The last ten years have not been kind to higher education. The university has become the subject of intense scrutiny as many have begun to question its intrinsic value as a cultural institution. Arguably, our future is in jeopardy. Funding is scarce. Buildings are in desperate need of major repair. The curriculum needs to be more philosophically coherent. There needs to be greater accountability at all levels. The list goes on and on.

How universities respond to these challenges will determine whether or not our educational system, as well as our entire way of life, are able to survive and flourish into the next century. Society, as history demonstrated recently in the former Soviet Union, eventually discards what it no longer finds beneficial. The university cannot be separated from the culture that perpetuates its existence. By its very nature, the university is a microcosm of the forces that shape society at large. It magnifies those forces and presents them to our nation's youth on a daily basis.

As Student Affairs professionals, one of our cardinal responsibilities is to constantly reaffirm the essential nature of the higher education enterprise. It must be recognized and accepted that our contribution to the perceptions held by students, parents, community leaders, and other taxpayers is significant. Those of us affiliated with housing and residence life have a quintessential obligation to strive for excellence in everything we do.

When students talk about college, it is usually what has happened on campus; i.e., in the residence hall, that tends to dominate the conversation. The impression many people have of higher education is derived almost exclusively through the observations of college students they know and/or support. In this regard, residence life professionals have a rather unique capacity to set the general tone for many students' entire college experience. If we deal with students in a cold and impersonal fashion, this is how they will come to view campus life in general. If, on the other hand, our style is warm and empathetic, then students will tend to view college as much more enjoyable and rewarding.

This is especially poignant given the fact that each year the amount of money available for financial aid continues to diminish. Consumers are having to assume larger and larger percentages of the economic burden associated with attending college. Clearly, their perception of what goes on here is extremely relevant.

The university residence hall is one of the most dynamic entities on any college campus. It is where a tremendous amount of personal growth and development occur. Obviously, classrooms, laboratories, and libraries contribute substantially to a student's overall educational encounter. In many instances, however, knowledge is simply "dispensed" at these locations. It is back in the residence hall that this knowledge is discussed, analyzed, questioned, and often discarded.

The residence hall serves numerous functions. For many students, it is much more than a place to eat, sleep, study, and watch TV. It is a place to discover who you really are as well as how to relate to other human beings in a meaningful way -- a sort of laboratory for personal and social experimentation. Learning to peacefully and productively coexist with others is fundamental for both self-actualization and communal stability.

A developmental symmetry exists between the uniqueness of the individual and the preservation of the character of a group to which an individual belongs. All students have a basic need for both self-expression and social conformity. The residence hall provides students with a perfect medium for exploring how these needs relate to each other and how they can be met congruently and simultaneously.

But what specifically can we, as residence life professionals, do in order to cultivate a campus climate that is more responsive to students' developmental needs? The answer lies more in the realm of attitudes and understandings than in particular actions. These dimensions are frequently overlooked in our rush to implement the latest staff training and programming ideas. Yet in order to make a significant and enduring difference in the lives of others, we must first truly care about them.

The importance of fostering a genuine concern for other people cannot be overemphasized. Every effort must be made to see that all staff training reinforces a sense of true respect and authentic regard for others. In too many instances, staff attempt to intervene in critical situations without a true sense of caring and concern for the parties involved. Such a superficial approach invariably ends in failure; maybe not immediately, but certainly in the long run.

Everything we undertake in the residence hall should be accompanied by an altruistic feeling of honesty and goodwill. If this is not immediately self-evident, students will instinctively see our efforts as pretentious and insincere. Consequently, our integrity will be trivialized and our credibility irreparably damaged.

Closely related is the responsibility residence life professionals have to nurture sensitivity among staff. It is absolutely essential that resident assistants possess the empathetic skills necessary to negotiate appropriate solutions to potentially volatile situations. They should have the ability to "tune in" to the particular personalities and distinctive styles of their individual floors -- to intuitively sense what is going on at any given time.

Sensitivity is also the key to maximizing total student development. Residence life professionals sometimes operate under the premise that their primary objective is to dominate any situation that may arise. This approach invariably signifies a failure to fully comprehend the educational nature of residence hall living. Our mission is not to control behavior. Our goal should be to help students understand their behavior and assist them in modifying it when warranted. Accordingly, staff need training in ways to humanistically precipitate conflict resolution.

Sensitivity provides staff with the tools needed to convert conflict situations into developmental opportunities. Subtle expressions of frustration and anxiety are often allowed to precipitate into open hostility and aggression due to the failure of a staff person to accurately "read" a potentially explosive situation. Whereas conflict is typically a prerequisite for successful student development, it must be contained and managed within a constructive framework. The ability to deal with conflict appropriately is directly related to levels of awareness and sensitivity.

By design, the residence life professional wears many hats. At various times, he/she is an administrator, a facilitator, an innovator, a counselor, an arbitrator, a disciplinarian, and a bureaucrat. But more importantly, he/she must always be a friend and a confidant. When we display a genuine concern for all students, we are helping to build a better university, a better society, and a better world.