Section 8.4: Floor Meetings

Floor meetings are a great time to connect with residents and to pass along information. Best RAs meet with their floor at least once a block to address concerns, discuss upcoming campus events, and to offer time for socializing and engagement.

Below are tips for leading a meeting:

• Have a purpose for the meeting. Meeting just to meet takes away from the effectiveness of the interaction.
• Plan what you're going to talk about in advance. This will help you be more confident in leading the meeting and you'll be less likely to leave out something important.
• Be prepared.  If you're doing an ice breaker or other activity, make sure it's ready before the meeting starts.
• Use your time wisely and multi-task. Can you be talking about business at the same time people are doing an activity?
• Know what your talking about. This will help you be thorough and concise, and you'll be able to better answer any questions that come up.
• Follow up with residents after the meeting. Get their feedback on what they liked or didn't like and adapt your meetings in the future.

Sample First Floor Meeting

Introduce yourself- share your name, room number, and what you are excited about for the coming year. This is a time for you to show your residents who you are. Make sure to have some energy and excitement in your presentation style to engage the residents.

• Talk about the role of the RA on the floor. What are your responsibilities? When should residents come to you? What kinds of help can you offer your residents?

• Ask that the students introduce themselves. Use an icebreaker if the energy in the room warrants it. For first years you can select from a number of identities to share. For upper class, a good starter would be just to share majors, club/sports affiliations, what they did over the summer.

• Share important policies that they need to know. Be specific when talking about these policies and mention where they can be found online. It is important to spend an adequate amount of time on this portion of your floor meeting. Make sure to give the residents a chance to ask questions. If you do not know the answer, please ask your ADRL.

  • Alcohol policy
  • Good Samaritan Statement
  • Bathrooms
  • Storage/Maintenance Requests
  • Quiet hours
  • Review of all of the common spaces in the building (i.e. where laundry is located, bathrooms, trash, and lounges)
  • Who the other staff members are in the building

• Explain how you will educate on policy violations early in the semester. You will be quicker to address situations as to educate and put the residents on the best foot forward. Explain what a documentation would look like and how they meet with a Conduct Officer. Try to get them to understand that this is also an educational process and should not be scary.
• Discuss any additional community expectations you have or that the residents have for each other. Some examples include:
  • Alcohol use
  • Shared bathrooms
  • Kitchen/microwave nook use and cleaning expectations
  • Trash room and breaking down boxes
  • Recycling expectations
  • Quiet and courtesy hours
  • Speaking to our neighbors about even small annoyances early and being receptive to those requests to make a better floor
  • The expectation that we are respectful to each other

• Talk about need to be responsible for personal safety and the safety of others. Also, discuss what to do in the event of an emergency, such as fire or severe weather.

• Discuss programming, ask what your residents would like to do. This is a great time to gauge general interests on the floor for future socials.