Several Resident Assistants (RAs) expressed disgust this week after university administration changed a provision in their contracts.
The RAs complained the changes were made without their consent, exposing a deeper anger over what they described as the university’s tendency to make changes without seeking or receiving any input from the RAs.
Tensions peaked at Thursday’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, where RAs, who are usually barred by their contract from talking to the media, spoke publicly against the changes.
The key change was to the procedure of overnight shifts monitoring the front desks of residence halls. RAs are required to work the overnight shift once a month.
Now, they will have to check in at the Resident Director’s office on Columbus Avenue at 11 p.m. prior to their shifts. Many of the RAs in attendance at the SGA meeting said they were concerned about their safety while walking to Columbus.
University Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Klotzbier said the move was in response to documented evidence that RAs were frequently not showing up to their shifts, leaving the front desks of residence halls untended during overnight hours.
“RAs, in record numbers, are not showing up to their shifts,” Klotzbier said to the SGA at senate. “The [overnight] shift is a public safety issue. We need to get this right.”
He compared RAs not showing up to “blue flu,” a term used to describe police officers who do not show up to their detail assignments.
The shifts were initially implemented to assure that each RA works in his or her own building, so he or she knows the students entering the building, Klotzbier said.
Due to safety issues, he said the administration was “not backing away” from the shift in policy.
Another change to the contract punishes RAs who do not call to reschedule their overnight shifts and doubles their hours to make up for the missed time.
Ongoing anger from RAs was rooted primarily in frustration at the administration for not consulting the RAs before making changes. They complained of contract changes that gave them more hours, and upset their sleep and homework schedule, among other issues.
“RAs are stretched to their absolute limit,” said Grant Oberg, an SGA senator who works at the Resident Student Office. “I have friends who tell me, ‘When changes to the RA contract come out, my grades go down. It’s not fair to students who are students first.'”
The contracts are evaluated at least yearly, and each RA’s performance is evaluated each semester.
Chad Cooper, an SGA senator and RA, said input into the process was often limited.
Klotzbier said the RAs gain plenty of benefits from the job, as they are compensated by free room and board.
Overall, though, he said they are held accountable because they are employees of the university.
“This is a job,” he said. “This is room and board. We don’t want anyone who isn’t going to do their job well.”
Director of Residential Life Bob Jose did not return calls for comment.
Still, many RAs have argued that their contract gives the university room to take advantage of this low-cost form of student labor because it is not a legally binding agreement.
“As an RA, you’re seen as disposable,” said Mariko Howe, another SGA senator who is also an RA. “There are so many people that want to be RAs that they don’t have to guarantee job security.”
Some RAs said that in the past they have looked into bringing their complaints formally through the Resident Student Association (RSA). However, they said these efforts have been thwarted because of a shortage of RAs willing to formally complain.
“There may be a great number of RAs who have these complaints,” RSA President Smith Anderson said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the numbers to go to Student Affairs with those complaints.”
SGA members also suggested unionizing the RAs.
Several RA-senators said they had looked into unionizing, but were again limited because they felt their job was in jeopardy. They said they weren’t allowed to unionize, however, because the agreement they sign with the university does not rise to the level of a typical employee-employer agreement.
“I met with a private lawyer. He said no one should have to work under these conditions,” senior sociology major Nikki Joffe told the Senate.
Another participant in Thursday’s SGA meeting was President Richard Freeland. Responding to a question about the RA contracts, President Freeland said it was one of the first times he had heard the complaints against the administration, but that he did not want an environment in which students felt like they had no input.
“One of the things we stand for is free speech,” Freeland said. “I would hate to think there is any degree of fear – that students can’t speak out.”
