Administrators get taste of dorm life

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Ashley Oliver

RIT President Bill Destler prepares to take the Dorm Challenge Jan. 18. Destler and a group of administrators will experience life in the residence halls with students for three days.

RIT administrators are about to gain a new perspective on the student residential experience. Twenty-one RIT decision makers will participate in Student Government’s “The REAL RIT Dorm Challenge”—a three-day, two-night immersion experience in the RIT residence halls.

Participants will move-in at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. Resident advisors will greet each participant and help unload their vehicles before they are parked in designated student parking lots. From there, participants will move into their rooms. Each will be living with students who volunteered to open up their room to a participant. All rules that apply to students will apply to participants.

“The ‘Real RIT’ programs are designed to connect faculty, staff and administrators with the student experience,” says Student Government Vice President Matt Danna, one of the organizers of the event. “We hope to enhance their perspective on student life so that they can use this experience when making decisions.”

Participants will still attend work. However, all free time must be spent interacting with students. The experience ends with an open forum at 8 p.m. Jan. 20, where some participants will share what they learned from the experience and will answer questions from students.

RIT President Bill Destler and his wife, Rebecca Johnson, are among the participants.

“I’m greatly looking forward to participating in the Dorm Challenge,” Destler says. “It will provide participants with a unique opportunity to see RIT through the eyes of our residential students. It also will enable us to get to know students on an entirely different level.”