RA360: Duty and Policy
TL;DR
Student staff are often called upon in their roles to serve on duty or interpret colleges policies. Balancing these roles with building community relationships can be tricky. There are a set of strategies you can use to navigate this as well as learn how to more effectively confront situations and respond to crisis and emergencies.
For most student staff members, one of their least favorite job duties is duty and policy interpretation. Although not all schools include this in their job descriptions for student staff, it’s likely you’ll at least come across some situations like these in your role as a college and university employee.
In this RA360…
Enforcing Policy Versus Building Relationships?
Many schools include “duty” responsibilities in their RA and student staff position. This is often a tricky position to maintain–on the one hand you want to be approachable and accessible to residents while on the other you may be responsible for a student facing consequences as a result of their behavior. How do you strike a balance where you can maintain both roles.
“Addressing policy violations, especially in August at the beginning of the school year, can seem like a daunting task for new RAs. I remember my first days as an RA and how nervous I was that the residents of the hall would not respect me, like me, listen to me, or comply with my requests when documenting situations. Today, I look back and recognize that more than anything, most of the students I was working with were more anxious than I was.”
Confrontation and Crisis
Questions To Ask Yourself
- Do I know all of the relevant college policies for my position?
- If I don’t know all of the policies, do I know where to find them?
- How can I use my judgement when responding to potential policy violations?
- Do I know the procedure for documenting policy violations?
- If I need support when witnessing a potential policy violation, who can I turn to?
Getting a little nervous before confronting a situation is completely normal. But remember, you trained for this! Stay calm. The residents you may be confronting are likely to be a bit anxious, too!
- Remember your training.
- Bring another staff member with you.
- Speak clearly and authoritatively.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Maintain a confident, but open stance.
- Take notes and be organized. (It’s always good to have a small notebook on hand.)
- Present yourself professionally (Wear your staff shirt, or name tag if one is provided to you.)
Documentation
“Writing someone up” or more accurately, documentation of an incident, is something that nearly all student staff maybe called upon to do at some point. Although the procedures for these will vary by campus, there are a few general rules of thumb that can make your reports more readable and accurate. Check out this article for some guidance, but always check it against your training and with your supervisor.
Case Study
It’s late on a Friday night and you’re doing your rounds of the hall. You hear loud noise coming from a room. You suspect that there may be underage drinking occurring. Before you knock on the door, what do you do?
- What would help you feel more prepared before knocking on the door?
- Should you ideally have anything with you?
- What resources can you draw from?
- How did your training guide you on how to confront these types of situations?
Res Hall Linebacker
Check out this video made by the staff at Mizzou about the “Res Hall Linebacker.” (An oldie but a goodie.) Probably not the best approach to confronting policy violations. 😉
Roompact’s Schedule feature allows you to look up duty schedules and trade shifts with other staff members. This tutorial will walk you through how it works.
“I’m On Duty”
Pharrell Williams “Happy” Parody
Made by the RAs at Drexel University.
Questions To Ponder:
- Do you know your college or university’s policies? Do you know where you can find them?
- Hav you asked returning and fellow student staff how they approach duty situations? Do they have any tips?
- How can you practice your approach to a duty situation?
- Do you know when to call in professional or other staff in a duty situation?
RA360 Outcomes:
RAs and student staff members will be able to:
- Explain the importance of knowing college policies.
- Uphold college policies while maintaining a relationships and community.
- Apply strategies for duty situations.
- Know when a duty or policy situation is beyond your role as a student staff member to address.
More To Explore
RA360 is a set of resources organized around skills, topics and competencies relevant to Resident Advisors and similar related student staff positions in college and university residence halls.
