Mission and Philosophy

Mission Statement
The mission of the Office of Residence Life is to foster a community living environment which promotes the pursuit of academic excellence, personal growth, and integrity. By living on campus during their undergraduate education, students, together with the support of the Residence Life staff, learn to become engaged and responsible citizens.

Aims
In order to accomplish our mission our aim is to provide students with experiences that will enable them to…

• Learn to communicate effectively and appropriately.
• Take responsibility for their actions and understand the impact of their choices and behaviors on self and others.
• Develop healthy and supportive relationships.
• Use their residential experience as an extension of their academic experience.
• Develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of differences.
• Develop and apply leadership skills.

The Residential Campus
St. Lawrence University requires all undergraduate students to reside on-campus for the whole of their University experience. This requirement is predicated upon the belief that over the course of four years, students benefit progressively from a residential curriculum in a number of ways. They learn to live with a diversity of students and to value the unique contributions of community members. Students develop and utilize leadership skills, allowing them to have a positive impact on their residential communities. They also develop life skills which will benefit them throughout their lives - including communication, assertiveness, prioritization and time management skills.

Many Residential Options
First-year students are housed in traditional residence halls, where they participate in their selected First Year Program (FYP) communities. Faculty and staff work in teams to ensure students a seamless educational experience, where academic and residential programs are integrated. In the first year, students gain requisite knowledge of themselves and of St. Lawrence to choose among our many residential options, which include traditional residence hall rooms, suites with lounge areas, theme cottages, Greek houses and the senior townhouses. Many upperclass students elect to live in one of our 16 residential theme communities or 2 learning communities to pursue an interest collaboratively with their peers.

A Caring Staff
Each community is served by a Community Assistant (CA), a student staff member who acts as a helpful resource, a program planner, a mentor, a community builder and a policy enforcer. If a student is struggling, or if a community is not coming together in a positive way, CAs help the students to work through the challenges and to learn about themselves in the process. Residence Life also employs three professional Residential Coordinators (RCs) who live on-campus, and supervise CAs. The RCs and the rest of the professional staff are continually available to students, and work together to ensure that students have as positive a residential experience as possible.