Wayne State College resident assistants are a key component to how dorm life functions.
Each dorm building has at least one RA per floor, and some have two. The role of these resident assistants is not only to monitor each floor for safety purposes, but also to provide residents with new experiences. One way RAs can do this is through their monthly socials.
Students are encouraged to attend socials that can provide both education as well as fun. Reagan Fries, an RA in Pile Hall, held her social on Tuesday, February 18.
Fries discussed and handed out fliers outlining red and green flags to look for in a partner while students were allowed to make pennant flags out of felt. Most students opted to decorate the flags with their name or their partners’ name to give as a gift, but there were no limitations on a students’ creativity. These socials provide an opportunity for students to get to know more people, typically ones with whom they share a dorm building.
“February is teen dating violence awareness month,” Fries said. “I chose this activity because it was a fun way to incorporate talking about red and green flags in partners and also have a fun time making pennant flags for people to put up in their rooms.”
Beyond hosting social events, part of being an RA includes decorating bulletin boards throughout the dorms and creating door decorations for students. Towards the beginning of the year, these bulletin boards typically state who your RA is and a few fun facts about them.
“Bulletin boards can help students feel more connected to their RA so they feel more comfortable coming to them with a potential issue,” Fries said.
These bulletin boards are changed monthly and usually showcase pertinent information. During holidays where students have to leave the dorms, bulletin boards outline what students need to accomplish before going home for break.
In addition to monthly duties, RAs also have weekly obligations. RAs are required to have four desk hours throughout the week. These hours allow RAs to not only monitor visitors but also form connections with those in their building.
Before students can become RAs, they have to go through the interview process. Students are eligible to be RAs after living on campus for two semesters and maintaining a 2.5 GPA. Students fill out physical applications. In addition, they need a reference from a current RA and a professional one.
If these students are selected to continue the process, they go through two sets of interviews. One of the interviews is individually and the other is a group interview to see how well the applicant works with others.
After these two interviews are complete, the residence life office chooses who will be RAs for the coming year, and they also pick a certain number of RA alternates.
