What does a residence life director do?
Residence life director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real residence life director resumes:
- Motivate, train and lead a team of nine ministry coordinators.
- Provide leadership, oversight, and administration of innovative student-centered activities.
- Provide clinical oversight of family-centered services that include capacity building, needs assessment, program and policy development and evaluation.
- Cultivate, coordinate, and assist in the development of student leadership and responsibility through programming and direct involvement with students.
Residence life director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Residence Life Directors are proficient in Residence Life, Phone Calls, and Student Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Residence Life Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Residence Life, 7%
Completed daily administrative/clerical/financial/management/personnel/supervision functions for the Department of Residence Life.
- Phone Calls, 6%
Train staff on making parent phone calls home and oversee scheduled staff phone calls home.
- Student Development, 6%
Developed and implemented strategies to address student conduct issues and enhance student development.
- Oversight, 6%
Provided clinical oversight of family-centered services that included capacity building, needs assessment, program and policy development and evaluation.
- Student Affairs, 6%
Assisted the Dean of Student Life and Vice President of Student Affairs with programs and special projects as needed.
- Student Conduct, 4%
Managed judicial affairs and student conduct hearing process for resident student population.
"residence life," "phone calls," and "student development" are among the most common skills that residence life directors use at work. You can find even more residence life director responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a residence life director to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "postsecondary education administrators need to build good relationships with colleagues, students, and parents." Residence life directors often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "mediate interpersonal problems between residents. "
Organizational skills. Another essential skill to perform residence life director duties is organizational skills. Residence life directors responsibilities require that "administrators need to be organized so they can manage records, prioritize tasks, and coordinate activities with their staff." Residence life directors also use organizational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assisted student leaders and student organizations with leadership training and organizational development. "
Problem-solving skills. residence life directors are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to residence life director responsibilities, because "administrators need to react calmly when a difficult situation arises and develop creative solutions." A residence life director resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "serve in on-call rotation for resolution of emergency and crisis situations. "
The three companies that hire the most residence life directors are:
- Guidehouse11 residence life directors jobs
- OneAmerica2 residence life directors jobs
- Gilbane Building Company2 residence life directors jobs
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Residence life director vs. Co-chair
A co-chair is responsible for supporting the duties and responsibilities under the supervision of a chair. Co-chairs help with the implementation of effective plans and programs that would benefit the organization. They handle fundraising events, marketing campaigns for promotional programs, audit reports, and evaluating the committee's suggestions and recommendations for its success. A co-chair must have excellent communication and leadership skills and critical-thinking on developing strategies to supervise meetings and events alongside the chair.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between residence life directors and co-chair. For instance, residence life director responsibilities require skills such as "residence life," "phone calls," "student development," and "oversight." Whereas a co-chair is skilled in "community outreach," "alumni," "plan events," and "facebook." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that co-chairs earn slightly differ from residence life directors. In particular, co-chairs are 4.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a residence life director. Additionally, they're 3.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residence life director vs. Dean
A dean is responsible for overseeing the educational operations of the assigned department, enforcing school policies, and monitoring the students' progress by coordinating with the teachers and setting up procedures to improve teaching methods. Deans administer educational training and programs for the students, as well as extra-curricular activities to develop the students' social behavior, maximize their potentials, and increase their self-confidence. They also handle the department's budget, accurately allocating resources and funds to different activities and educational materials.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, residence life director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "residence life," "phone calls," "student development," and "student affairs." Meanwhile, a dean has duties that require skills in areas such as "curriculum development," "scholarship," "human resources," and "colleges." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Deans tend to reach similar levels of education than residence life directors. In fact, they're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residence life director vs. Chairperson
A chairperson is responsible for managing the overall business team, ensuring everyone's compliance with the company's strategies and processes to reach the highest business goals and objectives. A chairperson's duties also include monitoring the staff's performance, analyzing the committee's performance and decisions, providing reports and updates during meetings, improving the current policies and procedures as necessary, and facilitating committee's programs and special events. A chairperson must have excellent leadership and communication skills to lead the team towards its organizational success.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a residence life director is likely to be skilled in "residence life," "phone calls," "student development," and "oversight," while a typical chairperson is skilled in "curriculum development," "alumni," "scholarship," and "community outreach."
When it comes to education, chairpeople tend to earn lower degree levels compared to residence life directors. In fact, they're 5.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Residence life director vs. New member educator
A New Member Educator is a person who prepares new members to uphold the standards and ideals of a fraternity and sorority and continually strives to improve it especially found in colleges and universities. These positions are; educating initiated and active members on how to support and mentor the younger members to become successful within an organization, recruit new members whose ideals match those of the organization, assist new members to navigate campus, and make use of campus resources.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between residence life directors and new member educators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a residence life director might have more use for skills like "residence life," "student development," "oversight," and "student affairs." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of new member educators require skills like "customer service," "role model," "cash handling," and "product knowledge. "
The average resume of new member educators showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to residence life directors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.1%.Types of residence life director
Updated January 8, 2025











