What Does a Resident Adviser Do?
Thank you for your interest in the Resident Adviser (RA) position. RAs serve an important role that helps HFS provide welcoming, inclusive, safe, respectful, academically supportive, and fun residential communities. Let’s learn more about how RAs create safe and welcoming communities. To learn more about what a Resident Adviser does, you can click here to view a copy of the 2023-2024 RA Position Agreement.
Community Development
Interactions: Resident Advisers regularly interact with the residents on their floor. RAs have consistent scheduled or impromptu conversations in 1-on-1 or group settings to check in on residents, get to know them, and build a trusting relationship. RAs document these conversations consistently and alert their supervisors to any potential follow-up needed.
Programming: Resident Advisers plan programs for their floors periodically each quarter. Programs planned by RAs are typically smaller in scale and can be social or educational in nature. Past programs have included game nights, supply distributions, craft making, etc. Resident Advisers additionally are expected to promote and support events put on by their community Hall Councils and by the Residential Programming Board, Residence Education Programmers, and RCSA.
Passive Engagement: Resident Advisers build community passively by creating decorations for their assigned floors, hanging and distributing informative flyers, and creating bulletin boards and/or displays for digital screens located in their communities.
Resident Safety & Wellbeing
Serving On-Call: Resident Advisers serve on call overnight and throughout the weekend to support safety in their community. Resident advisers complete rounds and hold an on-call phone for residents to reach out if they have concerns after business hours.
Responding to Violations of the Housing Agreement: Resident Advisers learn about the housing agreement and the policies therein to educate residents on the policies. Resident advisers also confront policy violations and provide educational conversations to residents and document behaviors that they notice within their community.
Navigating Roommate Conflict: Resident Advisers support the residents living in their community. Resident Advisers can help residents who are experiencing conflict with their roommates with mediations, and revising roommate agreements.
Addressing Facility Concerns: Resident Advisers are trained to identify facilities concerns within their community, and trained to support the triage of those concerns. Resident Advisers alert our facilities and custodial teams when conditions within the hall change.
Supporting Students in Crisis: Resident Advisers are trained with helping skills to support students experiencing crisis. Resident Advisers are one of multiple layers of support for students, and they report when students are experiencing crisis to their supervisors. RAs can be asked to follow up with residents and provide additional resources.
Administrative Responsibilities
Resident Advisers are responsible for completing a variety of administrative tasks that require a level of skill in time management, prioritization and multitasking. Administrative responsibilities include: completing on-call reports during each on-call shift, completing weekly reports for supervisors, documenting and logging conversations with residents, managing and responding to emails in a timely manner, and other tasks that support department logistics.
Living Learning Community Resident Advisers
Housing & Food Services is home to 6 Living Learning Communities. Each LLC has Resident Advisers who are specifically chosen to work with that LLC population. LLC RAs complete the same responsibilities and expectations as other Resident Advisers. The difference for LLCs RAs is that their work will focus more on the theme of the LLC and may also involve working with campus partners to support the mission of each LLC. You can learn more about our LLCs by clicking here.
Black Affinity Housing Resident Advisers (New for 2024-2025)
With the goal of building a community to enhance the sense of belonging and affinity to UW for Black students, we are excited to launch our new Black Affinity Housing program in Lander Hall. Resident Advisers in this community will focus on connecting residents to campus resources to promote personal wellness, social connectedness, and academic success centering the Black student experience. You can learn more by clicking here.
Key Skills
Some skills of successful RAs include, but are not limited to
- Active Listening
- Empathy
- Conflict-Management
- Time-Management and Prioritization
- Problem Solving
- Taking Initiative
- Resourcefulness
Compensation
Student Leaders are given in-kind compensation in the form of room, laundry, and a dining plan in exchange for completing the roles and responsibilities stated in the agreement. This role is not considered an employed position by the University.
The RA position is compensated at a rate equal to the cost of their assigned room. RAs are provided a single or double room or a room within an apartment and are not assigned a roommate.
RAs receive a daily dining stipend equivalent to a Level 4 dining plan. RAs also receive dining funds for Autumn Training.
The RA is has their $36 quarterly laundry fee covered.
Interested in Applying to be a Resident Adviser?
The application for the 2024-2025 academic year will be open from November 13, 2023 to Wednesday, January 3, 2024. Click below to learn more about the application process.