Starting from 2005-06, SRO initiated exchange visits for Residence Tutors with partner universities, including the University of Western Sydney, University of California Los Angeles and Oregon State University. In 2008/98, Jason Kniss and Miranda Linville, two Senior Resident Assistants (equivalent to our Residence Tutors) from Oregon State University (OSU), were chosen to participate in an exchange programme with CityU during the period 1-11 November 2008  and they will serve as hosts to receive two selected RT and RA members from CityU in April 2009.

Last fall I had a wonderful opportunity to visit CityU on a student housing and residential programme exchange. I have worked for student housing in OSU for 4 years and have had the opportunity to live and work in several varying dynamic communities, ranging from a first year experience hall to a hall designed for international guests. I can safely say that living and working on campus has been the defining factor in my University experience and has shaped my core essence on everything ranging from my world-view to my career objectives.

During my exchange visits to CityU, the Student Residence Office (SRO) was gracious enough to arrange for me to meet with several different departments of the campus including the EDO and INSO, among others. While traveling to the different academic departments, I was often asked “what are you, as someone who works for housing, doing here?” The answer lies in ‘the secret’ of residential life, a secret I call “our unique opportunity”.

One of the times when I was asked the “what are you doing here” question I was in a seminar hosted by EDO. This seminar was on the implementation of general education requirements and as we broke into groups based on discipline, we were challenged to create one course that all students had to take for that one specific discipline. I was with the sciences core group and we found the task very daunting. How can you pack an entire discipline into just one core course for all students to take, regardless of major? How can you pick what are the ‘most important’ areas & perspectives to be taught? As the group forged through the challenge we were faced with the dilemma of trying to balance everything: core material, student needs & interests, etc. It was at this point that someone asked me, “Wait, you’re from housing. What are you doing here?” This opened the door for me to share our unique opportunity.

I proposed to the group a question: “What if you, as an educator, had the opportunity to live with your students over the course of the year? How would that change the way you taught? How would that change your students’ experience in relation to the material?” This simple question changed the course of the conversation and highlighted the core embodiment of the residential collegiate experience: transformative education through living and learning.

I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity to catch a glimpse into your unique opportunity as a CityU residential student. To attend a university is one thing but to experience a university is completely different. University classes are challenging but it is an effective residential community, such as the one that I saw at CityU, which transforms that challenging experience into a fulfilling one. We, as residential students, have the opportunity that many educators could only dream of: living and learning together through the process of a year. I hope your time in the CityU student residences has been as engaging, transformative and satisfying as my experience has been at OSU. After all, not too many people in the world get the opportunity to live and learn in the same place and participate in “our unique opportunity.”