Driven, tenacious, proactive, and organized are all words that describe Krista Barth. The C-SC alumna was hired as the college’s Coordinator of Residence Life. She’s currently responsible for supervising the Resident Assistants (RAs) and Resident Directors, as well as housing students. 

In her time as a student, Barth made a great impact on the college both academically and socially. She graduated from Culver-Stockton’s Honor Program in the spring of 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater. She was actively involved in theater, a capella, and all the choirs on campus. She was also a member of Sigma Kappa, where she served as President, VP of Membership, Panhellenic Delegate, and DEIA Chairperson. And she participated in Wildcat Welcome every year she was able.

According to Barth, her favorite memory as a student was traveling to Greece with Dr. Walsh, Dr. Alvarez, and Professor Loyd during her sophomore year. “I made so many great friends on that [Greece] trip. I liked the busyness of the travel schedule while getting to explore new places.”

Between balancing her relationships with former peers and current students to becoming less formal with professors and colleagues, Barth says the transition from student to staff has been interesting.

“Now that I’m employed by the college, my relationship with current students is more formal than before. I still find myself reminding friends that they need to email me about things rather than Snapchat me,” Barth said. “But the hardest transition to make has probably been addressing my old teachers. Many professors I used to address as ‘Dr.’ have now given me permission to call them by their first names.” 

While the transition has been an interesting one, Barth admits that it hasn’t been too difficult. Switching mindsets from student to staff has been a smooth experience between moving into a familiar office and moving off campus. 

“Both of these moves helped me to feel like I was progressing and growing as a person and professional while remaining in the same environment,” said Barth. 

She worked in the Student Life office as a student and started as Coordinator of Residence Life over the summer, learning more about the position in a controlled manner. “I was less anxious to take on a new position because I knew I had people in my corner from when I had worked in the Student Life Office,” Barth said. “Starting over the summer was very helpful because my first few projects were projects I hadn’t done before.”

In her short time here, she’s implemented and trained all RAs on intentional programming. Barth has also begun to investigate how C-SC can do better when it comes to on-campus housing. 

“I’ve begun to research housing practices from other colleges and universities to see where we succeed, where we can improve, and to get a better sense of college housing in general. This research will help me continue to strategize ways we can improve campus living,” said Barth. 

Barth is in a unique position as she’s lived on-campus her whole college career and brings a different perspective to any issues that may arise as Coordinator of Residence Life. Even though she’s new to the position, she’s not unfamiliar with what it’s like to live in the dorms at Culver-Stockton. With her new implementations and research, there’s no doubt that positive change is coming to the residence of Culver-Stockton.