Hall Directors

On this page:
The role of a Residence Director
Apply to be a Residence Director | Director profiles

A long line of McGill academics have called McGill’s residence halls home since the university's residence system was founded more than a century ago. Today, McGill residence halls are headed by live-in faculty members, post-doctoral fellows, senior management staff and others closely connected with the McGill community. Hall Directors make a significant contribution to the quality of life for McGill students and provide an important service to the McGill Community.

Hall Directors are central to McGill Residences’ mission of providing an environment in which our students can learn and grow. Our unique and successful “One Rule” formula of respect for oneself and for the community is fostered through dialogue, role modelling and guidance, rather than by enforcement of a long list of rules and regulations. Directors play a key role in enhancing student life in residences and often form deep and long-lasting bonds with their staff of floor fellows, with their hall councils, and with resident students.

The role of a McGill Hall Director

The principal role of the Hall Director is to oversee and co-ordinate the academic and social aspects of student life in their hall and to create a true sense of academic community among the residents. The Director is the responsible University official in his or her residence hall, and as such acts as a Disciplinary Officer of the University when required.

The main supervisory role of the Director is to provide leadership, supervision and support to the team of floor fellows, who have front line responsibility for facilitating life in residences and enhancing the well-being of resident students. All Directors participate in the training of floor fellows, both at the week-long floor fellow orientation in August and throughout the year.

While it is the floor fellows who have most of the direct interaction with resident students, the Director serves as a general resource person for students and staff in the residence hall. Directors provide a consistent presence in the hall, offering general availability and approachability to staff and students.

In addition to being a general presence and resource for the resident students, the Director interacts directly with hall councils, identifying and developing student leaders. All 10 hall directors serve as active members of the team of hall directors, which meets formally and informally throughout the year for planning and mutual support. All Directors serve as members of the University Residence Council which assists the Director of Residences and Student Housing on all matters relating to Residence policies as a whole. Directors also serve on Floor fellow and Director Selection Committees.

Most Directors find they can manage their role in Residences on top of their regular appointment at McGill. While it is a significant commitment, there are many benefits to living and working in a dynamic, supportive and diverse community. The proximity to campus makes the accommodation enviable and the interaction with students, floor fellows and other directors offers rewards of its own.

 Applications

We are looking for student-friendly, community-minded McGill faculty and staff who want to make a significant contribution to the quality of life for McGill students while providing an important service to the McGill Community.

Principal remuneration is an apartment in the residence and board when the meal plan is operative for self and spouse, if applicable, and a small yearly stipend. Time commitment varies over the course of the year and as a function of circumstances in the hall, however, most directors find that this additional responsibility to their full time position at the University is manageable.

We are currently hiring Hall Directors for 2013-2014!

Please submit a cover letter and CV via email to advisor [dot] residences [at] mcgill [dot] ca.  For more information, please contact Ria Rombough, Associate Director, Residence Life, at 514-398-3408.

Submissions are due by Monday, April 15th, 2013 at 5 PM.  Preference is given to full-time academic staff of the University, however all qualified applicants will be considered.

Profiles

Nathan Smith

Carrefour Sherbrooke Residence

Nathan Grant Smith (B.A., Southern Methodist University; M.S., Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. He teaches graduate-level statistics and trains professional counsellors in the Counselling Psychology Master’s program. His research interests include stress and coping, HIV prevention, minority stress among queer populations, and training and professional issues in counselling psychology.

Nathan started at McGill in 2008 and became the Director of Carrefour Sherbrooke in 2011. Prior to coming to McGill, he served as an Assistant Professor at Texas Woman’s University for four years. He enjoys working with undergraduate students, helping first-year students negotiate the transition to university and helping floor fellows develop their professional skills. Nathan lives with his three cats, Melt, Parker, and Randy. He enjoys travelling, cinema, theatre, and attending concerts.

