Residence Hall Director
Interested in being a Residence Hall Director?
Residence Hall Director (HD) | The Hall Director is a full-time, 12-month, live-in administrative staff position. The HD is responsible for the daily operations of a residence hall housing between 300 to 1,000 students. This includes creating an inclusive, academically successful, safe and healthy residential community while providing intentional programming to assist with the psychosocial development needs of students, and infusing the learning outcomes of the University and Division of Student Engagement and Success. In addition, HDs must appropriately administer the operations of the residence hall, facilitate the student conduct process, and supervise respective part-time, graduate, and undergraduate staff.
Stand Out
At BGSU, we know the importance of a positive workplace culture and letting our staff stand out. To achieve this, we know creating an inclusive, social and flexible workplace culture from the start is incredibly important. We strive promote a work-life balance that makes it easy for our staff to make time for an unexpected doctors’ appointment, taking a pet to the vet or visiting with family without feeling stressed or guilty once they get back to the office.
In our office we also prioritize career progression. We encourage mentorship opportunities, cross-team collaboration and provide professional developmental for all staff to engage in. Our strategies and policies help clear a path for our staff to meet their career goals.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelors Degree is required. Master Preferred.
- 1 year of supervisory experience
- 1 year of general residence life or housing experience
Compensation and Benefits
Base salary is approximately $43,888 and includes a furnished apartment and a meal plan. All utilities, including water, heat, electricity, internet connection, and cable service are provided at no additional cost. The Hall Director also receives a reserved parking pass (HDs are responsible for purchasing a parking permit and Residence Life will pay to upgrade it to a reserved parking space). Employment typically begins on July 1st and extends through June 30.
Compensation information above is based on 2025 compensation and is subject to change.
Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities
This list of essential duties and responsibilities below is not all-inclusive. HDs will perform other essential duties as assigned.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills
- Organizational skills
- Computer/technology skills
- Supervision and administrative experience
- Demonstrated desire to live and work in a diverse residential setting
- Demonstrated desire to work with diverse individuals and groups
- Crisis intervention and conflict management abilities
- Assist with student retention, transition, and academic success.
- Create academically-focused residential environment that supports student success.
- When appropriate, refer serious violations to the Office of the Dean of Students.
- Integrate diversity education throughout community development programming initiatives.
- Provide a designated level of academic advising support to students in collaboration with respective advising offices.
- Provide a basic, designated level of career development and exploration in collaboration with Career Services.
- Coordinate and implement community development and educational activities within the residence hall through student staff.
- Develop a vision for the residence hall community by coordinating educational and developmental activities in the residence halls.
- Regularly evaluate and assess programming and community development efforts through formal and informal processes.
- Program for high profile campus events which may include but is not limited to opening week, Homecoming Week, athletic events, and Preview days.
- Respond to emergencies, crisis situations, and student issues.
- Serve as a liaison with Campus Operations or Capstone Teams to ensure safety, maintenance and appearance of the residence hall.
- Participate in a rotating duty schedule year round that handles situations as appropriate.
- Counsel students to support their personal, academic, and emotional wellbeing as needed.
- Collaborate with campus partners for referrals as needed to support students in their holistic wellness.
- Assist with BGSU and Residence Life student recruitment efforts.
- Assist the Office of Student Housing with student room change processes.
- Perform administrative tasks and procedures in support of residence hall and departmental functioning.
- Administer residence hall budget to include purchasing, categorizing and reconciling/entering/reporting financial statement.
- Serve on Division-wide and/or Departmental committees in consultation with and approval by supervisor.
Bowling Green State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Educator and Employer. We are committed to a multicultural environment and strongly encourage applications from women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities. BGSU hires only individuals authorized to work in the United States. For information regarding BGSU’s crime statistics, please visit Public Safety’s website at www.bgsu.edu/offices/safety.
