'The Pulse' - May 2013

- PAGE 1 -

MAY 2013

President’s Corner Hello OACUHO Members, It was so wonderful to connect with so many of you last week at the Annual OACUHO Spring Conference at Queens University. I would like to take one final opportunity to thank Queens for hosting. They did a great job. It was a wonder-ful professional meeting and a great opportunity to network and develop our professional commu-nity. The 13-14 Board stayed at Queens until Friday afternoon planning and strategizing our year. We will be meeting face to face again in June at Western University where we will turn our vision into an action plan. Nothing is more motivating that the energy we all picked up from you at the conference. For those of you that were not at the Spring con-ference we hope you can join us at our many upcoming meetings. This summer King’s Uni-versity College is hosting a Mid-Level Training Institute. In the Fall Brock will be hosting our Fall Business Meeting with a theme of universal design. We know the Spring conference is not always convenient timing for all functional areas of housing. I struggled being away this year as I recently took over management of the summer housing operation. OACUHO is dedicated to representing all functional areas of university and college housing. We hope all housing pro-fessional can join us at a meeting, pd opportuni-ty, or webinar this year.

Last year our President Jen Gonzales chal-lenged all members of the association with our #oacuho360 initiative. Asking the association “How might you serve the association?” for the 360 days we are not at the Spring conference. This year we will be keeping with the #oacuho360 theme. However the meaning has evolved slightly. Our goal is to represent all functional areas of student housing – a 360 rep-resentation of our profession. Our goal is also to enlist each and every Ontario university and college housing operation as a member of OACUHO – again a 360 representation of our profession. In my Restalks presentation at the Spring Con-ference I had several key messages. The most important being that no matter what other con-ferences you attend or organizations you belong to – we want you to feel that OACUHO is your professional home. I hope all of you had the same emotional reaction I did when Lynn Burritt accepted her OACUHO Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing banquet. To me there is no more powerful sign that OACUHO is my profes-sional home. Thank you for being engaged professionals. I am awaiting invitations to all of your institutions. Thank you! Chad Nuttall OACUHO President 2013-2014

OACUHO 2013OACUHO 2013--2014 2014

Moving ForwardMoving Forward

#OACUHO360

- PAGE 2 -

#LetsMakeThisHappen Do you work in the areas of IT, Admissions, Assignments, Off Campus Housing, Facilities or Budgets within Housing or Resi-dence? Don't be shy — OACUHO needs you! The OACUHO Board is interested in engaging and involving pro-fessionals in all functional areas of Housing. On the top of our list is providing professional development, opportunities for ongoing connections and engagement in OACUHO through the board,

committees, networks or the mentorship program. Diversity within the Association helps to strengthen the connec-tions and learning happening within the association and helps rein-force our strength provincially and nationally as an association that serves all facets of the Housing portfolio. Consider how you can get involved in 2013-2014! Laura Storey OACUHO President-Elect

The OACUHO Mentorship Program aims to foster effective profes-sional relationships by matching an experienced housing profes-sional (“Mentor”) with a member (“Mentee”) looking to advance their knowledge and/or skills in a specific area of housing. The purpose of the Mentorship program is to cultivate personal relationships amongst the association as well as provide members of the association with the opportunity to:

Promote life-long learning through intentional opportunities for

professional and personal development;

Networking and engagement from a cross section of various

functional areas within the Association.

Feel connected to our professional home, OACUHO.

The deadline to submit an application is Friday July 12, 2013. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Jessica Brain, the Membership Engagement Director at (519) 824-4120 ext. 54895 or [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your application!

The OACUHO Board of Directors is seeking individuals to help fill the positions of Member-at-Large and Profes-sional Development Director for the 2013-2014 term. If you're eager to get involved, are willing to share your pas-sion and enthusiasm for Housing, and are interested in creating direction for our dynamic organization - one of these positions may be for you! Check out the OACUHO website for more information about position description and nomination form.

