The Resident Assistant (RA) program, which has employed students for years to provide community support and safety services to on-campus residents, has been experiencing turbulence in recent weeks. Returning RAs have had to face long waits to learn of their renewal statuses, while new applicants have experienced a series of issues and mistakes as they attempt to enter the program.
RAs staff each floor of first-campus housing and the UCC towers and, in exchange for their services, are provided housing and dining plans for no extra charge. Every year, returning RAs must reapply before the selection of new RAs is chosen. The process is very selective and involves multiple rounds of info sessions, applications, and interviews, with applicants expected to demonstrate strong social skills and academic qualifications to make the cut.
This year, the process stretched unusually late relative to the upperclassman housing application. The mandatory information session for interested students took place more than three months ago, on November 15, and applications were due in mid-December. However, rounds of individual and group interviews, in person for the first time since before the pandemic, caused acceptance and placement notifications to be pushed until the evening of February 20. The upperclassman housing application closed just nine days later, on February 29.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the announcements of February 20 were significantly delayed and plagued with issues. Although previously announced to be sent out at 5 p.m., applicants did not receive their placement or acceptance statuses until after 7 p.m. that evening. Additionally, only 25 applicants were accepted into the program, which was fewer than had been previously suggested by the Office of Residential Education, and the entirety of the remaining 28 in the applicant pool was waitlisted.
Most shockingly, the waitlisted group received a mass email that mistakenly carbon copied every waitlisted student, making the names of all applicants in the pool visible to every other in an unexpected breach of privacy for these students.
Additionally, the contents of this email offered waitlisted applicants the opportunity to accept a new position called Alternate Resident Assistant. According to the message, applicants who accept the Alternate position will “assume the role and responsibilities of Resident Assistants, if needed, based on our Stevens community needs.” Alternates must attend all mandatory RA events and training sessions for the opportunity to fill in for RAs who drop out of the program or can’t fulfill its requirements. The goal of the new position, according to Office directors, is to reduce the difficulties that arise when these unexpected vacancies occur.
The terms of this position were not received well. The announced waitlist contains dozens of students and has no official order or priority list, making it unclear how likely it is that an Alternate will receive the position at any point next year. There was also no information provided regarding housing or dining services, even though Alternates, like regular RAs, must arrive on campus no later than August 11. Some applicants expressed frustration that they would have to choose between working later in August and accepting the Alternate position with no guarantee that it would result in a permanent RA placement. Additionally, this group was given only nine days to make a decision. The opportunity closed on February 29, the same day that the upperclassman housing application closed.
According to sources familiar with the topic, much of the turmoil has been attributable to dramatic changes in the on-campus residential environment, including the opening of the UCC towers in Fall 2022 and changes in staff within Residential Education that have caused large shifts in policy since pre-pandemic years. Another contributing factor is the program’s increasing popularity, which means the Office of Residential Education is inundated with more applications than ever. This year, 285 students applied to become an RA, 110 applicants received individual interviews, and only 25 positions were filled. It is also known that there has been significant frustration with other aspects of the RA program, including friction between RAs and the Resident Directors that oversee each housing block and dissatisfaction with recent individual policy changes.
However, despite all the problems, the program remains attractive to students and popular with RAs. Sources who spoke to The Stute said that the free housing and dining benefits make the position worth the headache, not to mention the other intrinsic rewards of the job: a personal connection with peers, a fulfilling mentor-and-mentee environment, and the opportunity to develop a stronger and more cohesive campus community.
