Upon arriving back to Conn, students are asking many questions about the changes that have been put in place for the 2009-2010 academic year. One of the most pressing is regarding the year-old position of floor governors: who are they, what are their responsibilities, and how will they influence our experience in the dorms?
It turns out that even floor governors are puzzled by their role in the dorms as staff, disciplinarians, and student leaders.
The Commission on Residence Education (CORE) report, which was composed of several staff members, deans and students, initiated the idea for floor governors in spring of 2008.
This commission recognized that the average ratio of ninety students to one student staff member of Residential Education and Living (Res Ed) was not conducive to a safe and healthy living environment. They then recommended that an increased number of leadership positions in the dorm would “assist residents in their development as students and individuals,” creating a larger sense of shared responsibility among all residents within the dorms.
Amy Gauthier, director of Residential Education and Living, attributed the change in floor governor responsibilities this year to last year’s student staff members: “Floor Governors were saying, ‘We can help more, and not just with programming.’”
One of the changes this year has been the amendment of the on-call policy. Last year, housefellows were solely responsible for all on-call duties, including lockouts. This year, floor governors are included in the on-call system.
The system is split up so that during the week (Sunday-Wednesday), one floor governor or housefellow is on-call from 8 PM – 7 AM for each area of campus. On weekends (Thursday-Saturday), the dorms are all split into pairs, thus someone either in your own dorm or a nearby dorm will be on-call at all times.
Gauthier stated that the changes in the on-call system were “to better serve residents.” She also confirmed that the changes were “mentioned during the interview process, but not fully understood last year,” neither by Res Ed staff nor by student staff. Gauthier also noted that since Orientation, she has not heard any feedback from floor governors about the on-call policies, contrary to buzz around campus about floor governors and their dissatisfaction with their new on-call duties.
The change in floor governor duties on campus has been strikingly similar to residential advisor (RA) programs at other colleges and universities, which worries some Camels. Many students at Conn pride themselves on the fact that our school’s residential life has no similarities to other schools’ feared RA systems.
Gauthier stressed that the goal of the floor governors is not to police their residents, saying, “We are not babysitters. Res Ed staff isn’t asked to do anything more than report Honor Code violations,” which is a shared responsibility of all Conn students.
Gauthier acknowledged that in regards to an RA system, it was not in the Conn tradition to impose such a model, thus the staff of Residential Education and Living “needs to design a system to fit [the Connecticut College] culture.”
However, since Gauthier and two of the Area Coordinators have been working at Conn for two years or less, some students and staff members have been questioning how well they understand the Conn culture.
In speaking with floor governors, many of them had somewhat uniform answers as to why they decided to apply to be a floor governor in the first place.
Trevor Prophet ’11 was interested in being a floor governor because it was “something I already did.” He “takes pride in interacting socially on the floor and knowing everyone, especially freshmen.”
Jocina Becker ’10 said that her motivation was influenced by her class year. “As a senior, I wanted to come full circle and see the freshman experience from a very different point of view.”
Amy Falk ’11 wanted to be a floor governor to become more social on campus because the position “really forces you to meet so many great people.”
The biggest problem that floor governors have with their position this year is that they had trouble formulating specific expectations of what their day-to-day responsibilities would be.
Many floor governors feel the tremendous shift in their responsibilities, almost as if the position that they applied for last spring is not that same one that they are required to do this fall. In terms of their expectations for the year ahead, many student workers did not expect as much responsibility as they were given.
One floor governor said that he believed the position to be “kind of a joke,” while another considered the workload required to be “similar to having another class in terms of my dedication to it.”
These floor governors were surprised when they returned to campus and realized that their roles were to be taken more seriously than before. Along with the changes to the on-call system, each floor governor is required to put on three programming events per semester in their dorm.
They are only allowed to sleep outside of their own rooms fifteen times per year, including fall break and any athletic commitments. Floor governors are supposed to be in their room at all times from 2 AM to 8 AM, in effect giving them a curfew.
While this rule does not seem to be heavily enforced, if a floor governor is absent in the event of an emergency, he or she could be in jeopardy of losing his/her job.
Floor governors and housefellows cannot leave their dorm during their on-call shifts, which made one Floor Governor feel “trapped” by the system, especially since her only duties as a floor governor thus far have made her feel like a “glorified key unlocker.”
Floor governors have responded negatively to many of these changes. One experienced floor governor believes that Res Ed has “definitely bumped it up a notch” in terms of floor governor responsibility. She continued, “We’ve all appreciated that in some sense, but once we got here we all freaked out a bit because we saw how much responsibility it was going to be, almost as if housefellows and floor governors are on an equal playing field.”
One of the questions she asked herself was one that many floor governors have been contemplating since returning to school: did we really want all of this responsibility?
Res Ed has also clarified, according to several floor governors, that being part of the student staff is supposed to be a floor governor’s first priority. However, many floor governors are equally, if not more, concerned with their role as students, athletes, friends, club members and so on. One floor governor explicitly stated that her definition of her role this year is “a student who is also a floor governor,” not the other way around.
However, floor governors do not only complain about the situation they are in, as they are also valuable resources for constructive criticism to change to the program. One valid critique of the on-call system is that there is no online resource where students can check who is currently on-call.
Because floor governors and housefellows can switch their shifts if they are unable to work one night, there is no easy way for a student to figure out if any changes have been made.
Another floor governor pointed out that there is too much emphasis from Res Ed on floor governors as individuals, whereas if all floor governors worked together in a dorm to plan programming events, they would most likely be more interesting as well as more valuable to the dorm as a whole.
She said that she “would rather have six good programs than nine mediocre ones” and that the point of the floor governor’s required events is to “engage students in the dorm, not assess an individual floor governor’s programming.”
Several floor governors have also complained that they are not receiving enough feedback from their residents.
One floor governor said, “People aren’t coming to me as much as I want them to, [even though] I try to make myself approachable. I had someone go home because of flu symptoms and they didn’t tell me. That’s the kind of thing I need to know about.” With so many resources (SAs, FGs and HFs) in the dorm, it is difficult, especially as a freshman, to figure out with whom to speak about issues in the Houses.
Floor governors are also having trouble addressing the issue of alcohol use in the dorms. While it is Connecticut College policy to limit drinking to inside rooms, it becomes difficult for floor governors to decide where they cross the line between a friendly resource for the dorm and a student version of Campus Safety.
While all floor governors have said they feel comfortable telling underage residents to close their doors and to keep drinking out of sight, some are having issues with the many roles they are supposed to play.
One floor governor said, “I would rather not be [seen] dumping out beer cans, so that a freshman will feel comfortable coming to me if he or she needs help — it’s more of my job to make sure students will come and talk to me.”
Gauthier, director of Res Ed, seems to agree with the floor governors that this is a difficult question, and said, “I don’t know if I can handle tackling the issue of alcohol.”
As one FG stated, “I think that a floor governor position is fine for the people who want to do it.” However, it seems as if it is more suited toward students who want to be Residential Education and Living Staff first, and students second.
Avery Donald ’10, housefellow of Freeman, commented that this year’s floor governors were not aware of their responsibilities, whereas “housefellows know exactly what they’re getting into. Housefellows are always in housefellow mode, even when not on-call, but I don’t think that floor governors are always in that role. It’s not supposed to be the same.”
