Roles and Expectations of a Resident Director
The role of a global education resident director extends beyond the traditional classroom and/or academic advising setting. Global education, by definition, is a 24/7 involvement for participants and resident directors alike. The resident director will handle non-classroom issues and situations which differ significantly from the demands and challenges of the classroom environment.
In the position of resident director, daily interactions and close living quarters will acquaint you with student life and culture outside the classroom.
In this leadership role, it is critical for the resident director to understand and accept that they are a role model. Their behavior, actions and words will always be on display. They will want to maintain professional and neutral relationships with all students in their group and avoid displays of preferential treatment and/or favoritism. Such displays, at best, will be resented by students and, at worst, misunderstood and considered objectionable.
Above all, the resident director will often have to put the needs of the students above your own and view this experience as a team effort, not an individual one. The students’ and university’s best interest will be prioritized at all times.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Pre-Departure
- Respond to the Office of International Affairs (OIA) and college requests in a timely manner
- Work with the program’s global education specialist and the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) Business Services to provide input on flights, in-country itinerary and program budgetary matters, as needed
- Submit and review required documents and information to OIA in a timely manner through the online application portal
- Along with the program’s global education specialist assist with strategic recruitment for the program, including but not limited to hosting information sessions, facilitating classroom visits and attending the annual Global Education Expo, as appropriate. Programs that do not meet minimum number of applications may be cancelled
- Assist the global education specialist in the student participant selection process and provide individual student advising as needed along with participating in all group pre-departure activities
- Attend and participate in mandatory resident director health and safety and any required GET card orientation sessions, including submitting an emergency action plan to the Office of Risk Management (ORM)
- Work with departmental course scheduler to set up the program course with the proper attributes for global education according to guidelines from the Office of the Registrar, inform students when it is time to enroll and verify their enrollment
- Review and understand relevant resources including, but not limited to, Department of State and Centers for Disease Control information for the countries the program will visit
- In consultation with OIA and/or the respective college, identify a second, Ohio State-affiliated resident director well in advance of program planning, budgeting and recruiting. Please note implications of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
In-Country
- Alert the program’s global education specialist of any travel disruption and once all students have arrived and are accounted for
- Provide an in-country orientation with attention to local health and safety conditions along with reviewing the emergency action plan
- Be in contact with the 24-hour Ohio State international emergency phone line (+1-614-292-6677) during any emergency or emerging situation
- Be reachable 24/7 via cell phone with international capabilities
- Provide regular program updates, including any daily itinerary changes, to the program’s global education specialist
- Oversee academic and cross-cultural learning program components in-country
- Hold regular meetings with students throughout the program
- Manage student expectations
- Manage cash advance funds
- Respond to medical/non-medical emergencies with support from OIA/ORM as needed
- Serve as liaison between the host institution and/or vendor and OIA
Post-Program
- Complete expense reporting and reconciliation activities in compliance with university travel policies
- Strongly encourage students to complete post-program survey, understanding that these evaluations will be shared with my college’s global education liaison
- Attend debrief meeting with global education specialist
- Assist future program leaders
- Begin planning for next year (if applicable)
- Submit grades for program participants in accordance with the university requirements for the term in which you were abroad.
I understand that if any of these requirements and expectations are not met, the program may be cancelled.