Resident Staff recently changed its resident advisor application process in hopes of increasing efficiency.
These changes include digitizing the application process, eliminating the test formerly required of all applicants and broadening recruitment efforts, Program Coordinator for Selections Matt Mooney said, adding that the new process will affect students applying to be an RA for the upcoming academic year.
The elimination of the preliminary test is probably the most noticeable change, Mooney said.
"It's one of those things that has sort of followed the Residential Staff for years," he said, noting that other organizations on Grounds have comparable tests. "It's something that we were kind of known for."
The test - a multiple choice exam intended to assess applicants' knowledge of the RA position, resources and general University information - was used "as a tool to help us parse down the applicant pool," Mooney said.
About 400 to 500 students typically apply for positions each year, causing some to express concerns about whether each individual would have an opportunity to be interviewed. The test allowed student evaluators to limit the pool by only interviewing applicants who scored above a certain threshold.
At the beginning of the year, Resident Staff analyzed the effectiveness of the test, and then decided to eliminate it for future applicants.
"We came to the conclusion that it wasn't the most effective tool at seeing who is really qualified to be an RA and who's not," Mooney said.
Most of the information on the test was taught during RA training or was easily available on the Internet, he said, "so essentially you were having people memorize stuff they would ultimately forget."
Second-year College student Cypress Walker, an alternate RA who applied last year through Resident Staff's old system and will not be required to reapply next year, agreed with Mooney.
"I think the most important thing with that position is your willingness to learn that material," she said. "Being a human answer book is not the most essential quality to being an RA. Being willing to learn on the job and to help your residents in whatever way you can is."
Mooney said Resident Staff will now only use interviews to evaluate the qualifications and potential contributions of each applicant, though evaluators will continue to exclude applicants on the basis of low grade point averages or outstanding disciplinary issues.
"I don't think it's changing the process fundamentally," he said. "We're still trying to hire the best candidates for the program in the most effective, efficient way."
Digitizing the applications, another significant change to make the process more efficient, is expected to save about 2,000 pieces of paper and automatically places information from applications into a spreadsheet, making data input easier.
Additionally, Resident Staff members are trying to reach out to different groups on Grounds on a personal level to publicize the application process for the upcoming academic year, Mooney said.
"Ideally now we are sort of trying to build these relationships earlier on and more effectively so that people understand what our program stands for, what we're trying to do and that way they can help us," he said.
Second-year College student Vineela Ayyagari, who is applying to be an RA, said she thought the changes improved the process overall. She noted, though, that the old system would not have discouraged her from applying to the program.
"I really want to be an RA," she said, "so it wouldn't have really mattered if there was a test or wasn't a test."
First-year College Student Krista O'Connell agreed that she would have applied to be an RA regardless of the test, but added that "not having to worry about passing a test definitely makes it easier to apply and helps me to be able to focus on other parts of the application."
Resident Staff plans to accommodate the anticipated increase in interviews by changing the number of evaluators from teams of six to seven people to teams of three to five, Mooney said. The process will still include both an individual and a group interview, and the Office of the Dean of Students and the University Housing Division will continue to extend the actual employment offers, he added.
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