. Actually, I feel we have been simply as busy, if not busier. A number of my colleagues felt that manner. We have been type of pulling double obligation to make it possible for every little thing was nonetheless working easily in a digital capability.
Making time for myself to meditate, get away, speak to colleagues is essential. Additionally, I’ve digital conferences with colleagues at varied conservatories. We test in, see how everyone seems to be doing, and the way everyone seems to be making it work on their campuses. The opposite factor that helped was constructing a robust camaraderie by way of MACUHO (Mid-Atlantic Affiliation of Faculty and College Housing Officers). It is useful to listen to what every group is doing and the way it’s all coming collectively.
Meyer: How would you say scholar wants modified throughout the pandemic?
Couras: Particularly once we have been digital, college students actually wanted a social outlet. They have been all far-off once they would usually be down the corridor. They wanted to vent, to be heard by friends, particularly the youthful college students who missed their first or second 12 months of school or who missed promenade.
As this pandemic continues, I feel college students are going to want psychological well being assist. I am not attempting to diagnose them, however I’ve seen college students are available with much more nervousness, fear, panic, and despair.
I feel plenty of assist and steering is required for our college students proper now. That is going to be an space the place resident life professionals, scholar life professionals, and folk within the counseling service areas can collaborate and do some holistic work round serving to college students.
Meyer: What concepts are you shaping to assist college students subsequent 12 months?
Couras: What we have discovered to achieve success with excessive attaining college students within the arts is that they are actually in search of inventive retailers to assist them loosen up.
DIY arts and crafts actions have been our most profitable programs–painting and gardening. Our RAs did a program the place college students planted their very own succulent vegetation. College students actually responded to that greater than conventional occasions like video video games or film nights.
They loved adorning and constructing issues. Having a protracted desk and a bunch of provides and seeing what they’ll give you; I name it a “make it and take it.”
I feel that is a great way for college kids to only breathe, be collectively, and give attention to one thing that is not tutorial or career-related. I’d name it artwork remedy programing. That is actually common proper now.
One other program that I did not assume it was going to be that common, however a bunch of individuals got here, was make your individual aromatherapy diffusers. We’ll proceed doing extra round meals and wholesome dwelling, make your individual nut milk or make your individual vitality bars out of granola, nuts, and almond flour.
I feel these actions present them with some sense of management and a method to simply loosen up.
Meyer: What’s your biggest hope?
Couras: That we are able to get to a spot the place college students really feel snug expressing themselves, asking for assist once they want it, going to counselors, and talking up. I feel we’re getting there. We wish to discover a difficulty or concern early on. Our objective on this area is to make it possible for they’re secure, wholesome, blissful, and having a great time on campus.
Meyer: What’s your largest fear?
Couras: I fear we would not be ready for the quantity of instances we will see proceed to rise within the subsequent 12 months or two, particularly with of us coming into establishments who’ve been within the pandemic throughout highschool. These years are so vital. I do know that right here, and I think about each establishment, everybody has actually nice assets and has nice workplaces of residence life, scholar life, and counseling companies that may assist and assist these points and issues.
However I feel it’ll be an even bigger concern than anybody has seen shortly, and it retains me up at evening as a result of I have a look at these college students and my job is to guard them and maintain them wholesome, secure, and blissful whereas they’re right here.
I fear, too, for my colleagues and my area. I’ve had no less than six colleagues who’ve gone into completely different industries: HR, tech, recruiting, or company work. It is type of scary. A number of us senior housing of us discuss how we are able to retain our entry, grad, and mid-level workers as a result of they’re leaving in even greater droves.
We’re within the enterprise of constructing reminiscences. We plan applications and occasions and journeys. We make reminiscences for these college students outdoors of the classroom. And I hope that we’re doing sufficient. I feel that is at all times my largest concern.
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