Resident assistant


A resident assistant, commonly shortened to RA, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in resident halls in colleges, universities, or residential mental health and substance abuse facilities., or similar establishments.
An RA has many roles and responsibilities, including building a residential community through programming, acting as a mentor for students, being a familiar first resource for students with academic or institutional questions, and enforcing residence policies. RAs assist residents with problem solving or refer them to counseling resources. Above all, a resident assistant must be an example and uphold professional and personal accountability as outlined by the institution.
RAs must balance their schedule and priorities with the needs of the students they are supporting. A major component of the job is not only creating a community, but ensuring safety for all by participating in nightly community walks. Other duties include ordering supplies and determining need for maintenance, repairs, and furnishings. They may maintain household records and assign rooms.

Job benefits

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national mean hourly wage of an RA was $13.87 in 2017, and the national mean average annual wage was $28,850. An RA at a college or university does not typically receive an hourly wage, but is compensated in other ways. Common compensations are price-adjusted or free room, free board, and/or stipends. Listed below are two tables of RA hourly and annual mean wage, broken down by individual industries.
Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:
IndustryEmploymentHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools11,010$15.39$32,010
Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities31,410$13.32$26,710
Other Residential Care Facilities17,450$13.44$27,950
Individual and Family Services12,150$13.00$27,040
Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services8,920$13.30$27,650

Top paying industries for this occupation:
IndustryEmploymentHourly mean wageAnnual mean wage
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals 2,080$17.93$37,290
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals 2,300$17.24$35,860
Management of Companies and Enterprises520$17.23$35,830
Grantmaking and Giving Services100$16.98$35,320
RV Parks and Recreational Camps80$16.33$33,970

Job duties and responsibilities

Each institution has its own duties and requirements for an RA. The following are the more common responsibilities of an RA.

Administrative

These duties are a direct result of the leadership portion of the RA position. The RA is often asked to be a liaison from the floor to the Community Coordinator of the building. This requires writing reports, keeping accurate records, and maintaining good communication. RAs are usually required to meet with their building coordinator weekly or bi-weekly to discuss their residents, planned programming, and any other issues or subjects that could affect the ability to perform their responsibilities. The RA may also assist with public relations and housing needs.

Institution-specific

These duties are designated from the values and goals of the institution. This denotes that the RA should be a role model by following the regulations. In addition, the RA could be required to disseminate, explain, and uphold these regulations.
At the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign, Resident Advisors are role models, peer advisors, resource referrals, student advocates, and educators. RAs assume leadership roles in creating a positive and friendly atmosphere for students of varied backgrounds. RAs at Illinois develop relationships with their residents on a personal level and try to become a resource to each of them. An RA at Illinois is responsible for a floor of residents, and creates programs and activities for their floor throughout the semester. RAs can point residents in the right direction and help them solve problems by referring them to departments on campus for more extensive help with certain issues. RAs also make sure to address the needs of underrepresented groups of students and work with other staff to incorporate the needs and wishes of these student groups into the community model.
At Illinois, RAs are compensated with waived fees for housing and meal plans, and are given a monthly stipend of roughly $105.00. RAs have nights where they are on duty, and must complete procedures such as checking the security of the building, making sure residents in the residence halls are safe and don’t have any unaddressed concerns, and be available to anyone who is having problems or needs help with something.
The job of an RA is to create a community among their residents that is inclusive, welcoming, and comfortable environment for students who are living in university housing. Creating a social and welcoming living space is important for students getting acclimated to a new setting and making sure students feel at home.

Community

The residents and the RA compose a community, simply by living together in a similar location. The RA may be required to foster this community by having the residents be tolerant and respectful of the other residents and their property, or going so far as to create programming to create a sense of family on the floor or in the building. Community programming may also be a required duty in order to help create a sense of belonging in the living space.

Interpersonal

These duties deal with directly helping the residents as individuals. This requires the RA to know all the residents and be able to help each resident if they run into any problems with each other as well as with other things that may follow. Some problems could pertain to relationships, class-work, or institutional questions. The RA should have the skills to either assist the resident, or know of a resource that the resident can use to solve their problem.

Security

These duties involve creating a safe and healthy environment for the residents to reside in. Enforcing community standards, such as quiet hours and alcohol and drug policy are frequent occurrences. Fines, bonds, and behavioural contracts can be issued at many universities by RAs. Monitoring floor activity and helping with conflict resolution between residents is another important security related duty of the RA.

Integration

This refers to assisting residents in making a smooth transition into campus life by getting them involved in traditional activities in their institution such as homecoming events, for example.

Academic and awareness

This refers to academic development and social awareness. Resident assistants are there to promote the well-being of residents in university housing, and to make sure that residents feel like they have enough resources available to them and know how to use them. RAs may try to teach students about social justice and inclusivity, and take students to places on campus where they can learn more about social justice and groups with differing identities. RAs can show students where to go when they need academic help or advice, and can even offer advice of their own as they are often older students with more experience.

Identity

This refers to the personal development of residents that enables them to gain a level of self-awareness.

Independence

Resident assistants must encourage self-awareness and personal accountability amongst the residents.

Programs

One way these elements can be achieved is through programming. This is a major aspect of the job for a resident assistant. Programming can come in three different forms. This includes planned, passive, and take. A planned program is an event created or co-sponsored by the resident assistant. This event is specifically tailored to fit the needs and/or interests of the residents. Sometimes RAs are required to have one planned event for their residents a month, as well as contribute to a building program once a semester in which they work with other RAs to create a meaningful program for the whole building. A passive program is one that is completed without assembling or direct interaction between the residents and/or the resident assistant. Passive programs are generally used to start a conversation on a particular issue affecting the residents. These programs can range from a bulletin board that can be casually read in passing, or they can be more interactive like taking a survey, for example. Finally, take programs require the resident assistant to accompany residents to an event which can include an on-campus program such as an institution sponsored event, a basketball game or perhaps a movie. All these programs help to develop a community amongst residents and incorporate the core values mentioned above.
Active Program Ideas: Mocktails, Condom Olympics, DIY air freshners with baking soda and essential oils, DIY Tote bags from old t shirts, Icecream Social, BJ's and PJS- Ben and jerrys, Paint Nite.
Passive Program Ideas: Making a door dec representative for that month, going door to door and handing out candy/ taping candy on their door, an interactive bulletin board where they can write countries they've been or what they're thankful for in November.

International

United Kingdom

The term "senior wardens", "student wardens" or "senior mentors" is a position in UK universities similar to that of the resident assistant in the USA. Such positions do not generally entail as much focus on improvement of student life as in the USA, and are instead more directed towards pastoral care of residents along with duties covering security, fire and first-aid along with night/weekend duty work. Furthermore, members of wardenial teams are often expected to contribute to the overall social life of their hall of residence. The positions are most often filled by students undertaking a PhD, although mature students studying for a master's degree have also been known to fill the role. Even undergraduate students from their second year of study onwards can be offered the position, such as what happens at the University of Bradford.

Mexico

In Mexico, resident assistants are typically called "prefectos". The position has many of the same functions as in the USA, with a few exceptions including taking attendance every night at 11:30pm. The residence halls tend to be mainly of the same sex; therefore attendance is taken every night by a resident assistant to ensure opposite sex guests are no longer in the building.

Notable RAs