Higher education · Question bank

Reference check questions for student affairs professionals

Questions for the supervisors, campus partners and former student staff who saw a candidate handle on-call nights, conduct meetings and campus programs.

By Never Ending SolutionsPublished October 8, 20265 min read

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Key takeaways

Ask the people who were there at the hard moments: the supervisor who read the on-call reports, a campus partner and a former student staff member.
Ask for one real incident and walk through it: whom the candidate called, what they decided and what they wrote down.
Ask how consistent the candidate’s conduct decisions were, and how they explained them to students.
Titles differ between campuses, so confirm what the candidate was responsible for before weighing what references say.

Student affairs work is tested at its hardest moments: a call from a resident assistant in the middle of the night, a conduct meeting where the facts are disputed, a student who will not say what is wrong. Interviews tend to draw out the candidate’s best account of those moments. References who were on the other end of the phone, in the meeting or on the same duty rotation can tell you what actually happened.

Titles mean different things on different campuses. A hall director at one institution supervises student staff and hears conduct cases; at another the same title is mostly programming. Confirm what the candidate was responsible for, then ask about that work.

Who to ask

The supervisor who read their on-call and incident reports, such as an area coordinator, director of residence life or associate dean of students.
A campus partner they called during incidents, such as a counseling center clinician, a campus police supervisor or a conduct officer.
A former student staff member they supervised, such as a resident assistant or orientation leader, ideally one who has graduated.
For a programming or student activities role, a faculty partner or student organization adviser who planned events with them.

Questions to ask, by competency

Choose the competencies that matter most for the position and two or three questions from each. Ask every reference the same set, and when an answer is a rating, ask for the example behind it.

Crisis response on call

On call, the candidate may be the first staff member to reach a student in danger. The first decisions, and the report written afterwards, shape everything that follows.

Tell me about an overnight on-call incident the candidate handled. Whom did they call first, and what did their report say afterwards?
How did the candidate decide when to involve campus police, counseling or emergency services?
In the days after a serious incident, how did the candidate follow up with the students involved?
Based on incidents you saw them handle, how would you rate the candidate’s judgment while on call? (rating)

Student conduct

Conduct outcomes can affect a student’s housing, enrollment and later applications, so decisions need to be consistent, documented and explained.

How consistent were the candidate’s outcomes in similar conduct cases, and how did they explain a sanction to the student who received it?
Tell me about a conduct meeting where the student disputed the facts. How did the candidate gather information and reach a decision?
How did the candidate handle a case involving a student leader, an athlete or a student they knew well?

Supervising student staff

Resident assistants and other student staff are students first. Their supervisor trains them, holds them to standards and supports them after a hard night on duty.

How did the candidate support resident assistants or other student staff after a difficult incident on their floor or in their program?
Tell me about a student staff member the candidate had to hold accountable or let go. How did they handle the conversation and the paperwork?

Programs and partnerships

Programs take planning, a budget and an honest measure of whether they worked, and they depend on partners across campus.

Describe a program the candidate planned from start to finish. How did they decide whether it was worth running again?
How did the candidate work with faculty, campus offices or student organizations when a shared event ran into trouble?

Close the reference

End every reference the same way: ask whether they would hire or work with the candidate again and why, what support would help the candidate do their best work, and whether there is anything else you should know. The general question bank explains why the first of these matters most.

Checks a reference does not replace

Certifications the position requires, such as first aid, CPR or a crisis intervention course, with the organization that issued them.
Any background check your institution requires for staff who live in residence halls or carry master keys.
Degrees the posting lists, such as a master’s in higher education or counseling, from official transcripts.

Warning signs to follow up

On-call stories in which the candidate handled everything alone and never brought in a supervisor, counseling or police.
A reference who suggests that conduct outcomes depended on who the student was.
Incident reports a supervisor describes as late, thin or written days after the event.
A former student staff member who found the candidate hard to reach after hours or dismissive after a difficult incident.
Accounts of close friendships with students the candidate also supervised or held accountable.

One warning sign is a reason to ask another question, not a verdict. Reference check red flags covers how to check a concern fairly.

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Questions to leave out

Ask only about the work. Before an offer, the EEOC’s guidance says an employer may not ask a third party, such as a former employer, any question it could not ask the candidate directly. Leave out health, medical leave, age, family plans and other protected characteristics. What to leave out has the full list.

Common questions

Can a reference discuss student conduct cases the candidate handled?

In general terms, yes. Ask about a kind of case and what the candidate did, not about a named student, and expect the reference to leave out details that would identify anyone. What you need is the candidate’s process: how they gathered facts, reached a decision and explained the outcome.

Should you ask a former resident assistant to be a reference?

Yes, with the candidate’s agreement. A former resident assistant saw how the candidate trained, supported and corrected student staff, which a supervisor sees only from a distance. Ask for someone who has graduated, so the reference is not describing the person who still supervises them.

How do you ask a reference about crisis response?

Ask for one specific incident and walk through it in order: what happened, whom the candidate called, what they decided and what they wrote down. Canada’s Public Service Commission recommends behavioral questions that ask for specific examples, and a reference who was there can supply detail that a general impression cannot.

Sources

Public Service Commission of Canada, Structured reference checks. Checked October 8, 2026.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Enforcement Guidance: Preemployment Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations. Checked October 8, 2026.

About this guide

Written and kept up to date by Never Ending Solutions, the company that builds NES ReferenceCheck. Outside facts are cited with the date we checked them, and the advice works with or without our software. Read our editorial standards.