Housing on campus faces changes under new leadership

By Caroline Haviland

For the second year in a row, Rider students are adjusting to new procedures in the annual housing selection process due to administrative changes in the Department of Residential Education and University Housing, formerly known as the Residence Life Office.

The alterations come as newly appointed Executive Director of Residential Engagement and Development Kellie McKinney stepped into the senior position of the department over the winter recess. 

She succeeds former Director Sean Killion, who came to Rider in 2024. Killion brought numerous changes to the housing selection process last year, but was met with confusion from the institution’s residents due to the revisions not being clearly communicated. 

This year’s new process, which determines returning residential students’ living situation for the 2026-27 academic year, was outlined in an email from REUH on Feb. 9.

The communication detailed March 9 as the start date for room selection, a shift from prior years where the process began in early April. Another revision stated was the way appointment time slots are being allotted to each individual student or group formation.

“A group of 4 matched senior students will receive appointment times during the ‘senior’ selection date, whereas a matched group of 3 seniors and 1 sophomore will receive appointment times during the ‘sophomore’ selection dates,” the email said.

In an email to The Rider News on Feb. 9, McKinney explained the reasoning behind this significant alteration to the room selection process.

“[The previous housing selection process] created situations where students with significantly fewer credits were able to access housing options well ahead of peers who were closer to graduation. Over time, this led to concerns about equity across the broader residential community,” McKinney said. 

Killion made his own shifts last year by making it a “first come, first served process,” based on how early residential students made their $200 housing deposit, Killion said in an interview with The Rider News on April 16. 

Before Killion, time slots to select housing were dependent on class standing, but if a group consisted of both upperclassmen and underclassmen, the appointment times were favored toward the upperclassmen.

McKinney said with this new approach, Rider hopes to designate specific residential areas for first-years, sophomores, upperclassmen and graduate students starting in fall 2026. 

A shift in purpose

With a change in its name, McKinney said REUH will be able to switch from primarily focusing on student conduct and community development within the residence halls to, instead, creating a department that focuses on all aspects of residential living. 

 “The new name intentionally captures two core components of our mission: Residential Education, which focuses on student learning, development, leadership, belonging, and success outcomes; and University Housing, which encompasses housing assignments, operations, facilities, occupancy management and administrative systems,” McKinney said. 

The department is also transitioning from a traditional programming model to one that follows a residential curriculum that ensures learning in the residence halls remains consistent with intention. Having a curriculum, McKinney said, will establish a uniformity among programs to contribute to student growth and development. The programs, hosted by resident assistants in every residence hall, are events that follow the new curriculum to get students involved.

The responsibility to maintain this educational experience for residents falls on the RAs, who are now required to put together six programs a semester, instead of one, for their residence halls. The RAs additionally have to host two “Campus Connection” events per semester, which entails encouraging and bringing residents to any campus event.

An RA at Rider, who wishes to remain anonymous due to contractual reasons, expressed that this increased workload has not come with any additional compensation. 

For each event, the anonymous RA said there’s also additional tasks such as planning weeks in advance, advertising, evaluations and reimbursement forms, which they said, “for a lot of us, we simply don’t have enough hours in the day.” 

When McKinney met with the RAs to discuss this semester’s new demands, the anonymous RA said they were told if they could not complete these requirements, they would be transitioned out of their role. 

“There are RAs who cannot go here unless they have this job. I could not comfortably go here,” the anonymous RA said. “I can’t afford to lose this job, but I also can’t complete these requirements to the best of my ability. I’m managing but I also know people who really can’t.”

The reasoning behind the increase in events, the anonymous RA said, is because it’s “hypothetically a solution to a lack of student engagement.” However, they said residential students do not usually come to events unless they are first-year students looking to make friends. 

“We can do our best to be engaging with friendly faces, and most of the time we are. I have good relationships with my residents, but that doesn’t mean that they want to come to more programs,” the anonymous RA said. “It’s a lot for not a lot of gain on our part.”