Students in ISU residence halls will play a role in who will be the next person to run the Department of Residence.

Representatives from the Inter-Residence Hall Association, Union Drive Association, Richardson Court Association, Frederiksen Court and Schilletter-University Village will attend four candidate forums to address their concerns. The forums are scheduled for the next four days, starting with candidate Jane Grassadonia. Grassadonia is the director of residence education at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. Her forum is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.

Todd Holcomb, vice president for student affairs and interim Department of Residence director, said Grassadonia is a qualified candidate for the vacant position.

“We felt like she had a solid residential housing background and was very student-focused and centered,” he said.

Like Iowa State, Virginia Commonwealth enrolls more than 26,000 students, with more than 4,100 students living in university residence halls. Unlike Iowa State, however, Virginia Commonwealth is made up of two urban campuses surrounded by downtown Richmond.

Grassadonia was traveling to Ames on Monday and was unavailable for comment.

Under her leadership, the Virginia Commonwealth residence department has grown from a capacity of 2,500 students in 2000 to 4,100 students.

Holcomb said Grassadonia’s ability to guide the rapid growth of the residence hall system at Virginia Commonwealth would be a strong consideration in her ability to fill the position at Iowa State. He said he hopes the new director works to build enrollment of students living in the ISU residence hall system.

According to Grassadonia’s resume, she has engaged in planning and implementation processes to obtain additional housing through construction and privately owned residence partnerships.

Holcomb said, however, privately owned residence halls are not an option being considered at Iowa State.

Grassadonia has coordinated the opening of four new residence halls during her time at Virginia Commonwealth. She has also served on the administration for four university residential neighborhoods at Virginia Commonwealth’s two campuses.

Grassadonia has supervised a residence hall security program that provides a 24-hour security staff with electronic monitoring in each residence hall, according to her resume.

Ginny Arthur, associate director for residence life; Pete Englin, dean of students; and Jim Zentmeyer, associate director of residence life at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, are the other candidates being considered by university administrators to fill the vacant residence director seat. A different candidate forum will take place at 2 p.m. each day through Friday in the Memorial Union.