Residence Life - Staff - Student Staff

Student Staff

Typically, each residence hall also employs several Resident Assistants, or RAs. These are undergraduate or graduate students who are tasked with helping the students living on their hallway get to know each other. Resourceful RAs can use a variety of planned or spontaneous events—called programming in the field's nomenclature—to this end. They are also charged with enforcing university rules and regulations and providing general assistance to residents. RAs are often reimbursed with free or discounted room, free or discounted board, a stipend, or even all three. On most campuses, RAs receive intense training at the beginning of the academic year. In addition to ongoing training, some campuses have several days of training at the beginning of the second semester.

If the residence hall has a front desk or area office, it is often manned by students who provide assistance to the residents such as accepting packages delivered to the residence hall, reporting maintenance problems, or opening doors for residents who have lost their key(s) (often for a charge).

Some Resident Assistants may also be assigned overnight duty. Overnight duty is when a Resident Assistant is on call all night. Most of the time Resident Assistants are in their hall office till 12:00 am. After 12:00 am they are to report to their room for the rest of the night. On call duties consist of helping with lock outs and noise complaints.