COCM understands the importance of motivating a team and driving engagement during a time of isolation and unfamiliar work environments. In order to determine how residential faculty working on campus and remotely at Marshall University are adapting to conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic we interviewed Heather Smith, Assistant Director of Operations of the First Year Residence Halls at Marshall.

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We all want to work in an environment that somehow feeds our souls. What happens when we encounter a workplace that does the exact opposite? Heidi Yoder began researching workplace bullying within student affairs in the Fall of 2018. Now, she’s sharing some of her insights on preventing toxic workplace environments and handling instances of abusive leadership.

Heidi Yoder is the Assistant Director of Residence Life at Edgewood Commons on the campus of Frostburg State University. She has dedicated 14 years to working with students and is currently working towards a Doctor of Education in Administration and Leadership Studies at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As part of her research there, Heidi is taking an in-depth look at workplace bullying within student affairs. She hopes to use her research to encourage people to have conversations around the topic. Heidi recently published an article in About Campus titled, When the compassionate are abusive: workplace bullying and student affairs.

On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Heidi joins me to talk about why she chose to take a closer look at workplace dynamics within student affairs. She shares how her research has progressed since she started her doctoral degree, sharing some particular instances of workplace bullying she uncovered through a qualitative survey of colleagues in the field. Listen in for Heidi’s advice on how individuals and their managers can take steps to prevent problematic workplace environments.

If today’s podcast raised some questions for you about workplace bullying, email them to media@cocm.com. We hope to have Heidi back on the podcast to answer your questions soon.

Topics Covered

Heidi’s career in student housing and residence life

What constitutes workplace bullying and abusive leadership

How Heidi gathered responses for a qualitative survey on workplace bullying

How lived experience informs Heidi’s research

How residence life and student affairs differ from other workplaces

Why managerial training is essential for new supervisors

Understanding your employee handbook and finding people to confide in

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Heidi’s Article in About Campus

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It’s well known that a career in higher education leaves you with many transferable skills. Are those skills useful outside of your workplace? How can we use what we’ve learned working with students to better ourselves and our communities? 

In 2009, Nicole Terrell joined COCM as a first-time Assistant Director in a brand-new residence hall at Marshall University. In Nicole’s role at COCM she developed a resident handbook and worked to guide first years struggling to transition to university life. After COCM, Nicole went on to work in loss prevention at Target. Today, she is raising a family, serving on community boards, and teaching cross-fit to kids.

On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Nicole joins guest host Tara Wilkinson to reminisce about her time as an AD. Nicole shares how building a sense of community in a first year residence hall relates to supporting members of the community she now lives in. She also weighs in on how working in higher ed pushed her outside of her comfort zone and taught her how to deal with tough situations. Listen in for Nicoles’s insight on how her experience with CCOM continues to influence the way she approaches supporting others in her local community and what ‘paying it forward’ really means.

Topics Covered

How Nicole got involved with COCM

Nicole’s experience working with first years in a new residence hall

How Nicole’s role as an Assistant Director prepared her for future positions

The importance of reaching out to others in your community

Nicole’s lasting relationships with former COCM colleagues

How COCM helped Nicole push past her boundaries

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Rafael Cordwell believes that you don’t choose your profession, your profession chooses you. And in the beginning, Raf resisted a career in student affairs—despite encouragement from more than one of his supervisors at Southern Connecticut State. But higher education had other plans for Raf, and today, he aspires to impact campus culture and policy for the better as a senior leader in the field.

Raf currently serves as COCM’s Director of University Affiliated Housing at Towson University in Towson, Maryland, and the Director of Leadership and Business Development at Driven2Inspire, a professional training and keynote speaking firm. Raf was selected to be a part of the inaugural cohort of the Ujima Institute, a prestigious program offered by NASPA, the Association for Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Raf earned his BA in English and Master’s in Women’s Studies at Southern Connecticut State University and is currently pursuing his PhD in Higher Education Administration at Morgan State.

On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Raf joins me to share his experience at the Ujima Institute, explaining its purpose in supporting higher education and student affairs professionals of color who aspire to senior-level and faculty positions. Raf describes the incredible level of energy among attendees as they shared their lived experiences and walks us through the values exercise he learned at Ujima that had the most profound impact on him as a leader. Listen in for Raf’s advice to young professionals considering a career in student housing and learn how residence life chose Raf to be a leader in college administration.

Topics Covered

How Raf was encouraged by his early supervisors to pursue a career in higher education

How the opportunity to impact campus culture and policy inspired Raf’s decision

The role Raf’s academic background in gender studies plays in his work in residence life

Why working with different types of people is both the most challenging and rewarding part of Raf’s job

How Raf helps students and their parents through the transition to college life

The Ujima Institute’s aim in supporting higher ed professionals of color who aspire to senior-level positions

The high level of energy among Ujima Institute attendees in sharing their lived experiences

Why Raf would encourage others to apply for the Ujima Institute

The values exercise Raf learned at the program that had a profound impact on him as a leader

Raf’s advice for young professionals considering a career in student affairs

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Raf on LinkedIn

NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

Ujima Institute

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