Student Housing Matters Podcast - Join The Conversation

How do you design a marketing plan that attracts residents to a particular student housing community? What if you’re responsible for promoting 35 different sites, each with their own unique culture and set of amenities? Brittany Pieper is the Site Marketing Coordinator for COCM, where she works with our 35-plus partner institutions and their onsite team members to ensure that each of our student housing communities is properly positioned in the market. A rockstar when it comes to marketing and leasing in the student housing world, Brittany is committed to achieving maximum demand and occupancy at each site. On this episode, Brittany joins Leigh Anne to share her journey from multifamily marketing and leasing to student housing, explaining what she learned from her first property manager and how she designs creative initiatives to attract and retain residents. Brittany discusses how having an entrepreneurial spirit has helped her develop a business mind around sales and walks us through the AHA moment that ins

Student housing professionals have faced one challenge after another in 2020. When it comes to residence life, this has not been an ideal year, as the pandemic has kept us from doing most of our traditional programming. So, how are housing directors building community in the COVID era? Katherine Warren is COCM’s Assistant Director of Residence Life Campus Housing at Illinois Central College. She earned her BA in Communications and Media Arts from Bethany College and her master’s in Student Affairs and Higher Education at Indiana State University. Katherine chose a career in student affairs because she loves working with college students as they begin to carve out their own niche. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Katherine joins Leigh Anne to discuss the recent roundtable she led with COCM housing directors across the country and share the team’s commitment to maintaining a positive attitude as we adapt to changing circumstances. She describes the challenges housing directors face in preparing for 2

Over the course of 2020, different industries have been impacted in a variety of ways. Today, we take a look at the topic of security – specifically the tracking of the coming and going of people within facilities. Students come and go from student housing facilities all hours of the day – so how do we keep them safe and secure during a pandemic? Charlie Regan is President of Gorrie Regan and Associates based in Birmingham, AL, a company dedicated to making sure that your property and facility is secure, your gate system is functioning, and your employee’s time is calculated accurately. When it comes to security systems, they focus on the control function of opening and closing doors and gates to properties, video solutions, as well as analytics and monitoring. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Charlie joins host Alton Irwin to talk about security issues and how they have changed during 2020and the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit, GorrieRegan was able to continue to work as an essential business as they

The conference services team at the University of Washington was looking forward to serving 11,000 overnight guests and facilitating 200 overnight conference sessions this summer. But 2020 had other plans, and though the campus did not close, Christine Sismaet and her team had a very different season than expected.  Christine is the Operations Manager of Conference Services at the University of Washington. As an undergrad at UW, she served as Summer Conference Desk Host and Conference Assistant before taking on a full-time position as Conference Coordinator in 2010. Christine was promoted to her current role in 2014, and in her 14 years in conference services, she has developed an expertise in building relationships with her staff as well as the clients they serve. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Christine joins guest host Erik Elordi to explain what Summer 2020 would have looked like for her team without the disruption of COVID-19 and describe what the UW summer conference season actually looks l

Conferences and summer programs offer institutions an opportunity to generate revenue that can reduce the financial burden placed on students during the academic year. And it’s not just housing – a strong, efficient summer program brings revenue to other campus entities as well, including dining services, athletics, facilities, and even academic departments. Developing these programs to really work for your campus takes creativity, research, and planning. Erik Elordi is the Director of National Conference Services for COCM. He specializes in reviewing campuses’ summer programs and providing support, direction and management of the implementation of a tailored plan via a management partnership. His passion for approaching campus revenue with an entrepreneurial mindset drives him to help campuses solve the problem of generating revenue over the summer months. While the summer of 2020 brought a set of unique challenges, Erik is looking to summer of 2021 opportunities and currently building a small library of res

Serving university students who live off-campus puts Kristen Franklin in a unique position. Yes, she works closely with the highly regarded research institution her residents attend. But her team also has the freedom to individualize their services and work independently. So, what are the pros and cons of this arrangement when a global pandemic closes the campus and takes classes virtual? Kristen is COCM’s Director of Operations at Nine East 33rd, a high-end apartment complex that houses students from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to her work with Capstone, Kristen served as Associated Director of Housing at The George Washington University and Community Director at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She has 10-plus years of experience in higher education and student affairs, and Kristen holds a Master’s in Educational Policy & Leadership from Marquette University. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Kristen joins guest host Alton Irwin to explain how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted

