Many students have applied for a position as a resident advisor (RA), and after a lengthy vetting process the best qualified candidates will hear back shortly before housing assignments are made for next year. Those who are accepted must weigh the costs and benefits of becoming an RA, a difficult task involving a murky mix of facing exhaustion, distractions and tough situations on your floor and in your personal life as an upperclassman. One must figure out what really is the worth of the remuneration offered for these challenges, whether it be in financial terms, through resume building or in measurable personal growth.

So, lets break down the benefits and expectations in terms of cold hard cash first.

The major perk of becoming an RA is full academic year room and board, which sounds like a sweet deal. Depending on where you are assigned, you can have from $12,920 (the charge for Featherman) to $15,690 (The charge for Sokokis, East or West) of your living costs for the year covered. You also receive a free parking permit if you bring a car (valued at $300) and a phone for local calls (valued at a little less than $10 a month.) So, on average, $14,692 worth of your living costs are covered. It’s important to remember that this does not include gas for trips off campus, or off campus food, entertainment or clothes, things which are necessary for most happy and well-adjusted students to thrive, as you do not receive a stipend for this work. Nor does it cover wear and repair on your vehicle. So in all likelihood, you’ll need to keep your work study or off campus employment- though you are limited to a maximum of 20 hours of outside commitments including work and extracurricular activities. It is not clear whether Housing means 20 hours a week, a month, a semester, or a year in the 2016 job description, however 20 hours a week seems like a safe assumption.

Well $14,692 may seem like a lot of money, it may not be a fair amount when one is hired to be responsible for 30 weeks minimum, nearly 24/7, for the emotional and physical well-being of 52 people (52 if you RA for a Champlain floor, less if you are placed in a freshman dorm and more if you are placed in Sokokis.) RAs are not compensated with overtime for holidays, weekends and special events that they are required to work, so the financial reward really starts to pale. RA’s are expected to “spend as much time as possible in residence halls” and when you factor in the 45 hours a week minimum one must be out in order to complete homework or go to class, attend their extracurricular activities or go to work, that leaves 123 hours a week where one is expected to be available to their floor. After calculating how much an RA earns a week by dividing room and board by 30 weeks ($493/wk), and dividing that sum by 123 hours, I found an RA earns an average of $4 an hour if they do their job to the letter of the description, less than a server at many local establishments, and without the benefit of tips. They are responsible not only for just being there, but for taking shifts where they are “on-duty” which means nights working until midnight or one in the morning checking the safety and security of the hall (one is technically on duty all the time as a role model and as part of safety personnel,) planning floor meetings and events, attending to administrative tasks, going to many meetings, putting up bulletin boards, regularly interacting with all of the residents of their floor, responding to emergencies and incidents- the list goes on. So, considering financial and emotional factors, you may find it more economical and much easier to simply live off-campus.

The position can boost your resume. As an RA you develop skills like event planning, leadership and conflict management which you can demonstrate for future employers. You also get to enjoy a position that many find fulfilling, helping students in their journey through school. It can however limit your ability to develop an impressive resume, because you are required to consider the position as your top priority second only to your academics. You may be asked to refrain from taking on a job, an internship, or may find you need to drop a particularly rigorous class in order to preserve your sanity. These things may hold you back in the job market or at school, even though working as an RA is impressive to many employers and internship sites.

Then there’s the personal growth and emotional costs factor, which is much harder to ascribe value to. To better understand this, I spoke with an RA (who prefers to remain anonymous.) She share that she finds her job pretty satisfying, because she gets to help people. She signed up “because I wanted to create that sense of community for my floor, my residents…I strive to be involved in my residents’ lives and I want to make them feel comfortable and excited about school.” The challenges though are numerous. She cites the “nuances of the job” like paperwork, reports and meetings which get in the way of sleep and academics, and the difficulty of making connections with peers on campus. It is hard to retain a relationship because “your significant other doesn’t really understand what you do, and there are certain things you can’t tell them.” Friendships are difficult because people don’t often go by the RA’s room to visit, and as a community member you are held to a higher standard: “being an RA is like being an official, you’re no longer viewed as a student. Everything you do is amplified and can be distorted, anything you say can be distorted…your friends will talk to you differently cause you’re an RA and they don’t want to get in trouble.” She is very grateful for the experiences she’s had and the lives and days she believes she has changed for her students, but would reconsider being an RA her senior year due to the stress.

RA applications were due Feb. 4^th. Peer review begins on Feb. 28th and all accepted candidates are to hear back before housing selection.