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Taking Care of Ourselves & Each Other

Health & Well-Being

Stephen Stedman, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Credit Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Primary Roles of a Resident Fellow

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Explore the various expectations for Resident Fellows during the course of an academic year.

2023-24 Neighborhood Decorative Accent Line

Trainings and Meetings

Active engagement is important, and Resident Fellows are expected to participate in an onboarding and orientation experience, regularly attend department/division meetings, and complete required training that provide a foundation of shared knowledge with the neighborhood professional staff and house student leaders. Resident Fellows maintain partnerships and relationships through proactive communication and regular collaboration with professional staff such as Neighborhood Program Directors, Resident Directors, Community Coordinators, and Undergraduate Advising Directors.

Intellectual Leaders

Resident Fellows bring their interests and pedagogy to the house to shape the intellectual life in residences. Resident Fellows set a vision for student learning and engagement and develop methods and programs to realize it.

Student Leadership

Resident Fellows work in partnership with their Neighborhood Program Director to supervise student leaders. Together, they develop productive, effective working relationships with each student leader and engage them in their own learning processes through their positions. The Resident Fellow is expected to create a culture of teamwork among the student leaders and counsel them through critical thinking and problem solving.

Building Community

Being a Resident Fellow is an active, not passive, endeavor, and one of ongoing collaboration with student leaders, neighborhood professional staff in Residential Education, and university professional staff.  Through this collaboration, Resident Fellows help students develop a sense of belonging to their house and neighborhood and responsibility for the welfare of their housemates and neighbors as they learn about the social complexity and diversity that exists in each house and neighborhood.

Interpersonal and Emotional Health

Resident Fellows are part of an interdependent team of neighborhood professional staff who work to provide support and resources to their residents. Part of this work is done locally with house student leaders to examine and respond to the social structures that develop in a house. In addition, each house student leader, including the Resident Fellow, works to know individual students, create an environment where residents feel a sense of belonging, and respond to emerging emotional health concerns through active engagement.