How to Apply
There are many steps to the application process. To help you better understand the timeline, please review the schedule below. All applicants must fill out the Online Application Form and submit:
- Cover Letter
- Resume
- 3 Professional References
| Step 1 |
Job Posted & Application Open |
| Step 2 | Phone interviews with candidates |
| Step 3 | Final round interview |
| Step 4 | Offers extended |
Pre-employment Background Check
Final candidate(s) are required to authorize and pass a background investigation prior to an offer of employment. Offers of employment are conditional until a background investigation has been successfully completed and all other pre-employment requirements are satisfied. The University reserves the right to determine and confirm suitability for employment and to end any employment already begun if the background check reveals disqualifying information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Live-in staff members are permitted to have a cat, dog, fish, turtle, or rabbit. All pets must first be approved on an individual basis by an Assistant or Associate Director for Student Engagement and Residence Life. For more information about the live-in professional staff policy for Hall Directors/Graduate Hall Directors, please reach out to Residence Life.
Hall Directors may have a live-in roommate, defined as individual who considers the university owned and/or operated apartment of the live-in staff member as their primary residence. Dependents are also welcome to live in the HD’s apartment. For more specific information regarding partners living on campus, please contact the Office of Residence Life.
The Hall Director search process typically begins early in the spring semester and will continue until all full-time Hall Director positions are filled. Additional Hall Director searches may be conducted should the need arise. For questions about the Hall Director position and timeline, please reach out to us at reslifejobs@bgsu.edu.
The relationship between a Hall Director (HD) and a GHD is an important one. GHDs and HDs work collaboratively to support their residents, supervise RAs, and manage their buildings. HDs help the GHDs gain a multitude of experiences needed in order to excel in a full-time position in their career journey and to make connections between the GHDs’ academic coursework and their positions. When the full-time Hall Director is not available, the Graduate Hall Director should be able to step in and answer questions, as well as manage the entire building operation.
Our Hall Directors enter a variety of functional areas, positions, and institutions after their time at BGSU. We believe that the skills gained through the HD position, along with tailored professional development, prepare our staff for a wide variety of careers. Here are just a few of the titles and/or roles our former HDs have had after leaving BGSU:
- Ph.D. Programs
- Academic Advisor
- Coordinator of Student Activities
- Area Coordinator
- Assistant Director for Conduct & Training
- Program Advisor – Student Center
- Program Manager – Student Conflict Resolution
- Assistant Director of Residence Life
- Associate Director of Residence Life
- Director – Office of Student Involvement
- Director of Residence Life
All Hall Directors and Graduate Hall Directors serve on at least one committee during the academic year. Our standing committees are: Recruitment and Selection & Training. In addition to our two standing committees, we have several working groups or mini-committees that will pop up throughout the year to address specific areas or challenges. Past working groups/mini-committees include: Hall Tours, Falcon Fest, End of the Year Celebration, and more.
Typical Residence Life attire is often dictated by the schedule of the day! There are some days when staff will be expected to dress in more business or business casual attire. Most days staff are able to wear business-casual/casual clothes. For example, on a typical day, many staff members elect to wear jeans and BGSU gear.
On most days, Hall Directors will start the day at 9:00AM and end the day at 5:00PM, Monday through Friday. However due to on-call responsibilities, evening meetings, or major departmental functions, these hours may slightly vary.
We do not have a contractual salary raise each year. However, the President and Human Resources have typically provided an annual raise for Administrative Staff. That raise has ranged anywhere from 1-3%.
The benefits package at BGSU is very competitive and should be reviewed when considering overall compensation. BGSU offers many benefits including Medical, Prescription, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Life Insurance, and Disability Insurance. BGSU also offers certain tuition waiver benefits and a variety of options related to retirement planning including a state plan (OPERS) and alternative retirement plans (TIAA-CREFF, AXA/Equitable, Fidelity, Valic, Voya Financial, Lincoln Financial, and Nationwide).
Updated: 06/02/2025 03:51PM