The OACUHO Communications Committee is seeking Housing professionals who have all levels of interest or knowledge in areas of communication including in writing, design, social media, or who are looking to gain experience in the fields of Housing or Commu-nications. The Communications Committee is responsible for communication pieces such as ‘The Pulse’ Newsletter, the OACUHO Blog, maintaining OACUHO’s online presence, among other things. Interested in learning more? Please contact Matt Waghorn, OACUHO Communication Director 2013-2014. [email protected] or 519-661-2111 ext. 88416

- PAGE 3 -

OAKUDOS from the OACUHO Conference Director Thank-you to the host committee at Queen’s University for facilitating a fantastic conference experience this month! It was a week filled with great learning and opportunities to connect and reconnect with colleagues. The host committee will be sending out a post-conference assessment in the next week. Please take a few minutes to complete this as it will help provide insight and direction to future hosts. Save the date! OACUHO Mid-Level Training Institute: July 9th – 12th, 2013, hosted by King’s University College in London, Ontario

Register Now! Early Bird Registration ends June 1, 2013 For more information: http://mlti.kings.uwo.ca/ To Register: http://oacuho.com/index.php?section=events&evtid=135

OACUHO Fall Business Meeting: October 25th, 2013, hosted by Brock University in St. Catherine’s, Ontario OACHUO Residence Life Conference: January 10th – 12th, 2014, hosted by University of Toronto Mississauga in Mississauga, Ontario Interested in hosting an upcoming OACUHO event? We are currently accepting bids for the Fall Business Meeting 2014 and the New Professionals Training Institute 2014. We will be

reviewing these bids on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you have any questions or would like to receive information about the bid-

ding process please contact the Conference Director, Brittany Gawley or 905-525-9140 ext. 23435.

OACUHO President 2013-2014 - Chad Nuttall Speech at OACUHO Spring Conference Banquet — May 15, 2013

Before I get into my little speech. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Queen’s University for hosting this conference. It’s been a wonderful professional meeting of colleagues mixed with fun networking. Thank you! Second I would like to thank the 2012-13 Board of Directors for their work. I must admit at our transition meeting at McMaster I kept suggesting that we set “realistic goals” which was my nice way saying – “we won’t get all this work done.” This is the hard-est working board I have been a part of. Please give the 12-13 Board another hand. More importantly this is the closest I have felt to any board. Jen put incredible effort in ensuring this board had fun as well as getting things done. Jen has an absolute gift when it comes to connecting people. We laughed till we cried, we did a high ropes course, we rode Suni’s horse, went canoeing, had campfires and went swimming. We learned about each other as people and built a very solid team. Jen has changed the world of OACUHO is one very important way. People are excited to be engaged again. We had final board photo after the AGM and it is clear that under Jen’s leadership we had an incredible year. Jen and I have a rare partnership. I am excited to continue to deepen my partnership with Jen next year in role as Past-President. Please take a moment to recognize Jen’s accomplishments. Earlier today I outlined some ways you can all help OACUHO and add value to our profession. It was a great way to outline my priorities and outline where the Association needs your help: 1) Securing memberships 2)engaging across functional areas 3)engaging thru levels of experience 4) developing partnerships and raising our profile 5) and communicating the benefits of living and learning in residence A little known fact about me I spent more than half my life in the Scouting movement. In fact – I am a Chief Scout. A lot of what I learned about leadership, people and myself I learned from Scouting. Baden Powell the 1st Chief Scout once said “Try to leave this world a little better than you found it.” That is an important value for me. Many of you have already approached me about getting involved. Thank you for showing me that OACUHO is your professional home. Tonight is a wonderful celebration of the innovation, expertise and values of our association. Just a moment ago OACUHO pre-sented our highest honour to a Lynn Burritt a professional that dedicated her career to improving the world of Student Housing and Residence Life. To those winners of all awards tonight – a big congratulations. I urge you to celebrate this big accomplish-ment. There is no higher honour than being recognized by your peers. Be sure to tell your family what you have accomplished, colleagues at your home institution, hang the award in your office, and add it to your resume. It is well worth celebrating! One last word from me. I want to engage with members of this association. I would love to be invited to your campus. Gather up your folks across functional areas set out some coffee and let’s talk about how we can leave this world better than we found it. Thank you!

- PAGE 4 -

OACUHO Past-President 2012-2013 - Jen Gonzales Speech at OACUHO Spring Conference Banquet — May 15, 2013