Ria Rombough and Dominic Lavoie

La Citadelle

After six rewarding years with Rez as Hall Directors (Gardner Hall 2006-12, MORE Housing 2010-12), Ria and Dominic are coming down from Upper Rez to take on the exciting challenge of a brand new residence, La Citadelle. Along with Vanier (Van), their bright-eyed, social butterfly of a toddler and George and Gracie, a pair of over-socialized Cornish Rex cats, the entire household is thrilled at the prospect of helping a blank slate of a residence hall develop a community and vibe all its own. With a crack team of seven superstar Floor Fellows, it's certain to be a legendary and delicious adventure.
 
Ria, a graduate of McGill, spends her days at University Hall as the Associate Director of Residence Life. Dominic, a graduate of Concordia University's Film Production program, buzzes around the planet as an In-Flight Service Director for an international airline. Dominic and Ria are passionate about international backpacking trips, downtown scootering escapades, obscure board games, and let's not forget zombies, baking, ukuleles, yoga, and the wilds of Quebec’s Eastern Townships, often with two or fourteen Floor Fellows in tow.

Michael Hoover

Douglas Hall

Michael L. Hoover (B.Sc., Tulane; M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., Columbia) is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. His research interests include psycholinguistics and bilingualism. He has also worked on the incorporation of indigenous languages in school curricula in Canada, Peru and Bolivia. He usually teaches graduate courses in statistics and psycholinguistic theory and undergraduate courses in educational psychology.

Mike was Director of McConnell from 1990 to 2007, when he moved down the street to Doug. "The best thing about being a director of a residence is watching 220 first-year students enter each Fall term and turn themselves into a community. The only job better than being a Professor at McGill is the one I have here working with the the floor fellows and with my fellow directors."

Lisa Spanierman

Gardner Hall

Lisa Beth Spanierman (BS, University of Florida; MA, EdM Columbia University; PhD University of Missouri-Columbia) is associate professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology. Her research focuses on racial attitudes, racial microaggressions, and ally development. She also has conducted research that examines sense of belonging in residence halls.  Lisa teaches several graduate courses, including multicultural counseling and research methods

In her former faculty position at the University of Illinois, she taught undergraduate psychology courses and first-year “discovery courses,” where students researched racial issues on their own campus.  As Director of Gardner, she is enjoying reconnecting with undergraduate students.  Lisa is deeply invested in creating campus environments that are inclusive and welcoming to all students and that promote social justice.

For fun, she does yoga, is trying to learn French, and strums the same three chords for the last 20 years on an acoustic guitar.  Her partner, Tony, and 3 pups (Henry, Salli, and Wasoni) enjoy a milder climate in Champaign-Urbana.

Colleen Lewis

McConnell Hall

Colleen has very recently moved into McConnell Hall Residence to settle into her new appointment as McConnell Hall Director. She is really enjoying being nestled into the side of Mount Royal, and thinks the location of Upper Rez is ideal. She moved to Montreal in 2010, from Peterborough Ontario, to work with McGill Residence Life and currently works as the Residence Life Program Advisor. Colleen studied English Literature, and International Development, and began working with Residence Life as a Floor Fellow in her undergrad when she fell in love with it, and decided to make a career of it.

Colleen is an avid outdoor enthusiast and can be found running, hiking,  or cycling in the summer and cross country skiing or snowshoeing in the winter. When she is not somewhere on a trail, she enjoys cafés, reading and travelling. Colleen is really looking forward to welcoming the residents of McConnell Hall to their new home and building a fantastic community together.

Daniel Hallen and Kara Fletcher
 

Molson Hall

Daniel Hallen and Kara Fletcher, directors of Molson Hall, are newly minted as directors, but not new to McGill. Between them, they have eight years experience living and working in McGill Residences.

Kara is an accomplished social worker, with experience working with adults, children, couples and families with mental illness and addiction and specializes in providing couple and family therapy. She's pursuing her Ph.D. at McGill.

Daniel is a journalist and documentary-maker who has worked for CBC, Global National, and on independently produced documentaries, including for Al-Jazeera English. While working at Molson Hall, he spends his days hunting for interesting characters and untold stories.

