It was a sunny day in June when just under two dozen residence life professionals congregated on the beautiful Mount Allison University campus for the Maple League Residence Meet-Up. This mini-conference was born from a shared desire to learn and share ideas to help improve residence life for all of our Maple League students.
Danai Bélanger, former Director of Student Experience at Mount Allison, was instrumental in helping bring the Maple League together for this day. “We actually met—well, three of the four—in the fall of last year at Acadia University, but unfortunately, StFX couldn’t join us,” explained Bélanger. “This time, I opted to host because Mount A is the most central for everyone. We were so happy when folks from Acadia, Bishop’s, and StFX were able to join us.”
Not wanting to waste time, the day was jam-packed with opportunities for participants to learn more about each other’s schools and share strategies for the upcoming year. In the morning, each school had the chance to share a year-in-review and state their goals and new initiatives for the upcoming school year. “It was a great opportunity to talk about emerging topics in the residence life space,” said Bélanger. “We were able to see some similar issues across campus that each school was approaching with different solutions.” Before lunch, the group also toured the Mount Allison residence buildings, home to about half of their student population.
Lunch provided a great opportunity for informal networking, allowing coordinators to ask questions and swap stories. After lunch, the group split into two breakout rooms: one for Residence life coordinators and one for directors and managers. The conversations throughout the day helped highlight the areas where each university thrived, such as the amazing support networks thriving at Bishop’s, Acadia’s philosophy for handling students in crisis, StFX’s strong devotion to student conduct, and Mount A’s plethora of student programming.
Residence Education Coordinator at Acadia University, Brent LeGrow, found the entire day invaluable. “Working in Residence Life is a unique experience. I think there are a lot of hardships throughout the year, and we need to see others experiencing some of the same things. It was a great opportunity to share in a safe space,” said LeGrow. “The Meet Up was a great opportunity for us to understand each other’s visions and learn from each other."
While Acadia had to bus home, participants from StFX and Bishop’s stayed overnight on the Mount Allison campus, allowing them to experience Mount A’s residence experience firsthand. “It was great hearing feedback from our Maple league peers on staying in our residences,” noted Bélanger. “And it was such a lovely day with perfect weather!”
Overall, the Maple League Residence Meet-Up was a roaring success, with ideas flying and connections thriving— and all four schools can’t wait to organize the next one. “It’s something we want to happen annually because of how important and valuable it is, especially in the Maple League, because our institutions are so unique,” said Bélanger. “We want to continue collaborating on how best to address emergent issues in the residence life space and create exceptional residence experiences for students.”
Learn more about residence life at each of our schools through the links below!
Mount Allison University St. Francis Xavier University