Hello OACUHO, So, it has come to this. I am in my final minutes as OACUHO President and truly it is an honour to stand in front of you having served for 2 years on the Board. And as of today, knowing I have a year as Past President ahead of me, I am confident that the association is in good hands and that I will be in-vesting my service as a housing professional to a very worthwhile association. In choosing to run, I knew I would be joining a list of esteemed housing colleagues who had chosen to serve the association as President before me. There are several past presidents in the room tonight, and I would like to invite the membership to acknowledge their previous service as Presidents. Jamie Fleming- Brock University Glen Weppler- University of Waterloo Kevin Beatty- McMaster University Michelle Verugghe- University of Toronto- Scarborough Sarah Burley- University of Toronto, Chestnut Residence Dale Mullings, University of Toronto- Mississauga Robert Halliday- Carleton University Each of these past presidents have at some point in the last two years offered support, guidance, context and have allowed me to have a successful term. I’d like to thank each of your for your continued support. It took time to establish what vision I would set for my term as President. I found myself going back and forth between various goals when I finally decided to do what I do best: coach. I decided that I would spend my term coaching in the land of OACUHO. I posed a challenge to the membership last year to engage with the association for the 360 days in between our spring conferences. I encouraged all members to consider how they might serve the association- through hosting an event, participating in a committee or network, and connecting all of their housing officers in all areas of the housing operation to OACUHO. I posed a large challenge and to be successful, I thought the best use of my time and energy was in coaching the membership in achieving this vision. A successful coach does several things. They spend a considerable amount of time and energy recruiting the best possible team to achieve the goal of winning the game. When those top players are in place, they dedicate themselves to providing guidance, support and energy towards each individual player contributing their personal best to the team. In doing so, highly effective teams are built. Lastly, a coach celebrates accomplishments, and helps their team see the impact of their performance and their contribution to legacy, long beyond the game is won. I have had the pleasure of working with an exceptional Board of Directors this year and I think it is quite evident that we won our game. In coaching the board, I heard stories about various housing operations, gained new ideas, and learned just as much from them as I hope they were able to learn from me. Sarah, Suni, Paul, Heather, and Brent you did incredible work this year and I invite all of us to acknowledge your work at this time. Per-sonally, I would like to thank each of you for your hard work, dedication and execution this year. However, we were not the only team at work. Our association is made up of talented members, who deeply care about being educators contributing to our students’ success in higher education. Many of you chose to invest time presenting sessions, sharing knowledge through social media, hosting events, advocating and furthering the work of our profession along this year. As you saw in our AGM updates today, we were successful as a board based on your contributions. Thank you for serving your professional home. I have had many full circle moments as President. This includes being in this very room right now- the room where I graduated as a New Professional at OACUHO’s New Professional Training Institute 2004. A full circle moment occurred last year when I took over Presidency in Hamilton Ontario, my hometown in the very banquet hall where I attended several proms in high school. I was graciously asked to keynote the Residence Life Conference with two of my best friends and talented colleagues at the University of Guelph in Janu-ary. I stood in Rozanski Hall a space that I paid for as a student, enjoyed facilitating training sessions in as a new professional and truly was blown away by the feeling of joy that came in returning to my alma mater to deliver a keynote at a conference that made me know that residence life and housing was my calling. I’m about to have another full circle moment right now in handing over this symbolic OACUHO gavel to one of my most trusted and respected colleagues Chad Nuttall. Like many people in this room, Chad and I have had a lasting friendship that is rooted in sharing the experience of being student leaders together at the University of Guelph. At first, I found Chad a little tough to handle. He was opinionated, smart, and definitely liked to be heard. We had very different ways of leading back then and in my immaturity, I thought my way of leading was better than his. I think he thought the same thing. In our 4th year we were both hired to be the first ever Community Advisors of separate large buildings on campus. We were being recognized for our years of service as RA’s and it was clear that Chad and I were at the top of our game. It would have been easy to compare myself to him all year but this was the year that I began to see how truly complimentary our leadership styles are. We drove forward several initiatives that year and by the time we graduated I was excited that he too was entering the field of residence life as a profes-sional. We spent years at separate institutions but I always looked forward to connecting with Chad at OACUHO events. I remember him bringing a dele-gation from Humber to the Residence Life Conference and leading his delegation in a dance routine that of course won them the spirit award. Yes- ladies and gentlemen, Chad Nuttall can dance. I always looked forward to his presentations at Spring conferences as he contributed ideas and knowledge to the profession and when I took a few years to complete my masters full time, Chad often updated me on the progress of the OACUHO Board of Directors as he was serving as Communications Director. When the opportunity came to work with Chad at Ryerson, I took it wholeheartedly and have enjoyed every single day since. I believe the 2012-2013 Board of Directors have set the foundation for the association to actively contribute to the Canadian Post Secondary education community. I can think of no one that is more poised, prepared and trusted than Chad to lead the association in the upcoming years. Thank you for your consistent, constant support this year as I navigated being President and I am looking forward to many years of continued friendship as we continue to contribute to OACUHO. Chad- congratulations on being elected as President of OACUHO. I am proud to pass the gavel to you and invite you to officially begin your term as President.

- PAGE 5 -