Suffolk University’s Department of Residence Life & Housing relaunched its Off-campus Housing Department in April 2023 after a hiatus, under the new leadership of recent Sawyer Business school graduate Kevin Barthelemy.
Barthelemy is a proud Boston native who boasted “the great thing about being in Boston and at Suffolk is every train leads back into the city so there’s no place our students can’t live.”
He is a real estate license holder, Suffolk undergraduate alumni, Suffolk graduate school alumni and veteran of the United States Air Force, Navy and Army.
“I went into the army as an infantryman and did six years active duty there, loved it, loved it, loved it. I got medically retired after multiple surgeries and then decided to come back home and focus on my education,” Barthelemy said.
From 2015 through 2023, Barthelemy completed his education gaining his undergraduate paralegal certificate and MBA all at Suffolk. While he was completing his MBA, Barthelemy worked in the Veterans Service Office.
“I was hired in April to pretty much start the program over because it was obviously gone for long enough that it went dormant to dead. Now, it’s revamping it back up, building new relationships and partnerships to better serve the students as needed,” said Barthelemy.
The Off-campus Housing Department focuses on managing resources, including a web-portal partnered with apartments.com. The department looks to provide education on how to begin apartment hunting. They offer help during the finalization process to ensure fair treatment for students.
“Our main priority is our undergrad students in resident halls because at some point you’re pushed out to become a bigger adult and find your own place,” Barthelemy said.
This doesn’t prevent other students from using the resources provided. The Off-campus Housing Department is more than willing to work with graduate students, law students and international students to ensure equitable treatment when finding a place.
Barthelemy looks to develop the portal further stating “the off-campus web portal is being revamped.”
In the coming months Barthelemy will look to hold “fireside chats” to outline how to start the departure from the dorms.
Barthelemy stated the goal of these fireside chats is to help students “understand bills and responsibilities that come with it that way when you graduate that’s not the first time you’re moving out into the world.”
For those looking to get help from the Off-campus Housing Department, email [email protected].
