你走了很长一段路，RA

前第一夫人希拉里·克林顿, 新闻主播凯蒂·库里克, 足球传奇迈克·迪克塔, 演员韦斯利·斯奈普斯, 丹尼·格洛弗甚至亚当·桑德勒都有一个共同点. 她们都是各自大学校园的住宿助理(RAs). (Yes, “Billy Madison” himself was in charge of keeping order in a residence hall full of his peers.)

RA的作用, defined as a “trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities,的问题已经发生了变化, 包括澳门十大赌城官方网站.

根据大学记录和澳门赌城官方网站百年校史, the first step to change was in the late 1960s when “in a sweeping concession to the growing trend toward student autonomy, housemothers were removed by the residence halls beginning in 1967 [and] all on-site oversight of residence hall policies and programs would be provided by a staff of undergraduate resident assistants.”

Flashforward to the 2020s where current student trends and needs are redefining the role of on-campus RAs, 再一次.

Dr. Katie (Dignan) Weir ' 14/D ' 23, FSU’s associate director of Residence Life for Residential Education, admitted that the role of R.A. has even changed dramatically from her days at FSU when she was an RA in Frost Hall. 当时, focus was more on hall programs (or “links” as they are now called) to engage, 娱乐和教育学生. 谁不记得电影之夜, pizza nights and the occasional campus guest speaker with info on study habits, 酗酒和安全性行为的危害? 但是，正如Weir所指出的，随着学生的变化，他们的编程需求也在变化.

“More effort is now placed on building relationships and support,” she said. “目前的趋势是关注学生的心理健康需求.” 

目前在FSU, RAs are encouraged to have “intentional conversations” with each of their residents. 这些每月一次的聊天, 被描述为“健康检查”,” can range in topics from challenges with classes to battles with homesickness to relationship issues or just casual conversations.

人际交往很重要, 指出堰, as students are now opting to remain in their rooms since the COVID pandemic (when students were discouraged from gathering). It has been a challenge to retrain students on the importance of community, 因此，助教们一直在寻找新的方式”来吸引这些学生, 再一次,威尔说.

在80年代末90年代初, the trend was to create theme halls to build a community of students with similar interests such as service, 领导能力和身体/社会活动. But those have also been disbanded in recent years, due to the pandemic and lack of interest. 但威尔希望主题大厅的新时代能够重新出现.

“澳门十大赌城官方网站现在正试图弄清楚这些主题是什么，”她说.

一种新的大学生

操纵室友冲突, 打开锁着的门, 在安静的时间保持安静, 维护大厅规则是RA的传统职责. 然而, 因为FSU校园里的许多房间现在都是单身, 威尔说，传统的室友冲突并不常见.

“Once in a while we’ll get a complaint about someone eating someone’s peanut butter,” she said.

为 扎伊德·杰弗瑞，24岁, 他是FSU威斯敏斯特大厅最后一个学期的资深注册助理, 他的日子仍然充满了锁门和处理噪音违规的事情. 但他的大部分时间都花在了解他所在楼层的人上.

“I really try to interact with my residents,” said Jaffery, a transfer student from Waynesboro, Pa. 他指出，所有的RAs都经过训练，能够发现行为中的“危险信号”. 在这些情况下, Jaffery and others are quick to make referrals to the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services office.

“When it comes to mental health issues, we really put CAPS into play,” he said. “安全总比后悔好."

Even with the intentional conversations, Jaffery noted that some residents are still unreachable. “Sometimes I hear residents in their room, and they don’t come to the door when I knock.幸运的是，杰弗瑞并没有把这件事放在心上. “不过没关系.”

上坡在艾伦霍尔，RA 林赛·奥尔德里奇 personally handled a hall full of upperclassmen, even though she was only a sophomore. “我的大多数住院医生都比我大，”她说.

和杰弗瑞一样，一些居民也躲着奥尔德里奇. 当她敲门时，其他人立即感到厄运来临. “如果我敲开他们的门，有意地和他们交谈, 他们问的第一件事是, “我有麻烦了吗?’”

Both Aldridge and Jaffery admitted to feeling the pressure of coming up with new and innovative “links” to engage their students. Jaffery’s most-successful programs were a Mario Kart tournament and a “Zombie v. Humans” event, in which he collaborated with other resident assistants and directors. 这场世界末日的活动吸引了全校100多人参加.

同时在上院, 大部分都是高年级学生, 奥尔德里奇安排了一个简历写作项目. 然而，只有两名居民出现了.

“人们想呆在房间里玩手机. 所以，这可能是一个挑战。.

“一个人看手机”的心态并不是弗罗斯特堡独有的. 肖恩·皮尔斯95年/ 97年 serves as the interim assistant vice president for Student Affairs at Queens College in New York. He said that he has seen a significant change in student behavior post-COVID.

“We have students coming to us who had little-to-no in-person school experiences in high school due to being remote for two or three years,皮尔斯说。, 他在澳门赌城官方网站期间曾在剑桥和弗罗斯特大厅担任助理助理. “These formulative years being spent in front of a computer screen and not in a classroom have created a shift in how students interact with one another, 或者在某些情况下, 不.”

Pierce has spent “a chunk of his career” helping his students resolve conflicts and learn how to “agree to disagree.这些都是他在FSU担任助理教授期间学到的技能. “澳门十大赌城官方网站不仅学到了更多关于人际动态和沟通的知识, 但澳门十大赌城官方网站也学会了分散情况, 如何赢得人们的支持, how to negotiate and mediate between differing parties and how to think quickly on our feet to respond to any crisis that arose.”

当谈到他在FSU最难忘的事件时, Pierce chose to plead the fifth “to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent.” But he was quick to offer up his favorite hall program that occurred during a sub-zero January Intersession in 1994.

“当时是零下30华氏度, 我出来是为了给我的住院医生买小凯撒的披萨, 澳门十大赌城官方网站有一场电影马拉松，因为课程被取消了, 除此之外澳门十大赌城官方网站也做不了什么. After all, the internet didn’t exist then, so we had to use VHS tapes in the lounge VCR.” 

(不知道这是不是亚当·桑德勒的电影.)

Designate Residence Life Development Fund or Residence Life Endowment to support FSU’s Residence Life Programs at l8y3.beijinggate.com/makeagift.          

一日为助理，终身为助理

像皮尔斯, both Jaffery and Aldridge agreed that their RA jobs have given them skillsets that they will take into the next chapters of their lives. Aldridge, a nursing major, said she has learned a mix of people skills and time management. “You’re on duty 12 hours so you have to make the most of your time,” the future nurse said. “你还可以学习如何与人沟通.”

Jaffery, who graduated with a Secure Computing and Information Assurance degree this past May, 说他侵入了一些他不知道自己拥有的个人能力. “When I came into this RA role, I wasn’t assertive, and I didn’t consider myself a leader. 这真的是你发展的肌肉，”他说. “知道你让居民感到安全, 你有更大的责任去照顾别人.”

照顾他们的社区——这是一项不错的技能.

“这将永远是关于社区的，”威尔补充说. “创建安全和包容的社区是澳门十大赌城官方网站工作的核心.”