When the Coronavirus shut down college campuses across the US, most student housing facilities closed as well. But what do you do if the majority of your residents are not from the US and may not have the option to simply go home? How do you continue to serve students and stay connected with them when you’re required to stay at least six feet apart? Lupita ‘Pete’ Morales is the Assistant Director of Housing Operations at the Campus Corner Apartments at Green River College in Auburn, Washington. She oversees operations for the 340 students living on campus, 179 of whom have remained on campus through the COVID-19 shutdown. Pete is committed to building a diverse and equitable community in an environment where 80% of the residents are international students.  On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Pete joins guest host Alton Irwin to discuss her team’s response to Coronavirus. She describes the diverse population of international residents she serves, weighing in on why she advocated to keep student housin

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. Connect with Us Student Housing Matters Student Housing Matters on Facebook Student Housing Matters on Twitter Capstone On-Campus Management Email media@cocm.com Subscribe on iTunes

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 episo

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 he

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 thi

Winston Churchill led Britain through both World Wars. But how would he fight the invisible enemy we face today? How might Churchill approach the current situation with Coronavirus? Dr. Larry P. Arnn is the President of Hillsdale College, where he also serves as a professor of politics and history. He earned degrees from Arkansas State and Claremont Graduate University and studied at Oxford University, where he was the Director of Research for Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill. Dr. Arnn is also the author of Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Salvation of Free Government and the editor of The Churchill Documents. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Dr. Arnn joins guest host Alton Irwin to explore what Winston Churchill might say about the situation we face with Coronavirus. He discusses Churchill’s leadership style in challenging circumstances, describing Churchill’s fight-hard-to-win-fast approach to war and explaining why he believed that serious judgements c

During her tenure at COCM, Mellissa Taylor quickly became known among students as The Housing Lady. So, what did she learn as the face and voice of student housing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham? How have those lessons around communicating with students carried over to her current role in higher ed? Mellissa serves as the Assistant Director of Honors Advising and Retention at UAB. But her first role out of graduate school was that of Assistant General Manager of Marketing and Resident Services with Capstone, where she was responsible for community engagement for UAB student housing. Mellissa earned her graduate degree in Student Affairs at Florida State University. On this episode of the Alumni Series, Mellissa joins Tara Wilkinson to explain how she connected with COCM through contacts at UAB, her undergraduate campus. She weighs in on the most effective ways of communicating with students, describing the challenges of TLDR in email communications and the value of social channels like Instagram a

“Build the bridge as you walk across it. Just find something and try it out and define it. And then over time, it becomes the normal that everybody’s used to—an efficiently run process.”  In her ten-year career with COCM, Tricia Wells played a major role in developing the infrastructure we use today, creating several of the programs, initiatives and systems that make our jobs easier. Because she was willing to raise her hand when a need came up, Tricia left a lasting impression, and her influence lives on at Capstone. Today, Tricia is the Assistant Vice Provost for Administration and Finance in the Division of Professional Studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Prior to joining UMBC in 2014, she rose through the ranks at COCM, taking on roles as General Manager, Regional Manager, and eventually Regional Vice President for the organization. On this episode of Student Housing Matters, Tricia joins guest host Tara Wilkinson to discuss the instant connection she felt when she joined the team at C

At times, student affairs professionals are hesitant to pursue a role with COCM, thinking that the transition back to a university setting will be challenging. And yet, a number of former Capstone employees have made the successful move to public institutions. What have they done to make the transition as seamless as possible? And how do they go about getting connected on a new campus? Amy Lorenz is the Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life at the University of North Florida. Prior to joining the team at UNF in March of 2018, she spent nearly four years as Director of Operations at Bowling Green State University through COCM. Amy’s resume also includes roles with Marshall University and Miami University in the realm of academic initiatives and first year experience. On this episode of the podcast, Amy joins guest host Tara Wilkinson to explain her intentional decision to join COCM to learn about facilities and operations, sharing her responsibilities at BGSU and what she learned about remaining cal

