This weeks campus celebrity is a face well-known around campus, reslife coordinator Robert J. Ippolito, know by most as Ippy.Â
College Attended:Â Edinboro University
Degree(s): Bachelor’s of Science and Art Education, Bachelor’s of Arts and Drama
Hometown: New Castle, “Pennsyltucky”
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Her Campus: What is your job title and what does it entail?
Ippy: “I’m a ‘Co-Curricular Program Coordinator Number Three,’ at least that is what my official title is. What does that translate to? I’m a Residence Life Coordinator. What does it entail? What does it not entail would probably be easier for me to answer. Co-curricular, so we have a curriculum that we, and all other Penn State campus’s Residence Life, have to follow. Our themes are ‘respect for self, respect for community, responsibility for self, and responsibility for community.’ Those are our main focuses for everything that we do, and you know that University Park has a big influence on our curriculum, but every campus gets to tweek it to better fit their students. Harrisburg has other majors that we do not, so their take on the curriculum would be a bit different then ours. We have apartments, Penn State Beaver only has one traditional Residence Hall, so naturally their curriculum would look a lot different than ours because they can only house three to four hundred, compared to our 17 hundred. So really anything that has to do with the curriculum, which it’s not even an umbrella it’s like a big circus tent, from safety and security to supervising student staff. I’m also the manager of Oliver’s game room, so I supervise the work study students. I work in the office of students conduct… I just do so many things I can’t even think. I like to consider myself what I call a ‘mini counselor,’ because I am a first responder for everything, whether I am on duty or not. I also handle crisis intervention, administration paper work type of things, dealing with budgets, teaching the RA class in the Spring, facilitate meetings and resources; I mean, I can’t think of one thing that I’m not doing. And I say that very humbly, even though it may not sound like that, but I really do, because in this job I feel that I get the best of working at a collegiate level because I touch and work with everything. My whole goal as a ‘Co-Curricular Program Coordinator Number Three’ is to bring experiences to on-campus students through the curriculum, so everything that I just listed and told you about connects to that curriculum. Look at the weekly emails, those aren’t created out of the blue, they follow the curriculum. So as a ‘Co-Curricular Program Coordinator Number Three’ I make sure that you get all that. Sorry, that was long (laughs).
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Her Campus:Â What is the craziest thing you have ever had to deal with in the position?
Ippy: “(Laughs) Um… so many things are racing through my head…. I’ve been here since February 2012, I don’t remember too much of that Spring semester because it was like go, go, go, go, go, my gosh where am I? Go, go, go, go, go, what is happening? Craziest? You know, I really don’t have a craziest incident or anything because of the way I process things. At first when I get a call I’m like, ‘What? Why am I coming? I need you to ask me that again,’ and then I have to process each situation and think, me, as someone who graduated grad school and college, I’m in a different spot than someone who is eighteen and a freshman, being away from home for the first time. Sometimes they just need someone to talk to as well.. so when I get there it’s like, ‘[you’re a] student, you [have an] issue, you [are] concerned, you just needed me to be here.’ I really don’t have a whopper or an ‘oh my gosh, what happened’ kind of thing. Sarah Bush was the one with the drunk raccoon, I told her to change her perfume because it just loved her.”
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Her Campus:Â What is the hardest part of the job?
Ippy: “The hardest part about my job is having to be at a computer so much. Last year we did a strengths finder in my office, so professional and support staff all took [a] leadership test that calculates your strengths, [and] based on questions, it gives you your top five. The woman who was giving [this to] us went around asking what we love about of job, so we all went around and answered. But then she asked what we dislike about it and the first thing I said was sitting at a desk. As much as I meet with students, go to one-on-ones in the halls, show up to programs, making rounds, all of that, I still find myself at a computer a lot of the time. I have this computer, this electrical box with a screen [that] I can do almost anything on, or I can go knock on your door. I prefer not to send an email, I like when things are done personally. I find myself doing more administrative things, such as paper work, and I’m really not a behind the desk kind of person. I don’t hate it, because I still do it, but it’s not my favorite.”
