'The RA on duty'

It’s 11PM on a Saturday night and there’s a knock at the door. The music continues to play loudly while you and your ten guests huddle in a circle while considering what to do next. You lower the music, go to the door and ask, “Who is it?” It’s the RA on duty. What do you do?

The first time a new student may learn about the Resident Assistant position could be during one of their numerous orientations. For others, their first time may be during an incident that entails violations of Resident Life policy.

This fall, I will be a third-year RA living on campus for my fourth and final year. Throughout the last four semesters, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing many incidents and the unique student residents and guests involved.

Depending on a student’s experience with RAs, several generalizations will be made about the Resident Life position. During the time that I’ve spent at Maryland, I’ve learned about the three most popular misconceptions about being an RA.

Myth #1: “RAs receive free room and board.” This idea is created by either a poor choice of words or the belief that RAs simply do not do very much. Either way, if this myth was true, it would also be rational to say that RAs work for free and that they volunteer their time and effort while participating in an extensive community service.

It is correct that the student accounts of RAs are credited for room and board, but they do work for this compensation. Nothing in life is free.

Myth #2: “RAs enjoy confronting and documenting students.” This generalization is created and spread throughout campus by students that were inconveniently confronted by an RA, or by the students’ friends that heard about the incident. Showmanship influences perception. There are probably RAs that appear to be unyielding, who seem to enjoy “writing up” as many students as possible for even the most insignificant Resident Life policy violations. Realistically, when students are found committing a violation by an RA, they will often feel threatened and guilty. This response leads to projection. The guilty party places the blame and therefore criticizes the RA.

All RAs are responsible for stopping certain behaviors. These behaviors lead to those violations, which are listed in the “Community Living Handbook.” How an RA chooses to approach a situation stems from their own personal style of conflict management. Some styles can be viewed as unnecessary and inappropriate, especially when the violator is inebriated.

No RA wants to wake up at three in the morning to confront and document a situation, but they will do it. And when it’s done, it will not be a pleasure.

Myth #3: “The RA position is just a job.” Not exactly. Yes, there is a job description and the position is viewed as such by Resident Life, but ask any RA, and they will tell you something different. Being an RA is a lifestyle, not just a part-time job. As long as an RA is anywhere on campus, they remain a employee and representative of Resident Life. Even once they leave their residence hall and community, they will be responsible as an RA. The only way to escape such responsibility is to get away from the bricks by physically leaving campus.

The plethora of days and nights being on-duty, weekly meetings, and vacations cut short due to training add to such a lifestyle. Administrative and disciplinary work, peer counseling, and programming contribute as well.

A weekly minimum of 20 hours of work is required by Resident Life, but the actual amount of time spent doing RA responsibilities will vary. There can be days or even weeks without much work, but there can be times where quantitative overload is created.

Combined with the academic, personal, physical, professional, and social aspects of an RA’s life, the position can add to the student’s daily stress. By the time some RAs become seniors, this supposed part-time job has taken its toll and they want out. No wonder the job turn-over rate is so high.

These myths may not faze some RAs, but they affect the amount of respect, cooperation, and consideration given to them by their peers. Confronting a student who believes that we get free room and board in exchange for solely getting students in trouble will be intimidated by us.

RAs are students, too. We’ve agreed to do our part as stated in our job requirements. Resident Life policies were created and are enforced to maintain a healthy living and learning environment for those residents who choose to reside on campus. And that is the truth.

Jared Meyer is a senior finance major presently spending the summer in NYC. Reach him at jmmeyer@wam.umd.edu.

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