Private vs. Public
Nikki Hodous
Student Conduct Officer
University of Iowa
Brendan Dolan
Director of Residence Life
Saint Mary’s University of
Minnesota
Original Presenation
Created By: Linda Varvel
Nikki’s Background
 Undergraduate Experience:
 University of Wisconsin-River Falls (Public, 6,900 Students,
Division 3)
 Graduate School:
 Attended: Bowling Green State University(Public, 17,000
students, Division 1, Mid-American Conference)
 Assistantship: Baldwin-Wallace College (Private, Methodist, 2,900
students)
 Summer Internship: Macalester College (Private, 2,000 students)
 Professional Experience:
 Saint Mary’s University of MN (Private, Catholic, 1,400 students)
 University of Iowa (Public, 30,000 students, Division 1, Big Ten
Conference)
Brendan’s Background
 Undergraduate Experience:
 John Carroll University (Private, Catholic, 3,700 Students,
Division 3)
 Graduate School:
 Saint Mary’s University of MN (Private, Catholic, 1,400 students)
 Professional Experience:
 Saint Mary’s University of MN (Private, Catholic, 1,400 students)
Pros/Cons of Public v. Private
Pair up with 1-2 other people. Take a
couple of minutes and in your group
discuss some pros and cons of both
public and private institutions
(attending graduate school or working
professionally). Be ready to share with
the rest of the room what you’ve
come up with.
Private School - Size
 Private institutions are typically pretty small in size. The
majority of these institutions will be 5,000 students or
less.
 Cons of small size:
 Working/Living in a fishbowl
 Wear many hats
 Budget restraints
 Diversity of Student Population (also SES)
 Partner/Personal Job Opportunities
 Pro of Small Size:
 Know students, faculty, and staff very well
 Wear many hats
 Things can sometimes happen quickly
Public School – Size
 A public institution will be over 5,000 and oftentimes
over 20,000 people if you’re working at a public state
school.
 Cons of large size:
 Red tape!
 Harder to know students, faculty, and staff individually
 Sometimes position experiences are limited
 Pros of large size:
 Budgets (Programming, Pro Devo, etc.)
 School pride
 More diverse student population
 Partner/Personal Job Opportunities
Student Population
 Private
 Admissions process is often more selective
 SES can be limited
 Presence of religion can be more evident on some
campuses (and sometimes a factor in who they hire as
staff)
 Public
 More open admission policies
 Varied SES
 More diversity among student population
Funding/Spending
 Private
 Easy to spend money (if you have it!)
 Less accountability
 Cash handed out freely (Cash Advance)
 Buy anything for student events
 Public
 Stricter spending rules
 The infamous P-Card
 Rules about what is and is not okay for student events
Expectations/Campus Relationships
 Private
 Everyone does a little bit of everything
 More ambiguous
 Lines of communication can be fuzzy (you may pick up the
phone and call the president)
 Very collaborative
 Public
 Strict job description with a specific function for position
 Clear picture of your job
 Hierarchy is clear and communication is understood
 Often most of your work is done within your department
Job Comparison
Public: Hall
Coordinator
Private – Director of
Residence Life
 Live-On Campus

Live-On Campus

Supervise 1 Assistant Director, 5 Graduate Hall
Directors, and 34 RA Staff Members

Plan selection process and oversee hiring of all
staff

Judicial Officer for all on-campus students,
especially higher level cases/appeals

Created building programming model as well as
campus programming

Create, edit, and distribute housing contracts

Make room assignments and coordinate all
aspects of room moves

Coordinator all aspects of move-in

Complete all budget requests for residence life

Budget oversight: $10,000

Duty rotation was every week and every fourth
weekend
 Duty rotation was 3-4
weeks per semester

Plan, present, and coordinate all aspects of RA
Staff Training

Contribute to planning and design of new
residence hall/hall updates
 Attend RA Staff Training

Parent Phone calls
 Supervise 12 RA Staff
Members, 10 Desk
Clerks, 1 Hall Secretary
 Judicial Officer for
building
 Oversee building
programming
 Budget oversight:
$20,000
Cool things about going “Public”
 Your focus can be on the students
 Administrative work is straight forward and clear cut
 Campus committee opportunities (Alternative Spring
Break, OnIowa, etc.)
 Money and resources are always there
 Professional Development funding
Cool things about going “Private”
 Opportunities to do many things other haven’t done
before (building new residence hall, design and
implement programming model, create roommate
pairing/manage housing, manage an office budget and
write budget proposals, work directly with the President)
 Knowing each and every student who lives in your
building
 Make changes quickly and easily
 Learn a lot of skills in a limited amount of time
Things to consider when
choosing…
 How long do you plan to stay in this position?
 What experiences have you already had? Did you attend a
private/public? Have you worked at a private/public before?
Have you been at a public for your entire career?
 Are you comfortable with the institution’s mission and the
role of religion?
 What opportunities are there for growth at the
college/university?
 Who works above you and how often do you interact?
 What experiences are important to you (supervision of an
RA staff/grad/full time, live-on, campus opportunities)
 Graduate School: Does the program offer the
courses/structure you are looking for in a grad program?
 Live-On Rules/Regulations
Questions?
What are you still wondering about???
Contact:
Nikki Hodous
nicole-hodous@uiowa.edu
319-335-1162
Contact:
Brendan Dolan
bdolan@smumn.edu
507-457-1409