<p>Are RAs there to help freshmen students in res. halls, or are they more concerned with catching those who misbehave? ex: those students who choose to bring alcohol into a res. hall.</p>
<p>I think it varies a lot by who your specific RA turns out to be.</p>
<p>lol...a lotta RA's don't mind if u have alcohol in ur room</p>
<p>It really does depend on the RA.</p>
<p>I sat down with my RD (Resident Director... our title for the direct supervisors of RAs who are in charge of an entire living area/dorm/appartment complex) last semester to discuss the RA position, and her feeling was that all student leaders should work in an equal manner to uphold university standards and that RAs should NOT be the "bad guy." In addition, our Rez Life policy is that the RDs should always be the bad guy--NOT the RA. Here, RAs are considered "the eyes and ears of the RD" and simply report what they see. They are required to report if they see anything against university policy, but they do their best to build relationships with other students, hold community-building events, and help their residents in any way possible.</p>
<p>Depends on the RA, and you.</p>
<p>If you're being a jerk, especially to the RA, you're not going to get along very well. Mostly RA's just report things they see, but obviously they will document you if you're doing something wrong, call the cops if you're drunk and puking in the bathroom, etc. The actual discipline (with the exception of the 2 am cop calls) is handed by the Resident Director.
That being said, at least in my dorm, our RA's are very much our friends too. My RA pops into the room every couple days (everyday if he knows that we're sick or are going through rough stuff, and sometimes everyday no matter what) to chat or whatever. They eat dinner with us occasionally, and just overall are awesome. My RA is definitely one of my friends. That being said, he was a "foe" of one of my old roommates but that's just because she was drunk every night of the week</p>
<p>they call the cops if you get drunk and puke in the bathroom?</p>
<p>maybe it's just me, but you're going to college...</p>
<p>they call the cops if you get drunk and puke in the bathroom?</p>
<p>maybe it's just me, but you're going to college...</p>
<p>Here they do. There's some law against internal possession, so if you're puking and they catch you when they're on rounds and they decide you're drunk, they can and will call the cops. It happened to someone on the floor below mine, and someone I know had a friend arrested at a hockey game for the same reason (only that time the cop found her puking).</p>
<p>How do they know you're puking because you're drunk and not something else like a virus?</p>
<p>At my school, the RA's are REQUIRED to report what they see. They're getting free room and board and they'd lose their job if it was found out that they saw something and didn't report it.</p>
<p>That said, they're reasonable about it. One of the first things that our RA said to us at the beginning of the year was that they don't like having to write people up. So if you have a beer can on your floor and the RA knocks on the door, kick it under the bed. They can't force the door, and they're not going to come in searching for things, but if something happens to be there they can't pretend it's not.</p>
<p>Gawd ... My RA is the biggest bonghead on the whole floor! LOL She'll mostly just make sure that if someone is being obnoxious, puking or whatnot, it doesn't get to the point that she'll have no choice but to write them up or call the cops.</p>
<p>FrddyGV: They can tell by the way you act if you're drunk or not.</p>
<p>And yes, I have heard stories here of RA's getting high with their residents. So obviously they're not all super strict. We were also told that they're only going to write you up for obvious things; they don't go looking for it. They have to check rooms at the start of break to make sure everything is unplugged and stuff (save energy), and the checklist always says that they'll only write up for obvious code violations, so that pretty much tells you to just shove the alcohol in a desk drawer and you're all set</p>
<p>i would love to have an RA that will toke with me, but from what most of you are saying i can draw that I will be fine just as long as i dont act like an idiot</p>
<p>My RA is an awesome guy; he's always coming up with fun new stuff for us to do on weekends as well as leaves candy and stuff like that in our mailboxes each week.</p>
<p>But I know some of the RAs in my bldg are pretty nasty. My roommate got written up by one from another floor just because he was hollering in the hall to another person far away.</p>
<p>RAs vary a lot by school, dmb, so check with people at that school.
Here, RAs can lose their jobs for not reporting something.
In addition, they sign a contract that they will abstain from certain things like alcohol for the length of their contract. If they break that and are either caught or admit to having done it (yes, it's partially on the honor code--especially for breaks), they are asked to step down from their position.</p>
<p>I'm an RA for my fraternity, and its a pretty much a thankless job. Freshman RA's are doing the job for only a few reasons- the "power" of telling people what to do, because they dont have any other friends, the money, or the experience for the resume. I did it for the latter, and I try to work with these people but the struggle between friend and supervisor is a pain in the butt. RA's are lied to their faces daily, so thats probably why they have a low tolerance for any bullcrap excuse freshman have. If they dont take their job as a power trip, they can be really good.</p>
<p>I took a class that was required to be an RA, although I didn't go through the process of becoming one, and I have to respectfully disagree with you, ctiger. At least here, a lot of people choose to become RAs because they care about freshmen and the experience they have, that's why everyone in my class was sitting through four hours of lecture a week. The class was great, and I don't think I could have met more compassionate people, some people are RAs because they want to help people.</p>
<p>Same here.
Most of our RAs are RAs because they care about the students.
I know not every RA or student leader is like that, but I would like to think most are. I know I hold student leadership positions because I care that other students succeed--not just for the money! (And some of the positions I've held are volunteer, but I have not yet done RA, although I'd actually like to at some point.)</p>
<p>When I was an undergrad at UOr in the 70s, our RA was a grad student in counseling & were great at working with the students. He held events to help us get to know one another by floors of the dorm & also for the entire dorm (all 4 floors). I enjoyed the dorm so much I lived there both soph (I was a transfer) & junior years.
I've heard some folks who have had awful experiences with their RAs, while others have gotten along well with theirs. There is SO much variability.</p>
<p>Jessetfan- You're absolutely right. I know there are actually good people out there that are willing to actually help other people while getting spit on by their residents. I unfortuantely haven't run into too many of those people here- most of my experience has come through people doing it either because no one wanted to, because you get your own room, because you get paid, and whatever reason i spelled out earlier. My little brother in the fraternity is going to be an RA for a freshman hall next year, and just as I guided him through pledging, etc, ill help him out next year too.</p>