Residence Life Conference 2025

Sara-Louise Ackrill challenged us to better understand and support neurodivergent students by shifting away from rigid diagnosis models and embracing more inclusive support.

Key takeaways:

• Use the social model of disability: allow students to self-identify rather than requiring formal diagnoses.
• Spot possible neurodivergent traits with curiosity, not judgement, and adapt your communication accordingly. You may find that you cannot easily connect with neurodiverse people or feel you “don’t get on” with them – recognise those feelings, sit with them, and get on with the task in hand.
• Spoon Theory is the lingua franca of those with chronic conditions and is used to explain the limited energy they have each day. “Spoons” represent units of energy, and activities require a certain number of spoons to be "spent".
• Collaborate differently for neurodiverse students in crisis, including offering low-pressure communication channels. Standard support services may not be accessible or appropriate, so you’ll need to signpost to services with experience supporting neurodiverse individuals.
• Be aware that neurodiverse students may not be able to turn to families or friends for support – often families are the last people to understand them, and believe the individual would never mask in front of them (but they do as it is a survival technique).
• Prepare students for life beyond university, including understanding risks around cohabiting, relationships and addictions. Call out relationships that appear co-dependent or abusive if you suspect them.

Michelle Overton’s keynote reminded us of the emotional impact on residence life staff, and the need to build more supportive systems for both students and staff.

Key considerations for supporting ResLife staff:

• ResLife teams are often first responders to student distress, and this emotional labour must be recognised.
• Internal survey results showed:
• 89% of ResLife managers experience chronic stress.
• 93% of frontline staff report personal mental health impacts.
• 74% feel unsupported after serious incidents.
• Encourage institution-wide wellbeing training, especially for non-ResLife frontline roles like porters and admin staff.
• Work-life boundaries are essential. Organisational cultures must shift to support staff wellbeing and retention.
• Reframe ResLife as essential, not a “nice-to-have” service, especially in conversations about funding and strategy.

Key considerations for supporting students:

• Promote non-drinking and small-group social options - students are actively seeking out wellbeing-focused events.
• A “self-soothe box” (with items like fidget tools, sour sweets, protein bars) can be an effective crisis support tool.
• Collaborate with existing wellbeing services and external charities if your internal resources are stretched.

Laura Bates delivered a powerful talk on the role of community and culture in addressing sexual harassment in student accommodation and gave practical takeaways to support staff in handling incidents.

Key takeaways:

• Bystanders are key. We must equip staff and students to:
• Directly intervene (“That’s not okay, move away from her.”)
• Distract (change the subject, offer a seat)
• Escalate (alert someone better placed to intervene)
• Support survivors (“I saw what happened - how would you like me to help? If you want to report, I will support you.”)
• Challenge “low-level” sexism such as catcalling. Small incidents enable bigger ones by normalising gender power imbalances. Tackle myths like “boys will be boys”, which silence victims and enable abusers.
• Avoid hypersexualised event themes during welcome/freshers’ weeks and ensure inclusive planning.
• Train staff to understand the online/offline crossover. Misogyny and conspiracy content is actively pushed to young men on social media platforms, so they are exposed without having to look for it. This means that some young men will come to university having taken onboard misogynistic ideas.
• Create materials for male allies, as they often have more power to challenge harmful behaviour safely.
• Only 1 in 10 students report sexual assault at university. We need to raise awareness of reporting options and support pathways, as many students simply don’t know how to report.
• Recognise intersectionality. Students at the intersection of race, gender, disability and sexuality often face compounded challenges and must not be left behind.

Mike Ritchie from CampusLife hosted a panel discussion on demonstrating the impact of residence life. Here are some of the tips our panel gave on strengthening the visibility of what you do:

• Collaborate widely within your university – go to networking events, and/or grab a coffee with colleagues in other departments where you can chat about what you do
• Tell your story well internally and to prospective students - celebrate wins and share them widely
• Use data tools to evidence student engagement with your residence life programmes
• Think “university-first” when spending budgets to build cross-campus relationships.
• Highlight your team’s role in generating income – a key concern for universities now.

