What does a residence life coordinator do?
Residence life coordinator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real residence life coordinator resumes:
- Lead a group of ten RAs on seven day six night backpacking trip as part of training
- Direct resident relations by providing oversight of resident retention, leasing and marketing programs.
- Cultivate, coordinate, and assist in the development of student leadership and responsibility through programming and direct involvement with students.
Residence life coordinator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Residence Life Coordinators are proficient in Residence Life, Student Development, and On-Call Rotation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Residence Life Coordinators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Residence Life, 7%
Traveled nationally to provide training on residence life, customer service and community development.
- Student Development, 7%
Oversee and direct student staff initiatives and work with individual staff members to establish objectives and meet student development needs.
- On-Call Rotation, 7%
Respond to emergency/crisis situations in an on-call rotation.
- Coordinators, 7%
Recruit, supervise, develop, and evaluate 3 Graduate Coordinators and 30 Student Staff.
- Community Development, 6%
Enhanced Community Development Model and developed drug and alcohol sanctioning diversion lesson plan.
- Desk Assistants, 6%
Supervised paraprofessional staff of 6 undergraduate students and co-supervised 20 student desk assistants.
Most residence life coordinators use their skills in "residence life," "student development," and "on-call rotation" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential residence life coordinator responsibilities here:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a residence life coordinator to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what residence life coordinators do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a residence life coordinator resume shows how residence life coordinators use compassion: "provided excellent and compassionate customer service to clients, parents, vendors and other partners impacted by our unique community. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling residence life coordinator duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." According to a residence life coordinator resume, here's how residence life coordinators can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "respond to crisis situations and apply tactical communication strategy methods. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for residence life coordinators to perform their duties. For an example of how residence life coordinator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a residence life coordinator: "mediate interpersonal problems between residents. ".
Organizational skills. A big part of what residence life coordinators do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to residence life coordinator responsibilities because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical residence life coordinator tasks: "assisted student leaders and student organizations with leadership training and organizational development. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a residence life coordinator to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what residence life coordinators relies on this skill, since "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." How this skill relates to residence life coordinator duties can be seen in an example from a residence life coordinator resume snippet: "maintain positive resident relations through overseeing of residence life programs, conflict resolution management, and interactions with residents. "
The three companies that hire the most residence life coordinators are:
- Atria Senior Living10 residence life coordinators jobs
- University of South Carolina5 residence life coordinators jobs
- PSEA5 residence life coordinators jobs
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Compare different residence life coordinators
Residence life coordinator vs. Community advisor
The duties of a community advisor depend on their line of work or place of employment. In universities, a community advisor plays a vital role in helping residing students attain a positive learning and living environment. Their responsibilities typically include meeting with residents to identify their needs, providing assistance in academic and community concerns, answering inquiries, and resolving issues promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, a community advisor may develop programs or projects for the residents, all while adhering to the university's policies and regulations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, residence life coordinator responsibilities require skills like "residence life," "student development," "on-call rotation," and "coordinators." Meanwhile a typical community advisor has skills in areas such as "energy efficiency," "residential life," "strategic communications," and "press releases." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Community advisors really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $66,210. Comparatively, residence life coordinators tend to make the most money in the education industry with an average salary of $41,638.The education levels that community advisors earn slightly differ from residence life coordinators. In particular, community advisors are 10.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a residence life coordinator. Additionally, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residence life coordinator vs. Cottage parent
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that residence life coordinator responsibilities requires skills like "residence life," "student development," "on-call rotation," and "coordinators." But a cottage parent might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "foster care," "behavioral issues," "independent living," and "administer medications."
Cottage parents earn lower levels of education than residence life coordinators in general. They're 16.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residence life coordinator vs. House parent
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from residence life coordinator resumes include skills like "residence life," "student development," "on-call rotation," and "coordinators," whereas a house parent is more likely to list skills in "foster care," "direct care," "cpr," and "child care. "
Most house parents achieve a lower degree level compared to residence life coordinators. For example, they're 14.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residence life coordinator vs. Dormitory counselor
Even though a few skill sets overlap between residence life coordinators and dormitory counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a residence life coordinator might have more use for skills like "residence life," "student development," "on-call rotation," and "coordinators." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of dormitory counselors require skills like "social work," "education plan," "cpr," and "therapeutic crisis. "
The average resume of dormitory counselors showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to residence life coordinators. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 4.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.7%.Types of residence life coordinator
Updated January 8, 2025
