RA - RD Roles
Residence Life is composed of both professional staff and student staff who are committed to serving students who live on-campus. The Director of Residence Life and Housing reports to the Vice President of Student Development and oversees Resident Directors, and Resident Directors oversee Resident Assistants. All of the Residence Life staff is present to enrich students’ learning and experience outside of the classroom and to ensure students’ safety.
What is an RA?
A Resident Assistant (RA) is a student Residence Life staff member. Each living area’s RA staff varies in size, with the smallest staff having two RAs and the largest staff having nine. Resident Assistants report to the Resident Director. RAs oversee the residents living on a specific floor or section of the living area, approximately 30-50 students. They exist to build relationships with the residents and foster community through one-on-one conversations, weekly events, educational programming for their floor/section or the whole living area, and assisting other RAs in campus-wide programming. The resident assistant assists the resident director in creating and maintaining a “living-learning” environment in the residence hall, apartment, or house thereby allowing for opportunities of academic study and growth, establishing community on the floor and in the residence hall, providing an environment that encourages personal development and growth and helping foster positive interaction among residents.
What is an RD?
A Resident Director (RD) is a professional, full-time Residence Life staff member. Each living area has one RD who lives in that living area for a total of seven RDs. Resident Directors report to the Director of Residence Life and Housing. RDs supervise Resident Assistants (RAs), a student Desk Manager (DM), and a student staff of Desk Attendants (DAs). A Resident Director is responsible for developing and maintaining a healthy and positive community that addresses the academic, emotional, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual facets of the students in his/her residence hall. An RD strives to foster a sense of community through the intentional development of appropriate mentoring relationships with residents; through the initiation, direction, implementation, and evaluation of hall programs and operations; and through the supervision of Resident Assistants and staff members. The Resident Director position is a 10-month, live-in position.
How to Contact an RA?
In each living area, Resident Assistants are “On Duty” from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night. During this time period, RAs are present in the living area and carry a pager. In the case of an emergency, an issue concerning safety, or a lockout, you may contact an RA for assistance in one of two ways.
You may page the RA by calling 773-649-extension as listed for the respective living areas. After you dial the number, you will be prompted to dial a number where you may be reached. The best number to dial would be an on-campus extension, but if that is not possible, a cell-phone number may be inserted. The RA will then call you at that number soon after you page him/her.
Anderson Hall RA Pager: 773-649-2950
Apartments/Houses RA Pager: 773-649-2955
Burgh Hall RA Pager: 773-649-2951
Ohlson House RA Pager: 773-649-2953
Park North RA Pager: 773-649-2956
Sawyer Court RA Pager: 773-649-2493
Sohlberg Hall RA Pager: 773-649-2954
The second way to reach the RA On Duty would be to go to the living area’s front desk, if applicable, and ask the desk attendant to page the RA On Duty.
Once an RA is paged, if the RA sees need for further assistance, he/she will page the RD On Duty, and he/she will respond to the situation at hand.
* In the case of an emergency, an issue concerning safety, or a lockout, and you need assistance, please look for an RA in your living area or go to the front desk and ask the desk attendant to try and contact someone for you.
* If you go to the hospital yourself or take someone else to the hospital, please let your RA know so that he/she is aware and may help you in any way if needed.