This pathway focused on the comprehensive experience of student leaders from recruitment to ongoing support and development, equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in their roles.

Key highlights include:

• Make sure your student staff teams are visible during welcome week with handbooks, staff uniform, merchandise, posters etc., and de-mystify the roles on offer with Meet-the-Team social media and web content.
• Hiring practices should test the skills you’re looking for in the role. If recruiting for roles with specific skill requirements (e.g. wellbeing roles), recruitment days with observed role playing with actors might be helpful, whereas for other roles it may be unnecessary.
• It is important to have a diverse interview panel to reflect the different backgrounds of applicants, and staff on the panel should have experience of working with students. Involve your current RLAs in the following year's recruitment so they can contribute to the process with their experience. This also helps the atmosphere in training weeks as they feel partly responsible for the new recruits.
• Use roleplay as an important tool in training your Residence Life Assistants (RLAs) by using real situations to practise welfare checks which will boost their confidence and allow them to learn from mistakes in a safe space.

This pathway explores how Residence Life professionals can support student wellbeing and create an environment where students can thrive.

 Key highlights include:

• Don’t forget that you are one part of a network of support – trust in and use the system of support available to you including policies, protocols and escalation
• In welfare checks, use your previous knowledge of the student and note any changes in behaviours or presentation – visual cues are important. Observe how the student presents themselves and if their physical outlook has changed. Are they able to focus or are they easily distracted? How is their environment - does it look as though it is clean and tidy?
• The more complex behaviours that are presented, the less advice we should give and the more team effort is required. When in doubt, escalate!
• Self-care is more than just finding ways of feeling good in the moment, it requires showing up for yourself, and supporting yourself in the long term.
• Support students in applying self-care & boundaries to everyday life, and do the same for yourself professionally. Wellbeing-focused design creates more inclusive spaces -  a 'home away from home'. Examples include layered feature/additional lighting for ambience; natural materials, plants or biophilic art and soft tactile textures with accessories to create a calming atmosphere; and dedicated 'tech-free' spaces for mindfulness, reading, or creative activities.

This pathway emphasises how to create engaging, intentional, and accessible events and programmes that foster a sense of community and belonging in residence halls.

Key highlights include:

• An impactful welcome week is key – ensure good communication, get students excited and foster a sense of community. Share an event planner with students during welcome week, display this the website and communicate further using social media.
• Focus on low cost-high impact events in student halls e.g. DIY based events, crafts and skills based for e.g., glass painting, nature walks, jewellery making, scavenger hunt, freshers fair
• Some events don’t have to cost anything at all – examples include cultural pot luck, gaming, coffee morning, speed friending, DIY workshops, wine and cheese night, acrylic painting, to name a few.
• Close the gap between your event planning and the needs of the student – gather feedback using different methods, to ensure student voice and needs in programming.
• Key to successful partnership agreements for advance programming include: flowcharts and schedules, templates, leveraging technology for communication, managing performance expectations through setting benchmarks, establishing common ground, shared purpose and managing risk.
• It is important to have initial discussions and planning with all relevant stakeholder groups including the student body addressing key issues around accessibility, resources to broaden programmes, security, and ways to make events more inclusive. 

This pathway explores the evolving role of Residence Life in a changing world, focusing on how to manage residence life programmes effectively while adapting to new challenges and shifting societal contexts. with student-centered approaches in an ever-changing environment.

Key highlights include:

• Taking the time to manage student expectations in advance makes things easier in the long run. Consider hosting welcome webinars and setting expectations in halls through inductions.
• Be mindful of the channels you use to communicate with students – understand which communication channels work best for you, remember that students are now mobile first, and be sure to encourage and make use of peer voices.
• Apply student development theories (such as Chickering’s 7 vectors, Perrys theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development, etc.) to your conversations with students, your programmes and the way you manage student conduct.
• Consider the moral implications of punitive fines - students come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and financial penalties may have little impact on some individuals whereby other students may experience hardship due to these fines.
• A zero tolerance policy on drugs often means students won’t reach out for medical support when needed, will withhold information from paramedics and won’t ask for support. Consider moving to a harm reduction approach which many universities have adopted.