New Residential Life student staffing model
Binghamton University Residential Life will transition to a new expanded student staffing model beginning in the fall of 2023.
The support services offered and expected in residential life programs have continuously expanded, and the expectations placed on residential assistants (RAs) have compounded over the decades in reflection of this growth.
“In years of exit interviews, we’ve consistently heard from our student staff that the scope of the RA position has become unmanageable,” said Paola Mignone, assistant vice president for residential experiences and auxiliaries. “RAs are expected to build community, plan and market events, mediate roommate disputes, monitor for health and safety concerns, report maintenance issues, counsel their peers, develop traditions and more. Any time a residential student has a problem of any variety, they go to their RA first.”
The RA role as developed in the 1960s is not well-adapted to supporting all of the current initiatives aimed at ensuring student success and well-being. Neither are the current expectations a reasonable amount of responsibility to place on an undergraduate student. As a result, residential life program leaders across the country are engaging in an ongoing national conversation centered on developing new models for involving student staff in residence halls.
After reviewing data about demand for services, reviewing feedback from student and professional staff, and speaking with peers across campus (the Financial Aid Office; Dean of Students CARE Team; Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development; Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and many others), Director of Residential Life Casey Wall and her team have developed a student staffing model that will add 300 new paid student jobs in addition to reimagining the roles of the current 200 RAs. The new positions will directly support students in the residential communities. Wall expects this framework will more readily allow for future adjustments and improvements based on student and staff feedback and — most importantly — evolving student needs.