The Student Housing Matters blog explores ideas with leaders in higher education and the student housing profession. This is the place to find stories from those who have worked in the field for many years, podcast interviews, and videos about relevant topics in the student housing world.

It’s about matters relating to on-campus student housing, as well as why quality on-campus student housing really matters. We want this blog to serve as a forum for sharing ideas and insights about how your on-campus student housing can do things beyond simply housing students. How it can be used as a more powerful tool to recruit and retain students on your campus. We look forward to you joining us in the conversation.

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Posts by: Alton Irwin

I Learned to Supervise Millennials While Taking Piano Lessons: Part Four

February 19, 2013

I recently learned that much of my supervisory toolkit was developed while sitting on a piano bench.  In particular, the methods that I’ve used with success for the millennial generation are derived from things I learned during piano lessons.   This article is an installment of my ongoing musings about drawing inspiration for better supervision from…

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What We’re Reading: A Magical Night for Social Media in Higher Ed

February 15, 2013

If you missed it last week, the University of Florida put on a fantastic display of how institutions can utilize social media.  They created a tremendous amount of buzz by giving the admissions process a living, breathing personality. They used a hashtag (#UF17) to interact and engage with all of the new students that were…

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What We’re Reading: Generation on a Tightrope

February 12, 2013

I am reading a book entitled “Generation on a Tightrope:  A Portrait of Today’s College Student,” by Arthur Levine and Diane R. Dean.   It is an interesting read and I would recommend it for anyone involved in higher education, especially those focused on housing and residence life. The book is a snapshot of U.S. undergraduates…

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A Different Look at College Football’s Top 25

February 8, 2013

As you may, or may not, be aware, the glorious time of the year known as “Football Season” has just officially come to an end.  I know… sad, right? Being someone who is an avid college football fan AND a person that is constantly looking at school health statistics, I sometimes wonder how some of…

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What We’re Reading: Why the College Campus Experience Still Matters

February 4, 2013

For those of us who have always recognized the invaluable experience of living in on campus housing as part of the total post-secondary educational experience, the article below helps us with the concerns we have heard about declining residential college enrollments predicted for the future. In my opinion while an on-line degree might impart valuable…

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Podcast

Join the Conversation Episode 11 – Interview with Cyndi Rapier

January 30, 2013

In this episode, we interviewed Director of Housing for International Programs at Green River Community College, Cyndi Rapier.  Cyndi has worked at Green River for 14 years, and has responsibility for a wide variety of issues relating to the International program or “IP.” As an active member of the IP Marketing Team, Enrollment Management Team, and…

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A Bold Call to Action

January 25, 2013

Great article in the NYT about the growing concern of college graduation rates in our country.  It is a sobering fact that half of all students (both non-traditional and traditional) at two- or four-year institutions, fail to earn a degree in six years.  The National Commission on Higher Education Attainment, led by The Ohio State University President,…

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Utilizing Informational Videos On Campus

January 23, 2013

As we plan for the next academic year in student housing, we are all trying to reassess how we disseminate and present information to today’s students. What worked five years ago, probably isn’t going to work well today. Our student’s information environment has changed greatly. We need to think in terms of using smaller bits…

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I Learned to Supervise Millennials While Taking Piano Lessons: Part Three

January 18, 2013

I recently learned that much of my supervisory toolkit was developed while sitting on a piano bench.  In particular, the methods that I’ve used with success for the millennial generation are derived from things I learned during piano lessons.   This article is an installment of my ongoing musings about drawing inspiration for better supervision from…

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Podcast

Join the Conversation Episode 10 – Interview with Eileen Strempel and Emmanuel Awuah

January 15, 2013

In this episode we interview Eileen Strempel (Assistant Vice President for Academic Advancement at Syracuse University) and Emmanuel Awuah (Interim Vice President for Academic and Global Initiatives at Onondaga Community College of the State University of New York).  The two schools have a joint initiative called the the “2 plus 2 degree program” that is designed to…

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What We’re Reading: Finding the Next Generation

January 7, 2013

Inside HigherEd posted a really interesting article on “Finding the Next Generation” last month.  I especially liked this excerpt… Reaching out to low-income, urban students is a significant shift for a group  of institutions like Franklin & Marshall whose historic demographic has been  middle- and high-income students. While institutions such as Franklin &  Marshall have…

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How do we get out the message?

January 2, 2013

I’ve reached the stage in life where friends start asking you to talk with their kids about college.  I hate that I’m that old, though I guess it’s flattering that someone thinks I have an opinion worth hearing.  Fortunately in this case, the talk was germane to something I actually have some professional knowledge about…

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