About

Residential Life Mission

Residential Life at Macalester College utilizes a student-focused, learning-centered approach to foster resident development, authentic relationships, and inclusive living-communities. We do this through our implementation of LIFE@MAC, community standards, and housing services.

Residential Life at Macalester

Living on campus is an important part of a Macalester student’s education. Residential Life focuses on the whole student experience as well as fostering learning beyond the classroom setting. Students are provided numerous opportunities to learn about themselves as well as meet, interact, and develop relationships with others on the floor, building community with those who are different from themselves. Our goal is to give students a greater understanding of their responsibility to the local, national, and global communities as citizens of the world.

Residential Life at Macalester serves approximately 1300 students in campus housing. Living options include traditional and suite style residence halls, theme houses, language houses, and apartments located above a Grand Avenue restaurant.

Language Houses: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic House
Specialty Areas: Summit House, Veggie Co-op, Eco House, Dietary Affirming Intentional Community, Substance Free Affirming Community, and Cultural House.

All first-year and sophomore students are required to live on-campus. About one fourth of the junior class and one fifth of the senior class also live on campus.

Staffing includes five professional, masters’ degree level Residence Hall Directors (RHD), Assistant Director – Residential Services, Associate Director – Student & Community Support, Associate Director – Learning & Development, and the Executive Director of Residential Life. It also includes a student staff of 35 Resident Assistants and 5 Office Assistants, and 4 Programming Assistants. The RHD team provides 24-hour on-call support to residential communities and trains, coaches, and supervises a team of undergraduate paraprofessionals (Resident Assistants) who are resources, educators, and community builders to our students. RHDs and RAs are also visible and involved members of their residential communities. All members of the staff work in collaboration with students, faculty and staff to provide opportunities, support, and a rewarding living environment to residents. Office Assistants (OA) are students who provide a welcoming environment in the building in which they’re assigned and offer administrative support to the multiple living communities. Programming Assistants (PAs) develop programming for students in the residence halls.