If It's Wet and Not Yours, Don't Touch It: Lessons Learned Working in College Housing

by Julianne Schrader

Some days everyone does the fire drill perfectly, and some days you find poop in the shower. This book looks at the weird world of people who live where they work on college campuses. It contains insights and training resources from someone with over two decades of experience living in residence halls, from the challenges of having a dorm as a permanent address to how to tell the difference between a bed bug and a baby cockroach to being safe when cleaning up bodily fluids. This book is a salute to the people at all levels of live-in college housing positions. Are you a housing professional “living the residence life” on campus? Someone thinking of student affairs as a career? A former staff member still traumatized by the ring of a cell phone? A parent wondering who controls the chaos once you drop your child off at school for the semester? This was written for you!

145 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2020

About the author

Julianne Schrader is currently writing non-fiction, although she did go through that emo poetry phase in high school. Born and raised in Tonawanda, New York, Julianne went off to the big city of Buffalo for college. She stopped in Brockport, NY long enough to find a husband and then headed south to the buckle of the bible belt.

Reviews

[Billy Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A knowledgeable humorous account of On Campus living and the people that make it work

I purchased this book because I was curious about what Julie (The author) did at work. I have known her for years and we see each other once or twice a year. I had no idea that Dorms had changed so much since my college days 40 years past. Student Personnel Administration is a field I had no knowledge of and this book corrected my ignorance. The book is written in a way that takes the reader right into on campus housing with wit and humor. The changes in on campus housing was apparent as I read though the chapters quickly with a smile and a chuckle. I was impress the with the knowledge required to be a “live where you work” employee managing a staff of student workers along with helping the residence of campus housing. I learned some things I can use in my own career and was amazed at the requirements and dedication it takes to help students to succeed.

[Maryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some jobs that you just don't think about, and student affairs professionals and their workaday tasks haven't crossed my mind much since I left college. This book is a manual for those in the field, an entertaining and informative window for those of us on the outside, and a knowledgeable, experienced voice to parents of college students and students who are, or are considering, joining the residence life team. The narrative is well balanced with humor, wit, information and anecdotes. And better truth has never been spoken- turkey bacon IS an abomination!!

[mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insanely relatable and hilarious!! Makes me love my work as a student staff even more :)

[Amy Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever been involved with on-campus college living...

Dot-dot-dot and wondered how the resident staff didn't manage to to just flat-out killed people, this was a book for you. Julie does an awesome job of laying out the behind-the-scenes view of Residence Life. Do not say dorm. After reading this, I feel a whole lot sorrier for my Residence Life staff from when I was in college. Seriously, there's a lot to learn in this book,and there's a lot to giggle at in this book. Definitely worth your time!