This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, “What is the future of the RD position and role?”
Call it an RD (Residence Director), an HD (Hall Director), an RC (Residential Coordinator), an HC (Housing Coordinator), a DP (Dorm Parent)…whatever acronym you and your institution decide upon, there is a question that continues to nag at all of us in Residence Life. And no, the question isn’t “Why do we have so many acronyms in higher education?” or “How do people keep thinking I’m a student when I’m literally wearing a polo shirt and a name tag?” A big question pestering those working in Residence Life is…”What is the future of the RD role?”
The future of the RD role needs to evolve. Here are some jumping off points to consider: 1) It shouldn’t be considered an entry-level job; 2) the pay needs to increase at a rate equal to inflation; 3) the contracted term limits need to be removed; and 4) consideration of hybrid/ flexible work schedules must be examined.
At present, the RD role is considered to be an “entry-level” gig, requiring “boots on the ground” work and late night tasks. Asking entry-level professionals to address high-stress situations is a big ask and most cannot fathom that 24-year-olds fresh out of graduate school are being asked to navigate mental health crises at 3am. Just because we’ve been operating under this mode of operation for a while now doesn’t mean it’s a functional way to move forward.
In one RD role that I fulfilled, I had been at the university for about a month, when I had a rough on-call experience where I actively responded to duty calls for 10 hours straight. (For the non-housing folks in the room… if there are any actually reading this on roompact… is when you’re required to be on-campus with a super cool early 2000’s flip phone on hand at all times. You’ll have to answer that bad boy any time the duty phone rings, including at 4 am when you’re in the middle of a REM cycle…as you can imagine, it’s not everyone’s favorite part of the gig.) The sweat and the mental exhaustion really got to me during this when I was on-call. This negative workplace experience early on in my RD career didn’t break me entirely, although it sure got me crying as soon as I made it back home. (Lucky me though, that wasn’t too far of a walk since it’s a live-in position.) Several colleagues in similar positions have quit after a short amount of time in the RD role, simply because of the overwhelm. The reason it didn’t break me is simply because if I let it, I wouldn’t have a place to live. My fear is that the RD role preys on the young,bright-eyed, bushy tailed, excited educators who simply don’t have the means to live off-campus for a few thousand dollars more in salary. The future of the RD role could be hiring those with more years of experience in crisis management and response. It could entail having 2 roles: an RD for the 9-5 supervision tasks and having a Crisis-Response RD with more experience in crisis response.
It cannot come as a surprise to anyone that pay in higher-education is an issue. I learned the hard way that one should ask “How much are you going to pay me?” early on in the search process. After going through a series of interviews for an RD job, with the final interview taking a full day, I was offered a position paying less than $32,000 a year. I was floored, I was naive, and I thought I would be making at least $45,000 for a position that required a Masters’ Degree. I was wrong. Many universities haven’t addressed their salary, or only have done so because they were told they had to. Even then, they haven’t addressed inflation that is affecting everyone. If your school offers the same starting salary that it did 5 years ago, you need to adjust for inflation. As far as I can tell, the majority of schools aren’t doing this. The future of the RD role could entail fair wages, which is one idea I’d love to see come to fruition.
The third area that the RD role can grow into is the removal of contract limits. For those of you who aren’t familiar, some schools have begun implementing limits to the amount of time one may serve as an RD. Unfortunately, oftentimes a term limit is used in lieu of adequate supervision. Forcing someone out of a job does not make any sense. Every time you do this you lose institutional knowledge, you have to spend time and energy hiring someone else to fill the role, and it sends the message to RD’s that they are replaceable. It makes more sense to go upstream and ask “Why are these RD’s burning out in their jobs?” and fix those issues rather than forcing good employees out. (Cue the chorus of “but they can move up within the institution”…note that there are fewer higher up positions than entry-level positions and that those positions do not always pay more when you factor in the cost of living after losing your required on-campus housing as an RD.) The future of the RD role should allow for RDs to determine for themselves when they’re ready to move on, move up, or move out of higher education, not an arbitrary time limit hindering retention.
Finally, the future of the RD role should include flexibility in work modalities. This flexibility can mean four ten hour days as opposed to five eight hour days a week. It can mean letting your employee who had a long on-call night take a day off without having to put in for vacation leave. It can mean that if a weekend of work is needed, they get floating holidays to make up for needing to come in on a weekend. As more and more jobs offer remote work opportunities, the RD role is going to have to get creative if they want to retain quality staff members serving in those roles.
At the end of the day, the future of the RD role is in the hands of campus administrators who must advocate for the needs of their staff. It could mean keeping up with the needs of the time, or it could mean falling behind or preying on new professionals. I implore you to think critically, advocate passionately, and support your fellow student affairs professionals. The future of the RD role is in our collective hands. Even if the parents on move-in day think the RDs are just DPs (Dorm Parents), that doesn’t mean a Dorm Parent shouldn’t get a day off and be treated with respect.
