The secrets of student success: A Q&A with Dr. Bruce Skinner of Southeast Missouri State University

Dr. Bruce Skinner can relate to the students under his care at Southeast Missouri State University.

Skinner is the assistant vice president for student success and director of residence life at the university, but he started his career as a resident adviser in Dearmont Hall while he was Southeast student.

His job is to provide and facilitate resources and programs that allow Southeast students to get the most out of their college experience. That ranges from overseeing residence halls -- including Southeast's newest dorm that opened this fall and another under construction at the River Campus -- to promoting relationships between faculty and students.

A native of St. Louis, Skinner says he never expected to return to Cape Girardeau after he graduated and moved to Kansas City. But he married a Southeast Missouri girl -- Tonya, his wife of 18 years, is from Bloomfield, Mo. -- and together they have raised their two daughters in Cape Girardeau. Both girls attend Cape Girardeau Public Schools; Sierra at Central Middle School and Alexis at Clippard Elementary.

Outside of his work at the university, Skinner is involved in a number of community organizations and describes himself as "a pretty serious cyclist."

"I am not yet at the competitive level," he says, "but during the riding season (March to October), it is not uncommon for me to ride 100 to 150 miles a week."

BT: Tell me a little about your role as assistant vice president for student success and director of residence life.

__Skinner:__ In my role as assistant vice president for student success and director of residence life, I get the opportunity to work with our campus departments and students outside the classroom. Working with areas such as campus life, Greek life, recreational services, residence life and a variety of others, we attempt to provide a co-curricular experience for students that supports their educational goals. The center of any student's education is their interactions and work with faculty; we work to improve this experience by providing students opportunities to participate in student organizations, join a Greek organization or through one of many recreational opportunities. As the assistant vice president, I work with a committed and talented team to develop and provide these opportunities to our students. A less visible role is my responsibility working with a variety of partners, such as SoutheastHEALTH, Chartwells Educational Dining Services and others in providing critical services to the Southeast campus. SoutheastHEALTH manages our on-campus health clinic, and Chartwells manages all our on-campus dining and catering programs. Without these two partners, as well as others who manage our vending, laundry and DVD rental programs, we would not be able to provide the scope of services we do for our students.

How did you begin your career in the residential life field?

__Skinner:__ I began my career as a resident assistant in Dearmont Hall. After graduating, I moved to Kansas City and then returned to Southeast to serve as a graduate assistant hall director. After serving as a GA, I moved into a full-time hall director position. Since then, I have held a variety of positions within residence life, including being chosen as director in 2006.

BT: What do you enjoy most about it? What are the challenges?

__Skinner:__ I enjoy the diversity of experiences that working with students in these areas provide. There are not many typical days. Some days involve working with student leaders who are trying to help a student who is at risk and needs help connecting with one of our support services in order to be successful. Really, the best part of the job is the opportunity to see students become responsible for their own education and responsible for the decisions impacting their future. We see this in many of our student life activities where students are looking for an opportunity to take on new challenges, develop new programs or create new student organizations. Students have a great deal of energy and optimism about their futures, and I enjoy getting to be part of this enthusiasm.

The challenges are varied, but I believe center on two areas. First, as the diversity of our students increases, so too do the types of events and programs our students want to participate in. Being able to provide a diverse set of programs, events and support services requires a great deal of attention from the staff I work with. We cannot assume that simply because it worked in the past it will work again. Second, many students are no longer just students. There are many opportunities to improve a student's education experience with a variety of outside-the-classroom experiences; however, many students have to work or care for family members, and this creates challenges to connect with students outside of their classroom experience.

BT: What do you see as the most important elements the university provides to ensure student success?

__Skinner:__ The most important element I believe any university provides related to student success is the education experience of our students. In many cases, this experience is rooted in the relationship between our faculty and our students. Within the departments I work with, we try to provide experiences and services that support a student's education effort and, where possible, supplement the classroom experience our students receive. When we are successful at this, whether that is an individual relationship between a faculty member and a student or when a student is in a crisis and a member of the university's counseling services staff is providing assistance, our students are confident there is someone at the university who can try to assist them as they purse their education. This does not mean we can guarantee student success, but instead that we can provide resources, programs and experiences that assist students as they work toward their degree.

BT: Southeast's enrollment continues to grow, increasing demand for on-campus housing. What's Southeast's on-campus capacity now? What will it be when the dorm opens at the River Campus?

__Skinner:__ Our current on-campus housing capacity is 3,252 and will grow 180 with the new River Campus residence hall. With a future capacity of more than 3,400 beds, we do not anticipate an on-campus population of 3,400 students. Instead, we are trying to meet an increasing demand for students to have private rooms. Students have expressed a strong desire to have private rooms in some cases, in particular our upper-class students, and the growth in campus housing allows us to meet that demand.

