Resident Assistant Applications

By Kaylee Shuermann

Locked out? Lonely? Resident Assistant’s can handle it all! Applications to be one of these campus superheroes are on the Campus Information Center desk and open until March 1, 2019.

Being an RA means being responsible for assisting students with many tasks ranging from helping them get into their rooms when they are locked out to helping students with anxiety or depression.  

RAs are responsible for working duties such as checking to make sure everything in the building is functioning properly and handling incidents. They are also expected to plan programs and floor meetings for their residents.

“I think the hardest thing about being an RA is the fact that you have to wear so many hats and you’re still trying to figure out your own life,” Sharese Hall, a Resident’s Life faculty member, said.

Madina Tuhbatullina believes one of the hardest things in her job is building friendships with her residents.“Sometimes you have to say no to your friends because it is not right for your job and they might get offended when they should still also understand,” Tuhbatullina said.

Being an RA is not just all work with no reward. Hall describes one of the most fun parts of working as an RA is being in the “moments where you can see growth in your residents.”

This position comes with some additional benefits, such as free parking and a single room that is paid as the price of a double room.

Other than the above, RAs gain life skills and experiences they will use for the rest of their lives. The responsibilities they have are also transferable to their daily lives and future careers.

If an applicant is not sure about applying, they should talk to both a new and an experienced RA to get different perspectives on the job.

Potential applicants should ask the RAs questions about what their job is like, and if possible, work with them for a few nights to see what the job truly entails. This will help them decide if the position is the right fit for them.

The Resident’s Life department considers many things in an applicant, including their grade point average, disciplinary record, school involvement and crisis management skills. Applicants must have lived on campus for at least a year.

The department also wants their RAs to be responsible and diverse students that can think critically and work well with others.

After applying, the Area Coordinators (ACs) go through all of the applications and proceed to put the applicants through a group process. This will help the ACs evaluate the students by getting to know them better.

The group process is then followed by a professional interview. After this, the ACs work on where they will place the potential RAs to see if they will be a good fit.

Upon the housing selections, acceptance, alternate and decline letters are sent out to the applicants to notify them if they got the position.

“You get an experience that serves you for a lifetime,” Hall said.