Family Resident Assistant Job Description

I. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The RA should facilitate the development of strong communities and responsible and involved community members. The successful RA will effectively and intentionally incorporate these concepts into their interactions with residents:

• Interact with each resident on a regular basis focusing conversations related to the guiding principles
• Conduct New Resident Orientation Meetings together with the other RAs and the area supervisor throughout the year, as determined by supervisor
• Build and maintain a relationship of trust with individual residents. Maintain objectivity, neutrality and confidentiality.
• Be mindful of residents’ special circumstances (i.e., health concerns, peak stress times, emotional difficulties, academic problems, etc.)
• Be familiar with campus and community resources and make referrals as appropriate
• Encourage resident involvement and interactions within the community
• Promote community development through initiatives and events, policy enforcement and involvement
• Actively support the Aggies Think, Care, Act initiative
• Actively support the efforts of RHA and Leadership Council in programming and advocacy efforts

II. INITIATIVES AND EVENTS

Initiatives and events are an important tool for developing a strong community and providing involvement opportunities for residents. Our model focuses on the Guiding Principles of Residence Life which include personal growth, healthy lifestyles, social responsibility and academic support. RAs are required to coordinate all aspects of initiatives and events including the following:

• Submit an initiative proposal form to the supervisor at least one week in advance of the initiative
• Involve residents in the planning and execution of initiatives and events
• Design initiatives and events intentionally to meet the needs of the community based on assessment and initiative requirements
  • Initiatives and events should focus on the development of student families, and the skills and information needed to be successful as a family.
  • Identify learning outcomes for initiatives that align with guiding principles
• Create appropriate, effective advertising for initiatives and events and include Residence Life and Aggies Think, Care, Act logo as applicable
• Manage initiatives and events budget
• Coordinate with other groups who also organize initiatives and events in the community, specifically the RHA Leadership Council
• Support RHA, other campus offices and appropriate student organizations
• Complete an initiative report within 48 hours after the initiative

III. POLICY ENFORCEMENT

Policy enforcement is an important and powerful tool for developing a strong and safe community and influencing responsible citizenship within our community. RAs should focus on safety and education as they go about enforcing policies as outlined below:

• Read and understand the Rules and Policies document as well as the Housing Contract
• Educate residents about policies and provide clarification as needed
• Address all policy violations – be proactive in responding to hearsay violation reports
• Submit incident reports and any other relevant documentation within 24 hours of addressing a policy violation
• Maintain objectivity and strict confidentiality regarding resident conduct issues
• Follow-up as needed or as instructed by supervisor(s)

IV. APARTMENT/SECURE SPACES ACCESS

RAs are given access to secure locations in their area of responsibility, including access to master keys which provide resident apartment access. Responsible use and proper protection of master keys is of the highest priority and all policies and guidelines for entry into apartments and key use must always be followed:

• Master keys must be always kept secure.
• RAs may never access an apartment for any person who is not the resident of the apartment or on the lockout card. This includes relatives or significant others.
• Master keys may never be lent to another person, with the exception of fellow staff members in an emergency.
• The misuse of access privileges may result in immediate termination of employment. This can include but is not limited to leaving keys or access devices unattended in a public area, violating any of the policies stated above, losing the keys, or allowing them to be stolen.
• Providing access to secure areas or apartments to themselves or others without supervisor’s permission is an abuse of position and can result in disciplinary action, including termination.
• Lost Keys must be reported to the Community Coordinator immediately.
• Approval to enter an apartment without prior notice must be obtained from the supervisor, or the ProStaff on-call if after hours unless there is a perceived life-safety concern or possible ongoing damage to the facility if entry is delayed

V. AVAILABILITY

The RA position is considered a part-time student position that requires 20 hours per week. Some weeks may require more time, and others may require less time. RAs must be available several times throughout the year to participate in mandatory training sessions and on a weekly basis to attend regular staff meetings. They must also be readily available to their residents on a day-to-day basis. General availability expectations include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Be visible, available and approachable to residents; This means being in one’s apartment on a daily and regular basis
• Schedule and post 15 hours of availability per week for residents to see. Submit a copy of the schedule to supervisor
• Visiting eight apartments each week, with a goal of visiting each apartment at least once per semester, to engage with and support residents
• Attend all required and scheduled staff meetings, training sessions, retreats and in-services
• Work office shifts and cover on-call duties as scheduled, including weekdays and weekends. Be available in the community at least two weekends per month, and other times as requested or scheduled
  • Residence Life Staff are essential employees and as such are sometimes scheduled to work during published University Holidays.
• Notify supervisor when gone overnight
• Residence Life must be considered the principal employer. Second jobs, odd jobs or part-time work are permissible only so long as they do not interfere with time, availability, and completion of the RA job requirements
• The University requires employees in part-time positions at the University to work less than an average of 29 hours or less/week total across all University positions in order to meet Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements (Exceptions must be approved by the Executive Director of Residence Life.)

VI. ADMINSTRATIVE DUTIES

The RA position includes several administrative duties associated with communication and documentation and are a critical part of the position. They include, but are not limited to the following:

• Submit hours worked on Aggietime weekly
• Weekly logs
• Apartment visit tracking
• Initiative proposal forms
• Initiative reports
• Incident reports
• Office coverage, rounds and on-call shifts
• Assigned extra area of responsibility
• Conduct safety and cleaning inspections annually
• Update printed posting in area regularly
• Weekly walkthrough of community, paying specific attention to possible issues on porches/patios
• Other duties as assigned

VII. FACILITY & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Facility assessment is an important role that the RA must fulfill to keep maintenance and damages to a minimum. Additionally, RAs will be expected to play a strong leadership role in training and responding to resident needs in emergency situations. Expectations of this role are as follows:

• Know and disseminate fire safety information and enforce regulations.
• Establish positive working relationships with USU Police and Fire Marshals, other campus personnel and departments, in particular Housing maintenance, grounds, custodial crews and administrative staff
• Report, document and follow-up on safety violations, safety/security issues, building damage and maintenance problems
• During emergency or crisis events, as declared by the department leadership, all Residence Life staff may be activated and required to report to work for extended periods of time and may be assigned to work in capacities outside of their normal duties and area

VIII. POSSIBLE REASONS FOR TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

An RA may be terminated for the following reasons:

• Inability or failure to perform job responsibilities
• Violation of Housing Services and Residence Life Policies and /or the Student Code of Conduct
• Violation of University policy
• Misuse of Housing supplies, equipment or facilities
• Misuse of Housing issued access to secure areas and master keys
• Violation of student or staff confidence which impedes one’s ability to perform these stated job responsibilities or impedes other staff members’ ability to do the same
• Violation of local, state or federal law
• Personal conduct resulting in an inability to maintain the trust and rapport of the students and staff needed to satisfactorily accomplish these stated job responsibilities
• Failure to maintain academic grade requirements

IX. QUALIFICATIONS

• Full-time USU Student Status
  • All RA candidates and current RAs or their spouses must be a full-time student enrolled at Utah State University.
    • Full-time status is defined as 12 undergraduate credit hours per semester or 6 graduate credit hours per semester
• Student in Good Standing with University
  • RA candidates and current RAs must maintain a 2.0 GPA. Two consecutive semesters of a GPA below 2.0 will affect continued employability or rehire status.
• RAs must qualify to live in Family Housing
  • Be Married
  • Be single and have children
  • Be married and have children
• If married, both spouses may become RAs together and the compensation for the position will be split between the couple
• If both spouses are hired both MUST attend all required training and staff meetings