BT: What has been the reaction to the new hall?

__Skinner:__ The reaction has been great. The amenities of the residence hall, location and room layouts are popular with our students and their families. We placed many of our learning communities in the new residence hall to take advantage of the proximity to the science and business academic programs. This proximity is another reason the building is so popular with our students.

__BT: How has campus housing and living on campus changed since you were a student at Southeast?__

__Skinner:__ There are three major changes:

1: We have a more experienced team of staff working in our halls. When I was a student, all our halls were managed by graduate hall directors. While these staff members were effective in their role, we now have master's degree-level hall directors with more experience in counseling, advising and emergency response working with our students. This allows our students better access to professionals who can assist them when they are having challenges inside and outside the classroom.

2: Our residence halls have more privacy now than even 10 years ago. A majority of our buildings are suite style, so more semiprivate bathrooms. When I was a student, all the residence halls at Southeast were community-style (bathrooms), so the difference between one hall and another was far less than today. The current housing includes a wider variety of residence halls and types of residence hall rooms.

3: The students themselves are very different. It is no longer uncommon for a student to move on campus after having grown up in their own bedroom, and in many cases with their own bathroom, or one they shared with just another sibling. Moving on campus with a roommate and a common shower or bathroom can be a major change for some students. Of course, many of our students enjoy their roommate experience, with many telling us specifically who they want to live with. However, there is still some nervousness for some students who are a sharing a room with someone else for the first time.

BT: Why is living on campus an important part of the college experience?

__Skinner:__ I know I have a bias, but I believe living on campus provides you a more in-depth college experience. There is research, both at the national level as well as with our own students, that shows students rate their college experience higher if they are residential students. Being surrounded by other students experiencing the same challenges and trying to get connected to the campus is a great learning and social experience. I personally have friends to this day that I first met because we lived on the same residence hall floor. Living on campus also immerses you in what is happening. When you live on campus you cannot avoid the thousands of activities, programs and events taking place around campus over the course of the academic year. While you can still access these if you live off campus, we see over and over an increased level of participation and involvement by our students who live on campus.

BT: What do you think is a misconception about college students in the community?

__Skinner:__ I think by and large the Cape Girardeau community is very supportive of our students. I speak with colleagues at other colleges, and they describe at times an almost hostile relationship between students and the community. I see none of this type of relationship between our students and Cape Girardeau. I know there are areas of conflict at times, but these are the exception, not the rule. While there are perceptions or stereotypes about college students only wanting to focus on having fun and not being serious, I think there are two misconceptions about our students. First, not all our new students are the typical "right out of high school" 18-year-old who enrolls as a full-time student. The growth in online, military and nontraditional students is a major factor in our success as a university. I think many people might be surprised to know it is not uncommon for that 18-year-old student to be in class with multiple nontraditional students or a veteran. Second, we know that many of our students work and, in many cases, more than just a typical 15- to 20-hour-a-week job. Southeast students report working in higher numbers and more hours than similar college students around the nation. As with any population of 10,000 people, there are conflicts and some students are widely welcomed in the community, and we share this relationship when we are recruiting new students to the university.

BT: You are a participant in Leadership Missouri. How were you selected and what is the experience like?

__Skinner:__ I was selected by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce based upon a screening of applicants from across the state. We had to submit resumes, letters of recommendation and provide information about our work within our profession. The program looks for leaders within industry, government and the not-for-profit sector to learn about and develop strategies for addressing issues we see across the state of Missouri. So far the experience has been outstanding. We have been able to see firsthand some of the major work going on across the state in areas as diverse as health care, agriculture, information technology and government. The program has provided me a better appreciation for the strength of the state of Missouri in many areas, such as agriculture, health care, bioscience and many others. The program has also allowed me to learn from others in the program about the kinds of experiences and skills leaders in these industries are looking for in college graduates they hire. It is this firsthand information from leaders in industry and not-for-profits about what they're looking for from Southeast graduates that I have found most beneficial in my participation in the program.

BT: What do you love most about Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri?

Skinner: I never thought I would remain in Cape Girardeau. After graduating from Southeast and moving away, I honestly did not expect to return. I am very thankful for the opportunities afforded me at the university and the opportunities my wife has had [as a teacher] at Oran High School and now Jackson High School. I enjoy being part of a community that is growing. While some may argue for faster, and some slower, growth, I appreciate the growth in business, retail, health care and education we benefit from in the Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri community. As I have visited other areas of the state, I see how some places are trying to build the very things we already have here in Cape.