Community Development

Community Standards

Community Standards was a new initiative borrowed and modified from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas several years ago. Community Standards challenges students to reach consensus agreements, support and challenge peers, and communicate within the context of a learning community. Through this process each resident is asked to participate in the development of community on the floor.

We espouse that college students are maturing adults. This means that they are making choices for themselves and learning from the outcome of their choices. The young adult years are perceived as years of freedom, experimentation, limit finding, and limit testing. If these years and the experience that occurs during these years are to lead to an increased ability to make mature judgments, then the student must have the opportunity to make decisions so that he/she can experience the result of those decisions.

An important area of decision making for college students concerns lifestyle and personal conduct. Residents typically reject "rules" imposed from the "outside." They particularly reject authorities who appear to be trying to deny them their "freedom" or "independence." At the same time they become angry with authorities who do not meet their needs at the time when they want their needs met. Community Standards provides a means by which student expectations of authority to meet their needs are shifted to a recognition that the individual and the community must work together to create an environment that best meets everyone's needs. The traditional authority figure (RA) becomes a person who helps this process to happen instead of someone who fixes things for people. If every student lived in perfect isolation, he or she could conduct him or herself in any way he or she wanted. Since in reality we exist within a tightly networked society, we all need to learn to work, live, and learn together.

Discussing the issue of responsibility and accountability of each floor member to every floor member can be difficult. This difficulty comes from many students believing that someone else (e.g., an RA, the Police, other authorities) is responsible for making sure that the resident gets what he/she wants. Another way to think of this is that many students do not want to stand up for themselves. Equally difficult can be the thought of holding someone accountable. Many students are very concerned about being accepted by their peers. Holding a peer to a standard may be personally uncomfortable.

By defining mutual expectations for how the community will function on an interpersonal level, Community Standards provide a mechanism for the community to respond to behaviors that violate the agreements of the floor. Community Standards is a tool to help students learn how to communicate their needs, how to be responsible for their behaviors, and how to hold each other accountable.

An underlying tenet of Community Standards is the belief that in order for students to have their individual needs met, they must participate in a system that is designed to negotiate those needs with others. In line with our goals, residents will be asked to invest a significant amount of time getting to know one another and developing lifelong friendships. As residents develop standards for their communities, they will discuss, compromise, disagree, and ultimately commit to each other. It is this process that enables students to experience the educational advantage of residential living.

Learning is central to Community Standards. The emphasis of this tool is not only on the agreements, but rather on students learning to impact their world in which they live as it simultaneously impacts them. This reciprocity and accountability are true college experiences for students who are learning to navigate issues like roommate concerns, personal relationships, or even job-related interactions. Initially, some students may feel uncomfortable or threatened by asserting their views or disagreeing with others. It is our desire that this becomes easier with time, practice and support from the Residence Life Staff. Essential to this support will be student organizations like RHA. Students taking the lead to improve the quality of life in the residence halls is an ambitious goal. Community Standards is one vehicle to help us achieve it.

Return to Community Development