On-campus housing has had a new set of helping hands to assist with roommate trials and tribulations this year with the implementation of freshman advisors working in conjunction with resident advisors to build a sense of community in residence halls.
Director of Residential Housing Christopher Holland said the formation of the freshman advising program grew out of a need for enthusiastic role models to better introduce freshmen to campus life.
“Sometimes first-year residents just want a peer they can connect with that will help connect them to resource and be advocates for them when issues arise,” Holland said.
Traditionally, RAs have taken on a myriad of responsibilities, including being campus ambassadors, programmers, peer mediators and resources to freshmen. With the implementation of the freshman advising program, RAs are able to specialize in a specific area of the expansive RA job witout worrying they are neglecting their residents.
Matt McCay, a current RA in Ridgecrest South and sophomore majoring in chemical engineering, said he feels the freshman advising program provides many advantages to residents in housing communities.
“I think freshman advisors are a great addition to housing because as an RA, it can sometimes be hard to handle my administrative duties and still make connections with my residents,” McCay said. “Now that we have FAs, I know that all my freshman residents are getting the kind of help and attention they need as first time college students.”
Rather than dealing with the more practical duties of RAs such as programming, health and safety checks, and room inventory, freshman advisors focus on helping freshmen with the social aspect of their college experience.
Josh Stoddard, a current freshman advisor in Ridgecrest South and sophomore majoring in engineering, said he believes with fewer responsibilities, freshman advisors will be able to reach out to residents easier than RAs.
“Freshman residents can gain a more personal and organic relationship with someone who can help them in their hall or on campus with a freshman advisor,” Stoddard said. “Since my role is primarily to engage residents, I can get a better understanding than a traditional RA of the residents and plan programming and events more appropriately.”
The events freshman advisors plan depend on the individual desires of freshman residents. Stoddard said his residents are most interested in getting to know their neighbors, so he decided to plan a movie night to help build relationships among the residents on his floor.
While both RAs and freshman advisors are assigned residents and live in their assigned residence halls, freshman advisors are not required to fulfill on-call hours. Freshman advisors receive a monthly wage just as RAs do; however, freshman advisors do not receive the benefit of free housing RAs enjoy.
RAs are composed of highly qualified sophomore, junior and senior UA students who were selected as the result of a competitive application process. Freshman advisors undergo a similar selection process but are comprised solely of sophomores.
Holland said many of the applicants chosen for the freshman advising program have great potential to become RAs in the future but are currently better suited to be campus resources to freshmen. Holland said he anticipates many freshman advisors to move onto becoming RAs during their latter years at the University.
Holland said he hopes freshman will be able to make the most of their on-campus housing experience through the combined efforts of both resident and freshman advisors.
“By utilizing them as a powerful resource to connect with campus activities, involvement opportunities, leadership development, resources to help them grow and connect further with the campus and local community,” he said.
