Trans* Policies & Experiences in Housing & Residence Life

What are the institutional politics associated with fostering trans* inclusive policies? When formalizing a policy, what unanticipated challenges may emerge? How are students, particularly trans* students, influenced by the implementation of gender-inclusive housing practices and policies? Also, what are campus administrators and practitioners learning from their involvement with the development of trans* work on campus? Housing and Residence Life (HRL) plays an important role in the safety, well-being, and sense of belonging for college students, but gender-inclusive policies and practices in HRL are largely under-explored in student affairs and higher education publications. There are five key objectives that guide this book:

1. To promote and challenge student affairs and higher education staff knowledge about trans* students' identities and experiences;

2. To support and celebrate the accomplishments of educators and professionals in their strides to promote trans* inclusive policies and practices;

3. To highlight the unique role that housing and residence life plays in creating institutional change and serving trans* student populations;

4. To demonstrate the value and use of scholarly personal narratives, particularly for narrating experiences related to implementing trans* inclusive policies in housing and residence life; and

5. To create a strong partnership between scholarship and student affairs practice by developing an avenue for practitioner-scholars to publish their experiences related to gender-inclusive policies in housing and residence life and for others to use these stories to improve their practice. Administrators, educators, and student affairs staff will find this book useful at any stage in the process of creating gender- inclusive housing policies on their campuses.