While all resident assistant positions in Ohio University residence halls continue to be filled, the number of students applying for the job has decreased.
Every year, OU's Department of Residence Life must fill about 275 resident assistant positions, usually with an overflow pool of about 30 students. This quarter, however, there are no students in the overflow pool looking to be placed, said Barbara Harrison, the department's associate director.
Anytime we see this
we try to beef up recruitment she said.
To solve the problem this quarter, residence life has hired students who have not fully completed the required college student personnel courses offered through the College of Education, Harrison said.
Hiring students still in the courses, however, is not new this year, said Heather Allebach, resident director of Atkinson House and course instructor.
We have had that (hiring students in the course) happen in the past she said, adding that it has happened more frequently this year.
This practice often occurs when a vacancy for a male resident assistant needs to be filled, Allebach said, adding that if the student fails the course while acting as a resident assistant, they must resign.
When the student acts as a resident assistant and is taking the course, the situation can become stressful, Harrison said.
They have serious on-the-job training
she said, adding that the responsibility associated with the job might be a deterrent to potential applicants.
It's very difficult for students to take a position (that requires them) to hold peers responsible
she said.
Students' busy lives might be another reason for the decrease in applicants, said Judy Piercy, assistant vice president and interim director of the Department of Residence Life.
A 2005 study in the Journal of College and University Student Housing titled Resident Assistant Burnout found that because of the 24-hour-a-day, weeklong commitment, many resident assistants make education and studies secondary and can become stressed, particularly with GPA requirements.
At OU, a resident assistant must schedule 15 credit hours a quarter and maintain a 2.25 accumulative GPA and 2.0 term GPA, according to the residence life Web site, www.ohio.edu/reslife/.
The study also found that resident assistants who are not properly trained can become overly involved with their students and emotionally exhausted.
Like any OU employee, resident assistants must be willing to be flexible, Harrison said.
Residence life is working with OU's Facilities and Auxiliaries to create more benefits for students who become resident assistants, Piercy said.
Our benefits are not as high as some other institutes in the state
Piercy said. We're always looking at that issue.
Among the proposed benefits is a greater discount off the cost of a room, Harrison said, adding that resident assistants receive a 50-percent room discount and have priority parking.
In addition to the discount, resident assistants are paid a salary of $713 a quarter, according to the residence life Web site.
But because the department does not control its funding, Harrison said she does not know when any action will be taken on the proposal.
Budget crunches, including a projected $9.3 million deficit in the 2007 fiscal year, according to a Jan. 12 Post article, mean that residence life must work with the entire university, she said.
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Bethany Furkin
