Robin Rathje said she just happened to be in the right place at the right time to find a job she loves.

Last summer she made the move from Michigan to Bowling Green so her significant other could pursue a master’s degree at Western.

Rathje said she had never thought about being a hall director until someone suggested she talk to Lynne Holland, associate director of Housing and Residence Life, about a job.

“Now I’m here and I really do love what I do,” Rathje said. “I just didn’t know this profession existed.”

Rathje is nearing the end of a year as the assistant hall director of Minton Hall. Next year she’ll be a residence hall director.

She’s one of seven assistant hall directors, nine residence hall directors and eight coordinators that manage the dorms on campus, HRL Director Brian Kuster said.

The challenges of a hall director position often help prepare employees for other positions in higher education. While Rathje is moving up others are moving on to new positions outside of Western.

Kevin Utt, coordinator for Pearce-Ford Tower, compares himself to the mayor of a city of 900 people.

“This building never sleeps,” he said.

Utt said he’s responsible for making sure the “town” runs smoothly and dealing with any concerns that come up.

He said he’ll be the director of residence life at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa next semester.

The experience he’s had with PFT has prepared him well, Utt said.

He oversees the student staff, helps students with problems and manages emergencies, he said.

“A lot of my job is being available and visible for students,” Utt said.

He helps them deal with stress, roommate conflicts and thefts, he said.

Utt said his favorite part was helping students who are struggling but want to do better.

Some students don’t know about the resources on campus that could help them succeed, such as tutoring, and he can point them to those resources, he said.

“Hall directors aren’t people that don’t want to leave college,” Utt said. “This a profession.”

Minton Coordinator Nick Wiard said he’s learned a lot from his time as a hall director at Western.

Wiard spent two years as coordinator at Barnes-Campbell Hall before moving to Minton three years ago.

“In five years, there’s nothing that I haven’t gotten my hands on,” he said.

Wiard said he’s looking for a job in Alabama or Georgia, close to his wife’s family.

He said he feels competitive for whatever job he applies for because HRL exposes its staff to everything.

Wiard said he and Rathje don’t have a lot of specific responsibilities. Instead, they share responsibilities based on what experience the assistant hall director needs.

Rathje said she’s been finding her voice this year and has had a lot of fun learning with Wiard.

“You learn all the tricks of the trade with that coordinator by your side,” she said.

Next year, Rathje will be getting the chance to learn in her own dorm.

She said she’s excited about the opportunity to gain even more experience as a residence hall director.

Kuster said the hall director position isn’t necessarily meant to be a final position. Many people go on to other jobs in higher education after a few years.

John Osborne, vice president of campus services and facilities, still has his original letter of employment from August 1973 on his office wall.

He was the residence hall director of Keen Hall from 1973 to 1976.

“It was a very colorful, exciting three years to be a hall director,” Osborne said. “That’s what started my career at Western.”

Living with the entire football team made for a very active dorm, he said.

Osborne said he and football coach Jimmy Feix worked together to make sure the team acted respectfully.

Not only would students be punished by the university for discipline problems, but they would find themselves running laps at the track at 5 a.m. the next morning, he said.

David Parrott, executive associate vice president for student affairs at Texas A&M University, credits his years at Western for where he is now.

He spent five years as a hall director from 1980 to 1985, later serving as director of residence life.

“It was probably one of the funnest times and also the most challenging times I had in my life,” Parrott said.

He recalled working with Kuster and others to create MASTER Plan, a program that helps first-year students connect with each other and the university.

“It was great to see the impact on students,” Parrott said.

It was also fun to see the staff grow and develop from the experience, he said.

Kuster, who himself served as a hall director at Western from 1985 to 1989, said hall directors do a little of everything.

Darryl Bridges, a hall director for four years and now the vice president for student affairs at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., said hall directors are on call all the time.

Things always happen at 2 a.m. instead of 2 p.m., he said.