Miles Angus Davis is a ninety-five pound mix of stick-focused Golden Labrador retriever and cuddle-hungry Bernese Mountain dog. He spends his days chasing balls, squirrels, and jumping in puddles. He has an occasional fear of people wearing hats and shrubbery covered in burlap.

Daniel, Kara and Miles enjoy camping trips, travelling, trying new and exotic foods, and trips to Jean Talon Market. Only one of them enjoys rolling in dirt.

Adam Harris Levine

MORE Houses and Apartments

Adam Harris Levine serves as the live-out Hall Director for the MORE Houses and Apartments. He works full time as the Residence Life Advisor on campus. He is no stranger to the MORE Houses: in his time as an undergraduate student at McGill, he proudly served as the president of MORE Council and a MORE Fellow.

Adam is formally trained as a medieval art historian, and he works on research and languages in his spare time. He received his MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, in London, England. His most recent research focuses on devotional ivory carvings in gothic France.

When he’s not working for Rez or reading about art of the High Middle Ages, Adam can be found cooking, biking, or exploring Montreal. (Or perhaps all three; he can often be found biking around the city in search of recipe ingredients…)

Brenda Shanahan

New Residence Hall

Brenda Shanahan, BSW, MBA, Sessional Lecturer (School of Social Work), joined the McGill Residences community in 2009. A long-time Montrealer, Brenda’s career path over the last 25 years has taken her from outreach work with seniors in Milton Park to various positions in the financial services industry to teaching at McGill and providing clinical and financial counselling services in the community.

With one daughter studying painting in California and twin sons Benjamin and Daniel in Montreal at McGill and Concordia, Brenda thrives on the challenge of working alongside the young people at New Rez, whether they be seasoned Floor Fellows or brand new freshmen. “It’s a way of living in community that few adults my age have the opportunity to enjoy”, says Brenda “and my goal is to provide all-around support to all residents so that everyone can have that great university experience that you cherish all your life”.

But Brenda could not do this alone- she has Casper, the Friendly Beagle, who serves as the official "Assistant to the Director". Join Brenda and Casper for one of their regular walks through Jeanne Mance park- or simply come and say hello- they would love to meet you!

Janice Johnson

Royal Victoria College

Janice Johnson moved into Royal Victoria College as hall director in 2004. Prior to that she served as a live-out director for the MORE Houses. Janice is also the Manager of Service Point, McGill’s new one-stop-shop for administrative services for students. And when she’s not doing McGill stuff, she can generally be found hiking up a mountain with her life partner Erik Reinart with their three-year old son, Adam, in tow.

So why do we want our family to be part of the residence community? Watching the resident students grow and change over the course of the year, making a real difference in the lives of a handful of students, and especially selecting and working with the student staff has been unbelievably rewarding and we wouldn't trade this lifestyle for anything!

Jessica Coon and Jess Burgess

Solin Hall

Jessica Coon and Jess Burgess grew up in Oregon, spent 6 years in Boston, and moved to Montreal in 2011. After many long years away from residences––they met in the dorms at Reed College––they are excited to return to residence-living in a new role. They bring with them to Solin not only an excess of kitchen equipment and a new canoe, but also their three-year-old daughter, Ella.

Jessica joined McGill's Department of Linguistics as an Assistant Professor in 2011. Her work focuses on the structure of Mayan languages, spoken in southern Mexico and Guatemala, and more recently on Mi'gmaq, an Algonquian language native to Quebec. Jess works remotely for a small energy efficiency firm based in Boston. Prior to working in energy, he fought forest fires, guided rafting trips, and brewed. When not at work or daycare you might find Jess, Jessica, and Ella bicycling around town, experimenting in the kitchen (mostly Jess), doing yoga (mostly Jessica), or coloring (mostly Ella). They are excited to help incoming students navigate the transition to University life, and to work to build a great residence community.