Growing up with 14 siblings in rural Nebraska, Dr. Jim Tweedy had his first taste of privacy while living in the dormitories and earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
It wasn’t until his own Resident Assistant (RA) resigned two months after the semester began that Tweedy’s interest in residential life began.
“Frankly, it really started out as a great way to kind of pay for college and eventually be the only way that I could afford college,” says Tweedy, who is currently the director of Residence Life & Housing at the University of Delaware (UD). “But as I started to do the work, and really discover that you can help a great number of people and all the different connections you make and all the people that you could work with, I just found I think, a great deal of gratitude from just helping other people.”
Tweedy says becoming an RA at the University of Nebraska opened doors in residential life later on in his academic and professional career. While working toward a master’s degree in adult and higher education at Montana State University (MSU), Tweedy took on a graduate hall assistantship that not only gave him a job but paid for his tuition and room and board.
“I started to become really attracted to helping students in crisis,” says Tweedy. “Whether that was something that may have happened to them or whether that was an emotional struggle that they were going through, I really started to look at this idea of a residence hall being a really great place for not only us to help, but for us to be a part of a really important part and time of somebody’s life. That became something that was incredibly valuable for me at that point.”
After working at MSU for several years, Tweedy took a job at UD, initially intending to stay for four or five years while also pursuing his doctorate in educational leadership. This year will mark his 21st year working at the institution.
As director of Residence Life & Housing, Tweedy oversees 250 RAs and staff members who are responsible for providing a safe and educational learning experience for the 7,400 students living in on-campus dorms. He says that his main focus for the students living in dorms is to have a sense of belonging.
