I firmly believe that a residence life programming model needs to be clearly tied to the institution's goals and objectives. The model should reflect what type of institution you are and should be driven by its core values. The model should have clear and direct connections with the college mission. For instance, if the college mission states that it is rooted in faith or prescribes to particular teachings, great effort should be made to include these as components of the programming model. This review can help you to fine tune your model and build support for your mission based programming model.
Educational programming can be a concrete medium to convey the college mission.
In turn, keeping data, both anecdotal and quantitative, on these programs can be useful for the housing and residence life department's future planning. I can build a case for additional resources to assist the students whom we serve as educators. In closing, get out of the rut of offering the same programming model year after year and create a model that has a direct institutional connection. You will gain colleagues on all levels of the institution. This is not easy, but if successful, will help your department in numerous ways in the future.