When a resident is locked out of their dorm, they go to their resident advisor for help. When they have roommate issues, they go to their RA. When there is any little issue in the dorm, they go to them again for help. RAs are important student staff workers, but are also the most underappreciated and overworked employees in housing.
Ohio University's definition of an RA is a “student leader who oversees a specific floor section in a residence hall.” We are meant to build community and serve as mentors for new and returning students at the university. Additionally, this is arguably the most competitive position at most universities.
When people are going away to college, a lot of their concerns can relate to the cost of tuition and supplies. The price of college adds up very quickly, and to combat that cost, a lot of people choose to become resident advisors in their second year.
For the 2025-26 school year, on-campus housing at OU costs between $4,088-$6,268 depending on your style of dorm, and is only going up each year. For the 2020-21 school year, the cost was between $3,410-$5,489 depending on whether you were in a multi-occupancy dorm or a super single.
While it’s expensive, the cost is billed towards tuition and not paid monthly, making it an appealing option for many. At many universities, including here, part of the compensation for being an RA is free housing. Every school is different; some schools only provide free housing, while others pay the student staff as well.
As an RA, you work where you live, making work and life separation almost impossible. At the end of the day, everyone just wants to sit in their room and relax, maybe watch TV or sleep. Imagine you are trying to relax, and someone is knocking on your door because they got locked out or are having roommate issues. While that is something people know when signing up for the job, it is exhausting having so many people relying on you while balancing homework and a social life.
Not to mention, residents can get in contact with their RA throughout the day, while someone is in class or hanging out with friends. So even when you’re away from the job, you really aren’t away from the job. Setting boundaries between residents and the student staff is basically impossible. Every time an RA is outside the building, you can run into a resident or be messaged by them, who are, of course, expecting a response.
An RA is always on the job, otherwise known as the fishbowl syndrome. Always being watched and seen as a representation of housing, making leisure time and the ability to be a college student without expectations difficult.
In addition to that, RAs act as first responders to incidents in the residence halls. We receive little training, yet are trusted to support residents in times of crisis and are expected to have a near-perfect response to a situation. If not, their housing and income may be at risk.
Not to mention, RAs are the first people to be ridiculed in the housing system. Someone is always complaining about a “strict RA,” when in reality, we are just enforcing the policy housing sets. If RAs don’t enforce university policies and get caught letting things fly, they could lose their housing and job. Residents also choose to blame the RAs, sometimes retaliating and saying hurtful things to them, who are also fellow students. The RA is expected to not retaliate in these situations, and housing executives do nothing to help the situation.
The executives are too focused on building and renovating new dorms for students. Surprisingly, they aren’t seeing that OU keeps admitting record-breaking numbers of students and needs more housing for said students. Additionally, they don’t listen to their student staff when it is time for feedback. Instead, they push themes for the year that nobody realistically cares about and frankly have no impact on housing in general.
RAs are expected to be perfect students and examples to residents, some of whom are the same age as the RA. The housing system would fall apart without RAs in the building. From long hours to no work/life balance to the expectations without recognition, RAs are taken advantage of in the world of housing, and something needs to change.
The Pest is a satirical column and does not reflect the views of The Post.
