Residence Life gets national accolades for program

At a national conference last month, the American College Personnel Association presented Residence Life with an award distinguishing its academic success program as a model program for 1997, said Greg Ziebell, associate director of the department.

"Anytime you do a program that is recognized on a national level it adds to the prestige of the department," Ziebell said.

Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life, said the academic success program helps students with lower grade point averages find resources available on campus, such as the writing and learning centers.

"We collaborate with the writing center and have them help in the residence halls at certain times of the year," Van Arsdel said. "We collaborate with the learning center and at times have tutors available to students in the residence halls."

However, of 10 Kaibab-Huachuca Residence Hall residents interviewed yesterday, eight said they knew of the program but had never used it. The other two students said they were not even aware that the program existed.

"I think I might have heard of it, but I've never used the services," said Saul Friedman, an acting and directing freshman. "We all just go to each other for help."

Jeff Schrade, a political science and economics junior and a resident assistant at La Paz Hall, said he participated in several academic success programs which involved the organization of lunches and dinners with students and faculty members.

"Students are constantly bombarded with academic success program information," said Schrade, who is also the director of the Arizona Students' Association Task Force at the UA.

John Fox, hall director at Manzanita-Mohave, said Commission III, a subcommittee of the American College Personnel Association, made the decision to recognize the UA's program as a model program.

Fox said he was a member of Commission III and took part in the decision-making process.

Commission III deals specifically with student housing and residence life departments at various universities, Fox said.

"We had more than one winner," he said. "Twenty or so of the 45 programs that were nominated as model programs were recognized in different areas."

Ziebell said membership within the association can be obtained on an individual or group basis.

"We have education programs dealing with student transitions, community building, survival and personal development," he said.

Nominations for the award were submitted from more than 40 universities in early January, Ziebell said.

Fox said the programs that were recognized were published in a booklet that was sold during the conference to schools across the country.

"Other schools will be able to see that your program has been selected and receive information about what you are doing," Fox said. "It's good recognition."

Fox said that the UA's program was recognized because it had a very structured set of plans, was very organized and met specific goals that were designed within the program.