Coordinator for Resident Engagement and Community Housing and Residential Life Annabelle Bautista said goodbye to California State University Stanislaus on Feb. 17. Bautista is heading to Norte Dame de Namur to become their new Associate Director of Housing and Residential Life.
After working for CSU Stanislaus for eight years, Bautista has made this place her home not only literally but also by her high level of involvement in student life. Bautista, who started as a Residential Advisor (RA), was a transfer student coming to finish her education here at CSU Stanislaus.
She worked as an RA for about three years until she was offered the position as Coordinator.
“It’s really interesting because the position really evolved for me,” Bautista said. “It started off as a job where I was supervising the RA’s and helping the RA’s, to then including you know, conduct and case management and the team of RA’s started off as a team of nine and grew into 15, with two CL’s [community leads]. The job just kept evolving over the eight years.”
Over the course of Bautista’s eight years at CSU Stanislaus, she has helped the Village to evolve. She brought awareness to the over consumption of alcohol, implemented having more RA’s present in the Village and also helping the environment by recycling in order to raise more money to put back into the Village.
Though the decision to leave was not an easy one, Bautista mentioned a statement one of her RA’s told her that convinced her that she was making the right decision.
“You push us to better ourselves,” One of Bautista’s RA’s said. “You push us to get our diploma. You invoke all of these skills in us to go out into the real world and do it. You would be a hypocrite if you didn’t take this position that was promoting you from what you are going now.”
Bautista will be missed by many. Co-workers shared their feelings on Bautista’s new job.
“I am very sad but I also very happy for her,” Eric Meneses, Program Coordinator of Residential Life, said. “It’s not like the end of the world for us because I will see her probably once a month, but I am really happy for her it’s going to be a really good new chapter for her in her life. She was a great asset to housing and it’s going to be a good thing for her.”
Rebecca Gregory will temporarily take over the position of Coordinator for Resident Engagement and Community Housing and Residential Life until June when the position will hopefully be filled.