Resident Assistant

For additional questions, please review these Frequently Asked Questions. If you have additional questions after reviewing this website and the FAQs, please email ResLifeSelection@ucf.edu

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Interested in joining one of UCF’s most prominent and recognizable student leadership jobs? Serving as a member of the Housing and Residence Life staff team might be an excellent opportunity for you. By browsing this page, you’ll learn more about the Resident Assistant (RA) position, as well as how to become an eligible candidate during this year’s RA selection processes.

The RA position is a live-in position, whereupon, you are responsible for facilitating a positive community among residents, promoting a safe and comfortable living environment, and serving as a departmental and university representative and role model, all while living in a department assigned unit within a DHRL community. This position description and agreement serves as an overview of the DHRL expectations of your RA position with additional community specific expectations provided by your supervisor.

The application is currently open! Apply by October 1st, 2021.

The document provides an overview of the RA position, including responsibilities, qualifications, terms of employment, compensation, and important dates for the upcoming year.

Resident Assistant Overview: The RA position is a live-in position, whereupon, you are responsible for facilitating a positive community among residents, promoting a safe and comfortable living environment, and serving as a departmental and university representative and role model, all while living in a department assigned unit within a DHRL community. This document serves as an overview of the DHRL expectations of the RA position with additional community specific expectations provided by supervisors upon hire.

Residential Curriculum: As a part of living on campus, residents will become active, engaged and productive global citizens. To help get them there, residence life staff work throughout the year to follow a learning plan- a residential curriculum- focused on three pillars: Community Engagement, Self-Awareness, and Equity and Inclusion. At the core of the Residential Curriculum will be the development of individual relationships with each student on your floor/building. The Residential Curriculum will be covered during student staff trainings. RAs implement and assist with the assessment of the residential curriculum for their community. Some strategies include:

• Conversations: Intentional interactions with each resident regarding the four strategies of the residential curriculum.
• Floor/Community Meetings: Small group or floor gatherings where the RA will facilitate a conversation and some activities for their students.
• Passive activities (includes flyers, posters, bulletin boards): Providing resources directly to your students.
• Campus partnership referrals:  Promote and encourage attendance at events sponsored by various departments.

Community Development: RAs are responsible for building an inclusive community on their floor/building and around their community. Listed below are general community development responsibilities:

• Area Council/RHA: Support and work with Area Councils and the Residence Hall Association. Resident Assistants are encouraged to submit 1 “Of The Month” (OTM) nomination each month. RAs may be asked to participate in RHA and/or National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) initiatives.
• Initiatives/Committees: Staff will be expected to participate in community or department initiatives such as staff recruitment, staff training, partnership programs with others across campus, and department or community specific committees/teams/collateral assignments as directed.
• Mediations: Schedule and facilitate mediations in a timely fashion with residents; document, and refer as instructed by supervisory staff.
• Resource Referrals: Direct residents to appropriate resources and inform supervisors as directed.
• Building relationships with each resident
  • Learn residents’ names and greet them by name to create belonging
  • Engage with residents on a regular basis
  • Invite residents to be involved in social opportunities (i.e. going to eat, studying at the Student Union, visiting the student art gallery)
  • Get involved in what residents are doing (i.e. theatre, sports, music, research, leadership)
  • Be visible and accessible
  • Refer residents to other resources (i.e. faculty, staff, other departments, partners, programs)
  • Encourage involvement and participation in residential student leadership (Area Council and Area Council/RHA programming)

Administrative: RAs are responsible for various administrative tasks throughout the year.  Listed below are the administrative responsibilities RAs will be responsible to complete.

