Introduction Letter

Resident Assistant Letter to Candidate

Dear resident assistant applicant:

Thank your interest for applying for a resident assistant (RA) position at The University of Akron for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year. RAs are primarily responsible for providing a safe, secure, and educational living environment conducive to the academic and personal development of the student. The RA is also responsible for creating a community within the residence halls that encourages students to develop themselves intellectually, emotionally, socially, physically, vocationally, and spiritually. It is a job which requires a substantial amount of time and restructuring of personal priorities. Residence hall staff members develop a high level of leadership ability and independent personal growth.

Minimum qualifications for the RA position include:

• Applicants must have lived on-campus in the residence hall environment for a full semester either at The University of Akron or another institution by the first day of employment.
• Applicants must have completed one semester as a full time student (at least 12 credit hours) at The University of Akron or any other institution of higher education, or currently be enrolled in their first semester. Graduate student RAs are required to enroll in, and complete nine academic credits. Courses must be taken for a letter grade.
• Applicants must have a 2.50 cumulative AND semester grade point average for the semester preceding employment.
• Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student with a minimum of 12 credit hours (Nine credit hours for graduate students) to maintain employment.
• Applicants must be in good conduct standing with the University (not currently on disciplinary probation) and must have no felony record.

Position requirements:

• Must work at least four hours per week at the service desk
• Must be available for training over winter break, be available for spring opening, spring break closing, be available for other department events throughout the academic year, and be able to stay late after the halls close in May. If working in fall 2021, must be able to arrive to school mid-August for training, be present for Thanksgiving and winter break closings
• Must attend in-service trainings as scheduled
• Fulfill specific RA position responsibilities as noted in the RA position description.
• Visually assess the community, surroundings and situations that occur spontaneously and respond appropriately
• Verbally communicate with residents and supervisors in casual and crisis interactions
• Use and operate keys, duty phones, computer systems and elevators
• Access and reach incidents where they occur (i.e. inside student rooms, bathrooms, hallways, stairwells, elevators and building lobbies)
• Must be able to complete paperwork, read IDs, participate in fire-safety training, physically able to move quickly through congested and/or crowded situations and effectively community to a large group of people
• Must be able to be exposed to various weather conditions
• Ability to respond to duty emergency calls at any hour and for prolonged periods.
• Ability to lift and move objects weighing up to 25 lbs.
• Must be able to climb stairs
• Must be able to complete other tasks as directed by supervisor
• Must live in assigned room
• Cannot hold any other paid on-campus positions
• Off-campus employment is limited to 15 hours

Compensation Includes:

• Room and board (The Department of Residence Life and Housing reserves the right to assign RAs roommates as needed)
• Valuable leadership experience and the opportunity to work alongside other campus leaders

As part of the Residence Life and Housing team, you must have pre-approval from the department regarding outside employment opportunities. As you are aware, RAs earn the value of room and board for tasks performed. The Financial Aid office is informed of this award and includes the value in the computation of financial aid. If you are currently receiving financial aid, contact the Financial Aid office (330-972-7032) and indicate that you need to know if the RA compensation award will impact your financial aid package.

Information included in this website is as follows:

• Detailed information about how to apply for the position including what to include in your cover letter and resume
• RA candidate information form
• RA applicant reference forms and information about who to have fill them out on your behalf

If you have any questions regarding the RA position or the application process, please feel free to contact Residence Life and Housing at rlh-selection@uakron.edu.

Thank you and we wish you the best of luck in this process!

Sincerely,

Matthew Cola
Residence Life Coordinator, Student Staff Selection Committee
rlh-selection@uakron.edu