This week, we get an inside look into the workspace of Rikki Turner, assistant director for Residence Life in the Office of Student Housing.

Hi, Rikki Turner here, from the Office of Student Housing at UALR!

Where do you work? I’m the Assistant Director for Residence Life which basically means my job is all the fun stuff in life. I supervise the hall directors, graduate assistants, and resident assistants. I’m in charge of recruitment and training for all of these phenomenal folks as well. I make sure living on campus is fun and beneficial. Seriously, my job is amazing.

Describe the view from your desk. My desk though… scary. When asked to do this post, I thought, “I’m going to tidy up my desk a bit before taking the picture. It’ll scare them less.” But, where’s the fun in that? That doesn’t give you the real picture. And to be honest, this picture is actually pretty good. I must have just organized!

The nature of my job is that I can never know what any one day will be like. One day could be filled with paperwork while another I never get to actually come into my office because I’m out dealing with student issues. Therefore, to keep my sanity, I keep Pandora on. At. All. Times.

What do you listen to at work? Some of my favorite stations (to show you how weird this truly gets):
Miranda Lambert
Mumford and Sons
Maroon 5
Color Me Badd
Pitbull
Louis Armstrong
Jack Johnson
New Kids on the Block

Eclectic right? It all depends on the day which one will be playing. Currently it is Mumford and Sons.

What is your favorite to-do list manager? As I stated before, most of the time I have A LOT of balls in the air. I hear people use some pretty fancy apps to manage their to-do lists. Me? White board. Expo marker. There is something oddly satisfying about crossing something off of a list. Especially if that list is color coated by category of the things that need to be done. And my whiteboard? Classroom size. I don’t play with to-do lists.

What is your work schedule? My work schedule is your typical 8-5, Monday through Friday. Unless there is a program. Or an emergency. Or I have work to be done and need to come in early. Or the work isn’t finished and I need to stay late. Or if there is a big event on the weekend. Or if it is training and I need to stay for 10 days straight. Or if training runs into opening and I need to stay for 20 days in a row. Or if something happens at 2 a.m. that needs my attention. So yeah, pretty typical.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without? With this type of schedule, it can be hard to keep up with where I need to be at what times. But not anymore! Because Google calendar is AMAZING!
Seriously, can’t live without it. I have EVERYTHING on my Google calendar and it sends me a text message 10 minutes before any event I have on it. My love for the Googles runs pretty deep, I must say.

PC or Mac? In keeping with my love for the Googles, I also love PCs. This doesn’t mean I dislike Macs, I just find when using a Mac it takes me about twice as long to do anything. I’m indoctrinated in the PC world. But… iPhone for life! These shouldn’t be confused.

Favorite workday snack? And finally, to make it through each day, there is an adequate amount of snacking. What is pretty consistent across the board?

Coffee. I try to kick the habit around 2 p.m. but I make no promises. Some days are harder than others. I keep a bag of almonds at my desk. I also love those Nature Valley Granola Thins. They are seriously like healthy little Keebler cookies. So good.

Lastly, I try to keep a box of Welch’s Island Fruit Gummy Snacks in my office. This is not only for myself, but my staff likes to raid my stash of snacks from time to time and these seem to be their favorite. They are spoiled.

And clearly I should go check out what is going on in the fitness center and get myself on a treadmill. I think I’ll grab a cup of coffee first.