• Incident Report Writing: RAs are expected to submit well written, timely incidents reports as described and instructed by supervisors.
• Inventories: Conduct room inventories prior to move-in, during move-out and throughout the semester for room changes.
• Health and Safety Checks: Conduct inspections each semester as directed by supervisors and based on community need.
• Timesheets: RAs will need to submit bi-weekly timesheets to their supervisor.  Failure to adhere to this can result in a delay in compensation.
• Email: RAs are required to use their provided staff (@ucf.edu) email as their primary means of electronic communication for work-related emails. RAs are required to check their email every business day unless on approved leave.
• Facilities: Report maintenance and/or housekeeping issues and assist residents with reporting facilities issues through the work order system.
• Mailbox: Check their mailbox in their community office daily, unless on approved leave.
• Meetings: All community DHRL staff meeting times will be decided prior to the start of each semester. Class schedules are the only valid reason that will be factored into this regularly scheduled meeting time. RAs are required to attend their weekly staff meeting (2 hours), unless first given permission to be excused from their supervisory staff. RAs are also required to attend regularly scheduled individual 1-on-1 meetings (30 min-1 hr) with supervisory staff.
• Occupancy Checks/Roster Verifications: Assist in verification of resident occupancy checks throughout the semester.

Duty:  Duty includes, but is not limited to, office hours, rounds – internal and external, lockouts, work orders, and incident response. RAs are expected to serve on duty year-round, including University holidays, closures and academic breaks (i.e., spring break). Supervisors will work with staff to equitably distribute duty shifts throughout the year.

• Weekend Duty: RAs are required to work a predetermined number of 24 hour Weekend Duty shifts Friday at 4:45 pm to Saturday at 5:00 pm and Saturday at 4:45 pm to Sunday at 5:00 pm.
• Weeknight Duty: RAs are required to work a predetermined number of Weeknight Duty shifts (Sunday-Thursday), 4:45 pm to 8:00 am “on call” (in room to respond to incidents as needed).
• University and Holiday Closure Duty:  RAs may be required to work during University holidays and closures. RAs will be asked to work during University holidays and closures including but not limited to winter break and inclement weather.

Professionalism and Role Modeling:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs:When working, if an RA is in possession or under the influence of alcohol, drugs, illegal substances, and/or any prescription medication that was not prescribed to them, they will be immediately released from their position and referred to the Office of Student Conduct/UCF Police Department.
• Confidentiality: RAs must keep all personal information about residents, and other sensitive information private. RAs should not share information about residents or incidents with parents, family members, students, or anyone who is not affiliated with the University. If an RA has questions about particular situations, they should discuss it with their supervisor before disclosing any information. RAs are not confidential resources on campus and must report all sexual misconduct and mental health concerns to their supervisor or on-call staff.
• Attire: While working, RAs are required to wear a department-issued polo, appropriate shorts/pants/skirts, name tag, and closed toed shoes.  Examples of inappropriate apparel are sweatpants, gym shorts, leggings, and flip-flops. RAs will be provided with departmental apparel; it is their responsibility to keep it in good condition. This apparel is to be returned upon departure from the RA position.
• Electronic Media/Email: All social media and other electronic means of communication are representations of RAs and the overall department. RAs should not share these sites or means of communication with residents if they misrepresent the University or the department.  RAs will also be responsible for respecting their assigned Outlook account and responding to communications as directed by their supervisor.  It is required that RAs check their email at least once a day.  RAs are required to use their provided @ucf.edu email as their primary means of electronic communication for work-related emails.
• Media: RAs are not authorized to represent or disseminate statements, positions or policies of UCF DHRL to any media outlet including campus news. This includes engaging in social media, blogging, or speaking with/responding to inquiries from media outlets.  While RAs are free to express their personal opinion, they must take reasonable steps to ensure that the expression is recognized by potential recipients as their personal opinion and not a representation of UCF DHRL.  Reasonable steps include, but are not limited to, a prefatory statement or disclaimer that the RA is not authorized to represent UCF DHRL and that any statements made are solely their personal opinion and not a representation of UCF DHRL.

Move-In and Move-Out: RAs are required to work all DHRL openings/closings of facilities during the year as scheduled by supervisors.

