RA POSITION DESCRIPTION
IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR:
Living Center or Apartment Director in conjunction with Graduate Assistant(s).
COMPENSATION:
You will receive room and board (meal plan). Please note that your employment has the potential to affect your financial aid status and you should discuss this with the financial aid office.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Resident Assistant (RA) is responsible for the development of community in an assigned area of our campus residential community. We ask the RA to foster student leadership through connections with community based and university student organizations. Further, the RA provides co-curricular programming efforts that foster social and academic development. We seek to enhance students’ abilities and skills in the following areas: Diversity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Relationships, Membership, Leadership, and Sustainability. The RA will create programs or partner with university/surrounding community efforts to facilitate student engagement in these areas.
To help ensure the safety of our students, the RA will serve in an on-duty/on-call responsibility in which they will respond to student emergency needs and check the facilities for any possible safety/security issues. This could include confronting students on violations of housing and/or university policy and working with local police and fire response in times of crisis.
The Office of Housing and Residence Life is dedicated to creating strong partnerships with other offices on campus. To that end, it will be essential for the RA to gain a strong understanding of all of the campus resources available to students at GVSU and make referrals as appropriate. Many of our campus partners seek to create programs in our communities, and the RA will aide with the coordination of these events.
To make sure staff are prepared for these duties, the RA will participate in training that begins about two and a half weeks before classes begin in August, four or five days before classes begin in January, throughout the semester as part of an on-going training series, and weekly with your fellow staff members. Active engagement and participation in these sessions will help to ensure the RA is prepared to be an asset to their assigned community.
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
The successful RA candidate will have completed at least one year at a college or university by the time they begin the position. Further, new and returning staff members must have at least a 2.75 GPA and maintain a 2.75 GPA throughout employment (these requirements are for both semester and cumulative GPA). The RA must also serve as a strong role model with the ability to maintain confidentiality. Staff must apply for housing by January 7, 2013.
Page last modified January 8, 2013
