Day in the Life of a GHD

"Today is Thursday! That means I have an RA staff meeting at 9am. We get together for about an hour and complete team building activities, go over important building wide items and discuss departmental initiatives. This time is useful for my staff and I because we get to see each other in once place. Here we can talk about things that are important to all of us and our residents. 

After my meeting I have office hours. Office hours include a myriad of tasks. Today I am completing my building budget. Each building is allocated an amount of money to spend for programming and staff development activities. As the GHD I will add all of my expenditures to a spreadsheet and go over it with my supervisor during our next meeting. I also spend my office hours answering resident emails, connecting with my building Super, and walking the halls talking to residents.

After my office hours I meet a few of the other GHDs for lunch. It is important for us to stay connected since we are colleagues and we might not see each other on a daily basis since our offices are in our respective buildings.

After lunch we have a departmental meeting. The GHDs and Associate Directors get together and discuss what’s going on in our buildings. We participate in development activities also since the GHD position is supposed to be a learning experience. We also talk about our committee assignments. As a GHD I am on the GHD recruitment committee. There are assignments dealing with RA selection, training and recognition to name a few. These assignments help us see how the department runs and we are able to participate in making sure important tasks are completed.

Thursday is a busy day for me but Friday I am off! This is because I am able to make my own schedule. As long as I work all of my hours, I can structure my schedule to fit my life as a student as well!"