They are counselors, mentors, advisers, programmers, friends and
emergency personnel ““ not to mention students.
“They” are the campus housing resident assistants. The
new RAs for the 2003-2004 school year will be selected by Feb. 21,
and those applying are in the latter stages of a long and
competitive application process. “It’s really hard to
stand out because there are so many outstanding applicants,”
said second-year student, RA applicant Wendy Yang. “Before
you go through the process you evaluate yourself and think you can
do it, but you see so many people who seem just as qualified as
you.” Susan Swarts, staffing coordinator for the Office of
Residential Life, said ORL is “looking for people who have
the skills, knowledge and the ability to do the job, who have an
understanding of diversity and community standards.” As RAs,
students are given free housing in compensation for their part-time
responsibilities. These include weekly shifts where they have to
stay in their rooms between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and patrolling for
those who work in complexes like the Saxon Suites. Despite the
number of responsibilities RAs have, many students continue to vie
for the position ““ ORL received more than 300 applications
this year. Given so many applicants, who will ORL choose? ORL looks
at residence hall involvement and prior employment when sorting
through applications, but does not necessarily favor those with
such experience. “Students who have had previous ORL
experience will probably be more prepared for the interview,”
Swarts said. “Having it won’t hurt, but it also
won’t guarantee that you’ll get a position.”
Meeting qualifications Second-year student applicants must have
third-year student status as of the beginning of the next academic
year in order to apply. Currently, first-year student applicants
must obtain a statement of support from their resident director or
area director to become an RA as a second-year student. Some
students have said they are more comfortable with third- or
fourth-year RAs, because they seem more knowledgeable about
academic and residential matters. “Second-year applicants
aren’t usually ready because (being an RA) is a big
responsibility,” said De Neve RA Stephanie Zee, a fourth-year
student. Others said grade level does not necessarily impact a
student’s ability to be a qualified RA. Second-year
mechanical engineering student Ken Yeh and second-year
psychobiology student Bing Chen, who both have second year RAs,
said it doesn’t matter what year in school RAs are. RAs just
have to certain attributes ““ maturity, flexibility, knowing
when to be serious and when to have fun, the students agreed.
Additionally, prohibiting second-year students from applying means
there will be more students living more than two years on the Hill,
which already suffers from overcrowding. But for interested
second-year students, there will still be other ORL positions open,
such as program assistant, resident computer assistant and OCHC
commissioner. “Applying for an RA position is probably the
most competitive and is very difficult because of the time
commitment,” Swarts said. “We want people to get the
point that RAs aren’t the only thing, that other options are
available … These positions will provide the experiences that
will help if they become RAs,” Swarts added. RA training
begins two weeks before the school year starts, during which time
trainees learn about housing policies, undergo emergency training
and duty training, and writing up incident reports.
A dual existence Managing time schedules to fit academics,
extracurricular activities and RA responsibilities can be a
struggle for many students. “You really have to know how to
juggle your schedule … a lot of second-year RAs are really
surprised by how much work it is,” Zee said. Kyle Hanano, a
second year RA applicant, said the RA experience is distinct from
the experience gained from being part of a campus group. “In
a club, all the people are interested in the same thing, have the
same goals, and the paths to take are already ordained,” he
said. “As an RA, you don’t know who your residents will
be “¦ and the sheer variety of these people is what makes the
experience that much more valuable.” But Swarts stressed
applicants must realize duties as a student are more important than
their RA work. “We tell the applicants that academics are
first, and that their RA positions will come after that,”
Swarts said. For more information visit www.orl.ucla.edu,
www.housing.ucla.edu.