We talk a lot about wellness and work-life balance, but most of us in the world of student housing are just not very good at it. So, how can we learn to prioritize our emotional and spiritual health? How can we develop the courage to ask what’s really important to us and align our choices accordingly? And if that means choosing a new path, how can we apply the skills we learn in student housing to other roles? Jen Oliver is the former Director of Facilities and Conference Services with COCM at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and current Membership Recruitment Specialist for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. Prior to joining the Girl Scouts team in 2018, she spent two years at home with her young daughters, serving her family and getting involved in the local community. On this edition of the Student Housing Matters Alumni Series, Jen sits down with Tara Wilkinson to discuss how her role with COCM at MassArt rounded out her experience in student housing, exposing her to the facilities side

If you’re looking to make a big change or pursue an extraordinary venture, the first step is to share your intentions and then accept help when it’s offered. This can be challenging for those of us in higher ed, as we’re used to providing a support system rather than tapping into one ourselves. But seeking out someone (or multiple someones) willing to champion you is often just what you need to gain the courage to move forward. Jes Lassiter currently serves as a Financial Analyst with JB Hunt Transport, but prior to earning her graduate degree in economics and finance in 2017, she spent three years as an Assistant General Manager with Capstone On-Campus Management. In Jes’ role with COCM, she supported students at Walker Avenue Apartments and served as a liaison with the University of Maryland—Baltimore County. Jes was an active participant in the Women’s Leadership Initiative at Capstone and continues to work in the space through JB Hunt’s Growing & Retaining Outstanding Women program. Today, Jes joins g

As with most things, the amount of effort, dedication and heart you put into a career in student housing is directly correlated with what you get back. And Jeremy Thompson contends that if you go in with an open mind and really give it a shot, the profession may surprise you. Jeremy is the Regional Vice President of Capstone On-Campus Management. In his ten years at COCM, Jeremy served as a Site Director, Site Operations Specialist and Regional Manager before taking on his current role in 2016. Today, Jeremy joins us as a continuation of the ‘How I Got into Student Housing’ series. He explains how being a commuter student led him to understand the importance of building relationships with peers on campus and describes how the community development aspect of being an RA attracted him to the position. Jeremy discusses how supporting the development of a team as a Graduate Hall Director inspired his career in student housing—and continues to be the most rewarding part of his job as Regional VP. Listen in to unde

How can we be elite without being elitist? Dr. Eileen Strempel contends that for an institution of higher learning to be truly great in the 21st century, it must adapt to the changing nature of the student body and support what she calls the neotraditional student, marrying the ideas of access and excellence. Eileen is the inaugural dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Prior to UCLA, she spent three years as Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Cincinnati and 16 years in various roles at Syracuse University. Eileen is also a former ACE fellow-in-residence and the coeditor of Transition and Transformation: Fostering Transfer Student Success and Transition and Transformation: New Research Fostering Transfer Student Success. An opera singer turned academic leader, Eileen is committed to higher education as the social justice issue of our time. Today, Eileen joins me from ACE2019 to discuss the role of higher education in promoting artists who represent a diverse global community

How do you find your unicorn job? Heather O’Leary-Agosta argues that rather than getting caught up in titles, it’s more important to consider what you love about your current role and make decisions that facilitate more of THAT. Though she was hesitant to make a career move that seemed like a step back, Heather focused on the quality of her work and the impact she made on the students she served, and that led to an ideal role that fits her passion and education. Heather found her unicorn job as Resident Services Manager at Showa Boston Institute for Language and Culture, a study abroad campus for a university based in Tokyo. In her role, Heather supports the international students who comprise 100% of the student population, familiarizing them with American culture, creating a culturally-sensitive environment, and working with facilities and food services to meet student expectations. Prior to Showa, Heather served as Property Manager for the YWCA in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and General Manager of two reside