22 June 2016
The Student Affairs Office hosted a visit by Mr Jack Gibbons, former Associate Director of the Office of Residential Life of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on 22 June 2016. Mr Gibbons shared his experience of being part of managing the fast-growing residential programme at UCLA.
Mr Gibbons spoke about the benefits of integrating student’sacademic experience with their residential experience. UCLA has a “Faculty-in-Residence” programme, which aims to integrate UCLA faculty members into residentialcommunities. In addition to formal student-faculty interactions through classes,this gives students the opportunity to interact with faculty members on a moreinformal and personal level. Faculty members might offer advice on everythingfrom academic matters and references for jobs or graduate programmes, to organising outings or book clubs.
Based on hisexperience, Mr Gibbons suggested thatHSMC could use selectedareas in the Residential Collegesas “shared spaces” between the residential andacademic community, in order to bridge students’ academic and residential experiences.For instance, this could take the form of using a large room as aclassroom space for seminars, first-yearclasses or evening academic sessions.
Mr Gibbons discussed the importance of creating a residentialenvironment in which students can playan active role. UCLA encourages students to participate actively in both the university and the community. He spoke of involvingstudents in student services, and also suggested creating more leadership roles for students in areas that theyare passionate, or might wish to pursue a career. For example, students who are passionate about theenvironment could act as ‘green coordinators’, while those interested inhealth or wishing to work in the health field, could serve as “studenthealth advocates”.
About Mr Jack Gibbons
Mr Jack Gibbons has recently retired from his position asassociate director of the Office of Residential Life after 36 years ofservice. He played aninstrumental role in expanding the residential programme at UCLA from six campus housing facilities for about 4500 students in 1978 to12,000 that live on campus today. He has the experience and knowledge of international residential programmes, and attended many education conferences around the world. MrGibbons holds a Master’s Degree in Education from theUniversity of Miami in Higher Education Administration.
