What's an RA?
The Resident Assistant Team, better known as the RAs, will guide you through an informed and enjoyable life in residence. They are students who live and work in your residence. They share your concerns about classes, grades, and campus life, but have expanded that interest by taking an active role in helping other students. Your RAs will get to know and support the students in your residence and work with everyone to build a positive living environment. They help everyone get acquainted, answer questions, post information, assist with problems, plan activities, and uphold policies and rules. RAs are familiar with campus resources and have developed strong referral skills.
The main responsibilities of the RAs are:
- to be available;
- to welcome and orient students to residence;
- to offer basic peer counseling to residents on issues of academic or personal concern and to make referrals when necessary;
- to act as an information source;
- to facilitate programming and opportunities for residents to become involved;
- to ensure that the rights and needs of all residents are respected and upheld;
- to assist with emergencies;
- to reflect residents' concerns to Residence and Conference Services;
- to provide leadership in areas relevant to community living, such as human relations, conflict management, and mutual respect.
Meet the RAs for each residence building!
What's a TC?
Each of the four building areas on campus (Mackinnon, Norton/Pollack, Abbott/Kuehner, and Munster/Paterson) have a Team Coordinator (TC). The TCs have at least one year of RA experience under their belts and assume a leadership role for the RAs in their building areas. The main responsibilities of the TCs are:
- to perform their RA responsibilities;
- to act as a resource for teammates on the basis of past experience;
- to facilitate communication among teammates;
- to ensure the general administrative requirements of residence are carried out;
- to coordinate the RA's activities in his/her building area.
Your RA team has not been randomly selected or thrown into their positions without direction. RAs are part-time student-employees of the University who have been through a thorough selection process and have completed a training program designed to provide them with a basic understanding of the experiences and pressures you will face over the next eight months.
Your RA team is made up of students who have enjoyed their time in residence, who have appreciated the efforts of their own RAs, and who now wish to give back to the residence life program. We hope you will feel the same way too, and encourage you to watch for information on RA hiring for the following year.
