When being hired/re-hired as a live-in student leader, there is one big question that most student leaders think about: “Where am I going to live?”
First, I’d like to share my personal experience with this:
The first time I applied to be a Community Advisor (CA, often called an RA), it was exciting to apply for a job that I was really excited about. Unfortunately, studying abroad my second semester of college meant I missed the in-person interviews and wouldn’t be considered. I was bummed, but applied to other jobs, found a dispatcher role with Campus Safety, secured on campus housing in an apartment, and decided I’d reapply to the CA job the next school year.
The second time I applied to the CA role, I got an interview, and felt like I really nailed it. Residence Life staff shared with us the date we should check our mailboxes (yes, mailboxes, even though the year was 2016 and email was commonly used, we still got the letters physically at my college.) for their hiring decision.
When the day came, I walked to my mailbox after class and retrieved my letter. Opening the letter felt big. Being offered the job would be a huge relief. I was overjoyed to read at the top of the letter that I’d been offered a role as a CA, my financial woes would be significantly decreased, I’d get to connect with other students, and I’d have a stronger sense of purpose outside of the classroom.
I continued to read the letter and I was filled with dread. The thing I wanted more than anything, to be hired as a CA, came true…but there was a problem. I had been placed in the one building I had hoped I wouldn’t have been placed in. The building that I had told my friends was the only building I would decline working in was the one that I had been placed in. Cue stress.
Ultimately, it only took me a split second to decide what I was going to do. I picked up my pen and checked the box that said “Yes, I accept this offer to be a Community Advisor for the 2016-2017 school year”. I then wrote a short note next to it that said something like “I am so grateful for this opportunity, and should a position in any other hall open, I’d like to be considered for the opportunity in a different hall.”
Did that note make a difference? Probably not.
Did I end up getting moved to a different hall community? Surprisingly, yes.
Ultimately, the school ended up closing the floor I had been assigned to and needed to move me elsewhere. It should be noted: this is not the norm. (Funny enough, I went on to become the last Hall Director for that building a few years later, before that old highrise building was officially taken offline indefinitely. From that Hall Director experience, I realized I would have actually been just fine if I had worked as a CA in that hall, but it didn’t feel that way at the time.)
My advice for when you don’t like your job related housing placement: Determine whether or not it’s worth even mentioning. Find an appropriate way to share concerns if you need to. Accept the answer you are given. Then, decide if the answer is something you are willing to learn to be okay. If it’s not, don’t accept the opportunity to be a CA. If it is, then accept the opportunity and make your peace with it.
Something I didn’t realize when I first applied to be a CA is that a LOT of work is put in when determining where folks will be assigned to work. It’s not random. An abundance of considerations are generally made when placing the upcoming year’s staff. This includes, but is not limited to, considering the gender makeup of the hall and floor, the personalities of you, the other candidates, and the supervisor of that space, the racial and cultural demographics of the team, with a goal of being representative of the student body, and the majors of the candidates serving within a hall. I share this to help explain that it is not as simple as a CA candidate saying “Oh I don’t want to live in that hall” and Residence Life staff saying “Ok, we will move you.” In fact, you are never likely to get that response. Moving you would generally mean moving someone else. Every university I’ve worked at in Residence Life has hired CA staff with the understanding that CAs are hired to serve the department and can be reassigned to any building at any time, which is what happened with me prior to starting as a CA, in the story shared above. For me, it felt like a positive to be reassigned, but it may not always feel like a positive thing. Ultimately, you should work to accept that you have been offered an opportunity and could be placed in any hall or community.
There are a few valid reasons why a CA could be moved to a different building. Some of these reasons are:
- You have a disability that would keep you from serving as a CA in that specific building. For example, if there isn’t an elevator and you are not able to use stairs, then that hall wouldn’t be the best place to put you. People can become disabled at any point and should you have a disability that keeps you from completing tasks in a specific space, but wouldn’t be an issue in another space, it may make the most sense for you to be relocated. Be sure to work with Disability or Accessibility Resources at your respective university as well.
- You may have a reason related to your religion that would make it better for you to be placed in a specific community, such as a community with access to a private bathroom or with individuals of the same biological sex. I highly recommend sharing your needs when offered the job opportunity, so that adjustments to your placement can be considered.
- The hall or floor you were assigned to work in will not be operating in the upcoming school year. Halls close, enrollment numbers change, floods happen, etc. You aren’t going to work in a building with no residents.
- You are dating another CA that will be on your team in the upcoming year. It’s a good idea to disclose any personal dynamics that will impact your team with your supervisor. It may be determined that it is best to have the two of you on different teams. For more on this, consider reading this article.
There are other specific occurrences that could happen too that aren’t listed above. Life is full of curveballs and through communication and understanding, we have the best chance of hitting it out of the park, rather than striking out.
When you receive your housing placement, take a deep breath, remind yourself of what is within your control, and recognize the opportunity for what it is. Sometimes your placement problems truly are not a problem at all, but rather an opportunity for something new.
