About Living at RWU

Our Mission

The Department of Residence Life and Housing fosters a safe and inclusive residential community for students to enhance their interpersonal skills. Through a holistic approach to student development, staff engage, support, and challenge students to be contributing scholars in the world around them.  The staff strive to equip students with the knowledge, abilities and resources to become their true selves while creating a meaningful and memorable residential experience.

Student Life Educational Priority

As a result of their experience at RWU, students will meaningfully contribute to thriving and diverse communities.

Student Life Divisional Learning Goals

Students will gain increased self-awareness.
The ability for students to understand themselves, their social group identities, their core identities and how their behaviors impact others. The development of their emotional intelligence, strategies for self-care, and a better understanding of themselves will support students’ overall well-being, their ability to be effective community members, and provides the foundation for them to achieve a purposeful and fulfilling life. 

Students will be able to develop and maintain healthy relationships.
Relationships play a critical role in our overall well-being. Understanding the components of respectful, supportive and mutually satisfying relationships serves as the foundation for building meaningful connections. Developing communication skills that include conflict resolution, effective listening, compassion, and empathy will help students successfully navigate relationships with others.

Students will develop cultural humility.
Cultural humility is a process of self-reflection and discovery to build authentic relationships with people different from ourselves and serves as a basis for building a more equitable society. Developing cultural humility requires a life-long commitment to understanding one’s own assumptions, biases, and values; a willingness to admit mistakes; a desire to understand historical and current inequalities; and aspiring to develop partnerships with people and organizations who advocate for remedying inequity.

Students will develop a commitment to foster thriving communities through engagement.
People who live in a thriving community feel cared for, acknowledged, and committed to giving back to their community and the people within it. We encourage students to make connections, foster a sense of shared purpose, work toward equity in community, and celebrate successes. A thriving community generates a sense of meaningful engagement and commitment to the greater good.

The Department of Residence Life and Housing is comprised of professional and paraprofessional staff who are dedicated the education, growth, and development of our residential students. Get to know our team of talented individuals below from our Central Staff and Community Staff.

Central Office Professional Staff

The Central Office professional staff consists of our senior leadership team as well as the administrative staff who are essential to the function of the Department of Residence Life & Housing.

Amanda Downey
Director of Residence Life & Housing
adowney@rwu.edu

Timothy Valton II
Associate Director of Residence Life & Housing
tvalton@rwu.edu

Make an appointment with Timothy Valton II

Jeremy Hynson
Assistant Director for Housing Operations
mailto:jhynson@rwu.edu

Make an appointment with Jeremy Hynson

Erin Durigan
Assistant Director for Residence Education
edurigan@rwu.edu

Make an appointment with Erin Durigan

Debra Forrest
Administrative Assistant & Housing Billing Coordinator
dforrest@rwu.edu

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Teresa Braga
Administrative Assistant
tbraga@rwu.edu

Residential Community Professional Staff

Our residential community professional staff live in their respective residential community and oversee the day-to-day operations of the community, including supervision of the Graduate Community Director (GCD), Resident Assistants (RAs), advisement of the community's hall council, and serving as student conduct officers. These professionals and their community staffs are essential to the development of our residential students.

Liz Furtado
Area Coordinator
Stonewall and Willow Residential Communities
effurtado@rwu.edu

Make an appointment with Liz Furtado

Emma Spezeski
Area Coordinator
Almeida Residential Community
espezeski@rwu.edu 

Make an appointment with Emma Spezeski

Mikaela Calcagni
Area Coordinator
Bayside and North Campus Residence Hall 

mcalcagni@rwu.edu

Alexander Dukette
Area Coordinator
Cedar and Maple Residential Communities

adukette@rwu.edu

Residential Community Graduate Student Staff

The Graduate Assistant is an additional support and resource for residents of their particular assignment. They assist with the day-to-day operations of the residential communities, serve as conduct hearing officers for lower-level infractions, and assist with ensuring the goals and learning outcomes of our robust residential curriculum model are obtained and assessed.

Alex Beebe
Graduate Community Director
abeebe@rwu.edu

Jesahias Quiroa
Graduate Community Director
jquiroa@rwu.edu

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McKenzie Kolstad
Graduate Community Director