By: Breeanna Greer
Positions in Residence Life are House President, House Council, Assistant Hall Director, Apartment Manager, and Desk Operations Manager. To find these positions, their requirements, and their applications, you can go to MyGraceland > Resources> Residence Life> House Leadership & Job Opportunities.
House President applications are due by noon on February 15th. There are two parts to this application. There is a questionnaire and a statement with a picture. After the two-part application is entered, there will be case study presentations February 20th, followed by interviews the 21st –23rd, bearpits will be February 28th, and elections are on March 1st. In the case that there are not enough candidates to fill all 16 positions, applications will be reopened. Qualifications to apply to be a house president are you must have a sophomore standing at the time of application, must have attended Graceland for 4 semesters (2 years), a 2.5 GPA at the time of application, and must not be on probation for disciplinary actions. Another thing that is good to know is that when applying for house president, you are running open. This means you are not applying to be the house president of the house you are currently on. You are just applying to be a house president. “Your willingness to serve where needed is expected.”- MyGraceland. In talking with Morgan Bradford-Diaz, who was a house president herself 10 years ago, I asked her “what do you think has changed since being an HP yourself?” She shared about how there are less restrictions because there is no all-day everyday training. It was shortened to accommodate athletes and just humanizing the people in those positions.
House council applications are due before noon on March 24th. You can put your top two choices of positions. These positions include ASC Representative, Chaplain Representative, COSA Representative, IDEA Representative, Intramural Representative, Senator. Each position has different expectations and can be found on MyGraceland. Your application may be read by your house members, and you may be asked to make a statement. The results of the HoCo elections will be announced on March 28th, the night of elections. The requirements for these positions are a GPA of 2.25, sophomore standing at the time of taking the position, attending Graceland at least one semester and living on the hall.
Assistant Hall Director, Apartment Manager, and Desk Operations Manager are all similar jobs. The qualifications for all three positions are junior standing with a 2.5 GPA, must be in good academic and disciplinary standing, must have organizational skills, can work independently, and have demonstrated leadership skills. Perks of being an Assistant Hall Director are a 15-hour/week work assignment and a free apartment in the residence halls with an option of selecting a 5-meal plan. Perks of Apartment Manager are a 7-hour/week work assignment and a free apartment. For the desk operations manager it is a 10-hour/week work assignment.
These jobs are very important to our campus for many reasons. Bradford-Diaz shared what she thought the importance of having these positions on campus is. She discussed “having safety and resources for people on hall, and the ability to impact people in the best way.” She said these positions are “important and your voice will be heard.” Being in these jobs you are “intentional and show your value systems.” When asked for extra comments for future residence life, she said to find “ways to get involved. Get involved now and get leadership skills... Be the change you want to make." In talking with Teresa Graham, I asked her what she thought the importance of these positions were to campus, and she explains that they are important because “they build community, they can help with future jobs and internships, and they also can help with majors.” There are many opportunities that come with these positions. A couple of weeks ago, for the women's house meetings, we had a miniature version of bearpits with the current women’s HP’s. The main thing that was said the most was that their HP positions helped them with confidence, with friends, and with many connections all around campus. Some even said they never would have thought they would be close to the other HP’s. With learning that these leadership opportunities can also serve as job opportunities and can even help with your academic standing and job opportunities, it shows that these positions can prepare anyone for many different career and personal opportunities.