Earlier this summer, Housing and Residence Life informed all new and returning resident advisors that beginning in the fall semester, they would have the additional responsibility of “on-call” hours from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday nights. Previously during these hours, resident advisors only had dorm coverage responsibilities — which include three rounds around the building — on Friday and Saturday nights. The new “on-call” responsibility does not require resident advisors to perform rounds to check each hall for unsafe situations — it only requires them to remain in the building in case students require their attention.
It is reasonable for HRL to want to strengthen its dorm presence on Thursday nights — which are arguably more chaotic for students than Saturday nights. Though it is within HRL’s legal rights, it is unfair to place an additional responsibility on resident advisors after they took the position without further compensation or without modifying existing responsibilities.
Becoming a resident advisor is a large responsibility that already involves spending many nights in dorms. In exchange for their work, resident advisors receive free housing and a limited meal plan for University dining locations. In another job, additional work hours would result in additional compensation.
Additionally, the selection process to become a resident advisor occurs in the spring. For incoming resident advisors — expecting only Friday and Saturday night coverage — not to learn about this new Thursday night responsibility until after accepting the position is unreasonable, especially because the summer is long after most students determine their housing situation for the upcoming year. Essentially, an incoming resident advisor would have almost no choice but to accept the added Thursday night responsibility, since dropping out of their employment and finding new housing would be unfeasible.
Since Thursday nights generally have a reputation of being crazier than Saturday nights at the University (with Clery Act data showing more crime on Thursdays than Saturdays), a better option for HRL would have been switching coverage nights from Saturday to Thursday, which would involve resident advisors performing Thursday night rounds. This would allow resident advisors to have their Saturday nights off instead of having to commit themselves to an additional responsibility that they did not sign up for when they agreed to take on their positions. In the future, if HRL were to find that there is a significant need for a resident advisor presence on all three of those nights, then it should inform future candidates ahead of the selection process.
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