RA, RD but what does it mean?

Being a resident assistant (RA) or resident director (RD) in University Housing provides an opportunity for growth in a leadership role that is demanding yet rewarding.

There are usually one to two RAs on each dorm floor and one RD per building. In the new dorms there will be one male and one female RA on each floor.

RAs and RDs work together with the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and the Assistant Director for Residence Education Chad Clark to bring students together for activities and programs.

“RAs are the community builders within the residence hall,” said Resident Director Maleea Carnes. “They interact with the residents and are responsible for the Peer Mentoring Program that helps build morale and addresses issues such as the students’ physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual well-being.”

“If there is a resident problem, the RA would be contacted first. If things could not be resolved on this level then the building RD would be contacted,” she added.

RDs are live-in graduate students in charge of the RA staff of each building. They receive apartment compensation, a meal plan block, a graduate school tuition waiver and graduate assistant pay. If they are undergraduate assistant RDs, their pay and perks are slightly less.

“RDs take care of the facility, interact with the girls, take care of judicial problems and the budget,” said Carnes.

She said most problems are resolved within the building unless it is a serious offense.

“The RA writes up an incident report and gives it to the RD. The student can then read the report and talk about it,” said Adams Hall’s Resident Director, Drew Jahr.

Jahr said that students have the choice of having the RD deal with the incident or bringing it before a peer review board.

“When there is a violation of rules then I get to hear the case and give out the disciplinary sanctions,” said Jahr. “There is not an overabundance of cases. The cases I mostly hear about are drinking and visitation. Sanctions range from losing visitation privileges to just receiving a warning depending on the situation.”

Jahr’s hours vary from 40 to 60 per week. His calls are usually from RAs that need assistance in handling problems.

“Being an RD has helped me develop leadership skills and develop and learn about myself,” said Jahr. “What you have to accept is that you are on call 24-hours-a-day all week and some weekends on call for the entire campus.”

Carnes agrees.

“I might get a call at 4 a.m., but this is part of the job. I like it. I can relate to the 200 girls at Bell. I live where I work, and I can do my paperwork on my living room floor,” she said.

RAs arrive two weeks prior to the start of the semester for training. RDs arrive three weeks early. They undergo intensive training and cover issues such as informal counseling, dealing with drinking and what paperwork is involved.

How can you apply for an RA position?

“There should be a poster out by the end of this week (around Jan. 31) and we will start the selection and recruitment of RAs,” said Clark. ” There will be information sessions from Feb. 23 through Feb. 27.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 31 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry