Daemen College : Student Life : Housing & Residence Life : Residence Life Staff
Meet the Staff!
Sara C. Alexanderson, Director of Residence Life
Sara came to Daemen in 2001 as the Assistant Director of Residence Life. After leaving Daemen in 2003 for volunteering in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, she returned as an International Admissions counselor. Sara has been in her current position as the Director of Residence Life since 2006. Sara graduated with her BA in Psychology from Wittenberg University and her MS in Student Personnel Administration from Buffalo State College.
Sara oversees campus housing and the entire Residence Life program at Daemen College. The best part of her job according to her is getting to know students and working closely with all the resident assistants on campus. In addition to her responsibilities in Residence Life, Sara also actively serves on the Retention Committee, Woodhull Selection Committee and the Veterans Affairs Council. Sara is also involved with the Diversity Plan at Daemen College and helps with Orientation and the LEADS Leadership Workshop series.
In her free time, Sara likes to run (past participant of Team in Training), ski, hike and go camping, travel, attend local festivals and concerts, boating, and reading.
Jill Cole, Resident Coordinator – Campus Village Apartments
She recenty graduated from SUNY Cortland with a bachelors degree in Business Economics, concentrated in Environmental Management. While at Cortland, she was a 6th semester Resident Assistant, with her final semester serving as a Senior RA and supervisor of our Campus Apartments in programming and community development. Within her time in Residence Life she was heavily involved in the Residence Hall Association (RHA) where she served on the executive board for 3 semesters, two as President, and then continued her leadership development on the NEACURH (North East Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls) Regional Board of Directors as the Regional Communications Coordinator for Publications. She was also one of the founding members of SHAPE, which is Sexual Health and Assault Preventions Educators where she spends her time programming and advocating for sexual assault awareness and prevention.
Outside of Residence Life, she had a lot of love and passion for her school which showed as she interned in the Admissions Office, was a campus tour guide and even a Cortland Cheerleader during freshman year. Now that her undergraduate career is finished, she will be attending Canisius College for a Masters in College Student Personnel Administration. When she is not working or being involved, you'll find her either outside in the Finger Lakes region, which is her favorite place in the world, or cooking/baking up something yummy. She is excited to become a part of the Daemen family, and can't wait to meet you all.
Yewande Salako, Resident Coordinator – Canavan Hall
Yewande (Wande) is a New Jersey native and graduate of Saint Peter’s College (SPC) in Jersey City, NJ. Wande earned her B.S. in Psychology (concentration in Clinical Psychology) as well as minors in Sociology and Biology. While at SPC, Wande was a member of the Track and Field team for two years. She also served as a resident assistant (RA) for three years and a senior resident assistant (SRA) for one year and has also served as an executive board member in various clubs/organizations while at SPC.
Wande is currently a second year graduate student (Class of 2013) in the College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) program at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. For the 2011-2012 school year, Wande served as the graduate assistant for the Office of Web Services.
Wande has a great love for sports and TV! You can always find her rooting for her beloved Boston Celtics along with the Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA). She is a diehard Dallas Cowboys and in baseball you can find her cheering on the Boston Red Sox. Though not an avid hockey fan, you can still find Wande cheering on her hometown NJ Devils. In her spare time Wande simply likes to read, watch TV, work on graphic designs, listen to music, work on her photography and is always looking for a new adventure.
Resident Assistants
Resident Assistants (RAs) are responsible for establishing a comfortable rapport with each student in the hall or on the floor. This includes being aware of the personal and academic needs of each individual student. Through programming and community development, the RAs promote an atmosphere conducive to studying and personal growth. In addition the RAs are a main resource for students at Daemen. As a resource, RAs assist both residents and parents in acclimating to Daemen's campus, answer questions on a wide variety of topics, and refer students to other departments as needed.