By Alex Gereda-Gordon
Yes, he is son of Dean of Student David Tuttle, but that is only a small part of his own Trinity story.
Tuttle started working for Residential Life in 2016. He worked with the First Year area and switched in January to the upper division area including City Vista.
The coordinator for both the upper division area and City Vista is a new role at Trinity, as City Vista has only been a part of the university housing for two years. Deb Tyson, director of Residential Life, chose Tuttle for the role. “Nathan has strong leadership potential. He is always one of the first people to volunteer for any project or task and leads his peer group with a positive and supportive attitude,” she said.
The upper division area has a more “hands off” approach, but Tuttle and his colleagues still have a lot to do to better serve the students. For example, this semester he and Michael Logan, residential life coordinator in the sophomore area, created a new program called Monopoly: Housing Edition, which will take place on April 17. The program is an interactive game to help students learn how to find housing post-graduation.
“It’s fun to take on something new and different,” said Tuttle. “We’re starting relatively fresh up here (City Vista). There is still a lot of opportunity to shape this into what we want it to be.”
City Vista started to have RAs this academic year, even though the residents are more independent. Tuttle currently supervises five RAs in the upper campus dorms and two in City Vista.
“His biggest contribution to the community has been his ability to develop student leaders that go on to mentor their peers,” says Logan.
Tuttle sees his new role as an advancement in his career. “This is a lot more facilities, housing operations focused. So I’m getting a little more experience in things business and process oriented,” he said.
Along with this new role, Tuttle is also pursuing his MBA at UTSA. He feels that having this degree will be an asset for his new position, as he is becoming more involved with the business aspects of residential life.
“Nathan is a really vital piece when it comes to residents up here,” says Stephanie Ackerman, assistant director for housing operations. “He’s really taken on the resident relationship piece.” Be it conduct issues with students, mental health issues, or academic matters, “Nathan has played a fundamental role.”
Before he worked for Trinity, Tuttle basically grew up on campus. Playing on campus as a child, having RAs over for dinner at his house, and having students babysitting him are just a few ways that he has gotten to know the “campus vibe and feel.”
He also has forged a strong working relationship with his father, and both agree that they are able to compartmentalize their roles and collaborate as colleagues. “I work with Nathan the same as with the other Residential Life coordinators,” Dean Tuttle says.
As the academic year wraps up, students will move out and new ones will move in, and Tuttle will be there to ensure things run smoothly.
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