Academic Commitments: As a student leader, academics should be the RA’s top priority. Following academics, the RA position should be their top non-academic priority.  The RA’s supervisor will work with them to make reasonable accommodations for their academic commitments. RAs are required to discuss internship or class commitments that interfere with the responsibilities outlined in this position description with their supervisor.

Background Check: All DHRL employees are subject to a background check. Hire status is conditional upon successful verification. If verification is not successful, an employment decision will be made by the Executive Director or their designee.

Enrollment: To hold the RA position, one must be a currently enrolled UCF or Valencia student with full-time student status, which is no less than 12 undergraduate units. Full time student status can be achieved through a combination of enrollment at UCF and Valencia or another college/university with approval from the Assistant Director for Residence Life and Education.  RAs are required to have an Assistant Director for Residence Life and Education’s approval to drop below the class registration requirement. Summer class registration is not required for summer employment as an RA, as long as one is enrolled in the subsequent Fall semester. Please note that if RAs are not enrolled during the summer semester, their taxes and compensation may be impacted.

• Credits: Applicants must have completed 24 credit hours by the employment start date. 12 of these credits must be from UCF or Valencia.

Government Approval:Approval to work by the U.S. government throughout the duration of employment is required by the University. Any international student hired to be a RA should consult with UCF Global to verify employment eligibility and status. International students should notify the Coordinator of Selection and Leadership of their status so they can provide the required hiring documents.

GPA: This is a student leadership position, and demonstrating academic excellence is expected. RAs must remain in good academic standing with the university during employment. Grade checks will be conducted by the Coordinator of Selection and Leadership in Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters. Please note, taking courses during the summer is not required to remain eligible for this position, however, grades earned during the summer are calculated into employment eligibility.

All RAs are required to hold and maintain a minimum 2.50 overall cumulative GPA at the time of job offer and through the duration of employment. If the semester GPA drops below a 2.50, the RA will be placed on Academic Warning for the following semester of employment. If the overall cumulative GPA drops below 2.50, the RA will be placed on Academic Probation for the next semester of their employment.  Any repeat occurrence of dropping below an overall cumulative 2.50 GPA will result in termination of the RA contract. RAs will be given two weeks to complete grade changes. RAs placed on either Academic Warning or Academic Probation will be required to complete an Academic Improvement Plan with their supervisor.

Office of Student Conduct: All RAs are required to, demonstrate the ability to abide by university regulations, state and federal laws is an important expectation. RAs must remain in good conduct standing (as determined by the DHRL) from their offer date and throughout employment to remain qualified for the RA position. Any prior violations/cases will be reviewed during the application process and eligibility will be determined by the the Assistant Director for Student Conduct & Care Management and the Associate Director for Residence Life. Violations of any Community Living Guide or Rules of Conduct may result in in a rescinded offer or the termination of the RA position.

Living Learning Communities

Resident Assistants for Living Learning Communities (LLC) work in collaboration with University and outside partners to meet LLC goals and learning objectives. To learn more about the Living Learning Communities at UCF, visit the website here.

1: Attend an RA Information Session (required for all candidates)

A required component of the Resident Assistant Application is attending a mandatory information session. This information session will review the RA position, application process, interview process, give further clarification on the hiring process.

2: Submit RA Online Application (required for all applicants)

The application is officially open! Apply at ucf.erezlife.com.

3: Interviews

After a review of applications, selected candidates will be offered an interview.

Special Interview Notes

• Time: should arrive be prepared at least 15 minutes prior to their scheduled time to check in and get prepared. If a candidate misses an interview, another one will not be offered.
• Attire: This is a job interview so all candidates should dress appropriately and turn off their cell phones. Business casual or UCF/Valencia spirit attire is encouraged. Interviewees should reach out if they have specific questions about what may be acceptable.

4: Notification

More details will be communicated at the information sessions and following interviews about the process.

GOOD LUCK!