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Her Campus: What is the most rewarding part of the job?
Ippy: “The ‘aha’ moments. My colleagues would tell you that, ‘Ippy loves to do conduct meetings,’ Â and it’s sad that it sounds negative and that I’m trying to get people in trouble. Honestly, I just want to ask them about their life. You know, they are here for conduct so ultimately, [they were] violating a policy, so they get here and the first thing I ask them is what is their dream job. If I was your personal trainer/teacher and money was not an object, you got $5,000 a month after all your bills were paid, what would you be and why? Some students tell me they would be a professional baseball player, or ballerina, or acrobat, or xyz. So then I ask them what their major is and they’ll tell me something like math or engineering and I say ‘explain to me how being and engineer equals being a ballerina,’ and then we talk about it. I always ask if anyone has ever had that conversation with them, and in all honesty I’ve always had success with that conversation. I always relate it to, now I’m not diminishing a college age person’s education, but I relate it to when I taught little kids. When I taught kindergarten and first grade, when you say something to little kids you can watch their face because they aren’t talking to you. It’s like ‘two plus two…. one.. two..three.. four,’ you can watch that process happen, which is what I’m relating to adults.”
Her Campus:Â What are your plans after your term is over?
Ippy: “I have a couple. To find an art teaching job, I miss it, I would love to hop back into the class room. Not only to teach art but I would love to create a life skills class, if my school doesn’t already have it. Am I qualified to teach it? Um eh… I don’t know about that, but the things that I have seen at the collegiate level, that I’ve realized a lot of teenagers don’t understand/ experienced, that I feel like it is the high school teacher’s job to teach them about.I’ve also looked at higher ed jobs in Residence Life. I’ve been in Residence life for 9 years from my undergrad up until now. In seven years, I have successfully taught pre-k up until the oldest person being 23, and not many people can say that, so ultimately higher ed or back into a teaching position. The third option would be to go into another graduate program.”
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Her Campus:Â What are some things most people do not know about you?
Ippy: “I am a Cancer, my favorite color is aborigine. I do not eat meat, only fish. I broke both my wrists at the same time when I was a child. Youngest of three, three times a God Father, favorite holiday is Halloween, and I enjoy being on the stage as much as behind.”
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Her Campus:Â What is it like living on campus for you?
Ippy: “Easy and hard. Easy because I walk to work, and if I forget something at home I can just walk back at my lunch but still have plenty of time to eat as well. Hard because even though I may not be working at the time, I’m still always ‘working.’ Things that you might want to do in your home, I cannot, such as paint a wall or the outside. I have to get permission to have friends over as well, I can’t just bring them when I want.”
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Her Campus:Â How is the fishbowl effect for you?
Ippy: “I feel I have more of the SeaWorld effect, like Tilikum or Shamu effect. Not talking about my physique and matching it to a whale, or saying that I’m bigger than a fish. I’m talking about the size of the tank, I have to be a role model at all times. The only difference is, I can go further which makes my tank larger, but there is glass on all sides. Honestly, I am okay with being Shamu.”
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Her Campus:Â Who is you biggest inspiration?
Ippy: “Every single full-figured actor, actress or comedian. Every single one because they still made it despite the ‘faux pas,’ Â a typical person today being Melissa McCarthy. There is also Roseanne Barr, John Candy, John Goodman, and Queen Latifah. Absolutely, those people made it and they are an inspiration.”
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Her Campus:Â Have you ever not known what to do in a situation?
Ippy: “Absolutely, every single situation that I’ve been in (laughs), that doesn’t make me sound great. There are just so many 975000000 ‘what if’s,’ but if you make your decision in good faith, for the success of the student, you are going to be okay. There have been some situations that I don’t know about, but (knocks on desk) in four years I think I’ve been okay.”
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Thank you for the interview Ippy! HCXO