The Office of Residence Life has hired four new staff members and is working on adding one more after several departures in the past year.
This semester, Bellande “Bell” Bertrand has replaced Zack Snyder as director of residence life. And in a new position combining the Honors College and ResLife, Mary Womack is working as the co-director of Barret Hall. As residence directors, Matt San Miguel is overseeing Edwards Hall, and Tanya Chambers is in Nelson Hall. The RD role in University Park remains vacant, but Bertrand is filling in as interim RD.
Shannon Kaczmarek, dean of community living and wellness, said although this is a significant amount of turnover, she is not surprised because the positions in ResLife are entry-level positions and are often filled for just a few years.
“Our goal as leadership in that department is to equip these professionals in really good ways,” Kaczmarek said, “to help train them so that they’re doing the best job they can, and then celebrate them as they move on.”
Before Bertrand stepped into the role, Snyder had held the position of director of residence life for 12 years, Kaczmarek said. Bertrand was working in a residential life position at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant director of supervision. Despite being in his new role for only three months, Bertrand said the transition to his job felt seamless.
“I’m getting used to the cadence of what campus life is like,” Bertrand said. “I think since students have been back on campus, the level of energy on campus and throughout the staff has been different because now it’s not hypothetical conversations of engagement, it’s happening.”
In his new role, Bertrand hopes to help students feel included and heard by ResLife. He said he is open to feedback from students and hopes to continue to adapt to the needs of the campus community.
“Are we being someone students need?” Bertrand said. “And are we being those individuals in a way that students can acknowledge it, see it and feel comfortable to approach us?”
