Desiree Reasoner is one busy person! As the assistant director of Outcomes, Assessment and Special Projects for Housing & Residential Services, she supervises six graduate resident directors, serves as the liaison between the Housing Office and Student Conduct Standards and advises  both the Residence Hall Association and National Residence Hall Honorary. She is also the founder and program director of the KU Leadershape outreach program for area elementary schools.

And if that isn’t enough, when Desiree goes home, she is busy with three growing kids – all of whom are “three-season” athletes.

“It seems like I spend most of the time after work driving my kids to games,” she said.

But Desiree likes to fill her day with activity. In 1998, she joined KU as the graduate resident coordinator for Berks Hall. Two years later, she was overseeing University Place before moving on to Old Main.

Since starting in 2002 as assistant director, one of her proudest accomplishments has been the creation of the Leadershape program for students in Greenwich and Kutztown elementary schools. For the past two years, KU students have joined Desiree to teach a weekly class to 5^th graders on the importance of leadership skills. The capstone of the program is the fundraising event the elementary students create and run each semester - four fundraisers a year!

“It is part of the ‘Cougar Pride’ project,” she said. “The kids have been very successful. This spring KU Elementary raised more than $1,500 for the Humane Society of Berks County, and Greenwich Elementary students raised $500 for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.”

Interestingly, Desiree has a B.S. in psycho/biology, which is a combination of psychology and biology, from Albright College, and a M.Ed. from KU in Student Affairs and Higher Education.

Desiree said she uses her first degree a lot at home with her growing family.

“I have two boys and a girl, ages 13, 11 and 8, and they are all athletes,” she said. “My husband and I estimated that this summer our kids have a total of 84 baseball and softball games between them. In the winter and spring, my children participate in even more sporting activities including wrestling.”