RA

Position Overview

Resident Assistants are paraprofessionals who live and work in the residence halls. They work with Residence Coordinators/Hall Directors/Assistant Coordinators and other staff in University Housing to develop programs and provide services for students. Each Resident Assistant assumes responsibility for approximately fifty students. The Resident Assistant usually lives on the same floor with those residents assigned to him/her. Resident Assistants are carefully selected for their academic proficiency, involvement in extracurricular activities, concern for the welfare of fellow students and maturity to cope with the demands of their role. Furthermore, they are trained to be sensitive to the academic, emotional, and social problems of college students, particularly those involved with the normal adjustments to residence hall living.

RA Selection for 2014 – 2015 will kick off in November 2013.

Qualifications

• A cumulative FSU grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 at time of application and employment (transfer students may not use the GPA from their former institution)
• Maintain a 2.75 cumulative GPA throughout the period of employment as a Resident Assistant and at least a 2.75 semester GPA each semester employed as a Resident Assistant.

• Must attend ONE of the RA Information Sessions (if you do not attend your application will be removed from the process).
  • RA Information Sessions will be held in the Student Services Building, room 203.  Information Sessions start promptly at the time listed below.  If you are not there when we start we will ask you to attend another session.
    • Monday, November 5, 2012 at 7:00pm
    • Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 8:30pm
    • Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 5:30pm
    • Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 2:00pm
    • Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 7:30pm
• Any two semesters of residence hall experience (including current semester and summer) at FSU.
• Must not be under criminal or conduct sanctions at the time of employment.
• Successful Background Check

Important Information

• Applicants will be able to apply starting November 5, 2012 until January 14, 2013 at 5:00pm.
• A complete application includes:  meeting all of the qualifications from above, a complete submitted (electronic) application received by 5:00pm on January 14, 2013, a reference form completed by someone who can speak to your work performance turned into the Housing Office by 5:00pm on January 14, 2013, and a completed Police Background Check Request form.
• Applicants for the Resident Assistant position are expected to participate in a group selection process on the weekend of January 25 – 27, 2013. This process will occur over the entire weekend and applicants are expected to participate in all aspects of the process.

Duties

• To know every resident within his/her assigned area.
• To provide residents assigned to him/her with the opportunity for educational and social interactions through hall program offerings.
• To maintain a working relationship with the respective floor representative(s), hall government officers, and other special interest groups.
• To act as a liaison between residents, University Housing, and other university agencies.
• To be thoroughly familiar with all university and residence hall regulations and to be responsible for their enforcement. As official university staff members, Resident Assistants assume responsibility for maintaining a level of expectation consistent with the educational philosophies of the university.
• To assist Housing Maintenance by reporting needed repairs or other concerns in the assigned area to the Hall Manager.
• To be on duty in the residence hall during evening hours on weekdays and on weekends on a rotating basis. Supervisors assume final responsibility for arranging individual hall schedules and setting guidelines for specific halls. Staff will also be required to work during Thanksgiving break as assigned.
• To prepare reports and materials designated by the Residence Coordinator/Hall Director/Assistant Coordinator.
• To reside full-time in an assigned room in a residence hall. Resident Assistants are informed of exact dates of hall openings and closings at the time of employment.
• To attend centralized and in-hall Resident Assistant staff/development meetings, and other meetings, and to participate in staff recruitment processes as deemed necessary by the supervisor and University Housing staff.
• To be responsible to the respective Residence Coordinator/Hall Director/Assistant Coordinator for the performance of the above named duties as well as any additional duties assigned.

Compensation

Resident Assistants are contracted by a Reasonable Agreement to work forty hours bi-weekly, except during specified periods. Resident Assistants start at $8.04. Resident Assistants will receive a 50% discount on the rate of their room, as well as $300 in dining credit per semester.

Resident Assistants may petition their supervisor(s) for approval to work up to 10 hours a week between the hours of 7 AM and 8 PM in positions outside of Housing that do not require them to be on-call. Resident Assistants are encouraged to seek employment opportunities on campus or those that do not require significant commuting distances from campus. Additional employment requests, including the hours, location, and nature of employment, must be submitted in writing to the Resident Assistant's immediate supervisor for review. Supervisors must grant the Resident Assistant permission to work in addition to their Resident Assistant responsibilities before the Resident Assistant makes a commitment to another employment opportunity. Employment expectations of the Resident Assistant, including staff meetings, training, hall opening, hall closing, selection, Housing functions, and other Resident Assistant events, take priority over outside employment. If a Resident Assistant's academic or work performance fails to meet expectations, permission to work in addition to the Resident Assistant position may be withdrawn.

Training

All Resident Assistants are required to participate in all scheduled trainings. Intensive training will take place prior to the opening of residence halls in the Fall and Spring semesters.  During the spring semester, there will be a training session that will take place sometime in April (this date will be in hire letter).

Occupancy

All Resident Assistants are expected to take possession of their assigned rooms on the day designated for the beginning of the training program and must be physically present as of that date. Resident Assistants must pay room rates as billed by the Housing Office. All charges must be paid by the deadline date for all students.

ADA Compliance

These application materials are available in alternative format upon request. Should you require reasonable accommodations in order to participate in Resident Assistant selection activities, please contact University Housing at 850-644-2860 as soon as possible.

APPLICATION DIRECTIONS

Before starting the application please know the following:

• If you did not attend a RA Information Session your application will be removed and you will not be able to attend RA Selection Weekend. 
• You will need to know what your FSUSN is.  This is not your FSU card number or FSU ID.  Please go to http://registrar.fsu.edu/services/fsusn/apdefault.htm to find out what your number is.
• You will have to complete the application and essays in FULL to submit a completed application. Once you leave the page you cannot log back in to your application.
• You will be timed out if you keep the window open to long.
• Please do not use Internet Explorer.
• Click Submit at the end of the application.  You will see a confirmation once you are done.
• You will have to sign-in to the application process.  You need to make sure account name and password is checked off, you are NOT a guest.  The username and password are both raapplication (all lower case).

If you have any questions or problems please contact Alan Acosta, Assistant Director, Residence Life at 850-644-2863 or RA@admin.fsu.edu.

You are now ready to fill out the application.