RESIDENT ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION
A Resident Advisor is a full-time Pitt-Bradford resident student and a paraprofessional staff member of the
Residential Life Office. The Resident Advisor is responsible for the creation and maintenance of an atmosphere and
living environment conducive to the social, cultural, and educational development of all students residing in her/his
section. The Resident Advisor is concerned with helping each student achieve maximum benefits from university
life and developing within each student a sense of responsibility for a shared community. All Resident Advisors
must uphold the integrity of the Residential Life Office through appropriate role modeling and ethical decisionmaking.
In terms of these objectives, the responsibilities of the Resident Advisor are carried out under the supervision of the
Associate Dean of Students and include:
I.
Knowing and Assisting Individual Students
A.
Initiate contact and communicate with each student in section of responsibility and be aware of
each student's adjustment to university life.
B.
Conduct at least two section meetings each semester and others as often as deemed necessary.
C.
Regularly spend time in your section to ensure availability to all residents.
D.
Know all university offices and services and encourage students in the proper utilization of them.
E.
Serve as an advisor on students' social, personal, and academic problems and make appropriate
referrals.
F.
Afford each resident the epitome of confidentiality, while recognizing paraprofessional limitations
in counseling situations.
Special Note: All behavior that may need immediate attention that is behavior which falls beyond one's training and
expertise is to be reported to the Associate Dean of Students or Residence Life Coordinator or appropriate
professional staff member immediately.
II.
Promoting and Encouraging Campus Activities and Residential Life
Programs
A.
Coordinate at least six educational and social programs each semester for the designated section
based on Pitt-Bradford’s programming philosophies.
B.
Create and implement at least one Late Night and one Campus Wide program each semester.
C.
Encourage residents to attend programs involving the campus community, e.g., student activities
programs, athletic department programs, arts programming, etc.
D.
Ensure appropriate use of university funds and be financially responsible for RA budgets.
III.
IV.
Fostering the Development of a Cooperative Atmosphere
A.
Promote the establishment of community standards and self-government and encourage student
involvement in enforcing rules and regulations in the residential community.
B.
Assist in the development of students' respect and consideration for one another.
C.
Know and communicate university policies and Residential Life rules and regulations and respond
to violations with fairness and consistency.
Assisting the Residential Life Office with Various Functions and Details
A.
Assist with the opening and closing of the residence halls.
* Preceding Fall Term, all Resident Advisors will arrive approximately ten days before the students arrive.
* Preceding Spring Term, all Resident Advisors will arrive approximately two days before students arrive.
* Following each term, all Resident Advisors will remain until Saturday afternoon/evening and will be
permitted to leave only if all closing work is properly and accurately completed.
* Preceding Thanksgiving and Spring Break, half of the Resident Advisors will remain until all apartment
inspections are complete.
B.
Complete all bedroom condition reports with the arrival and departure of each resident.
C.
Assist in maintaining safe and clean apartment conditions by submitting and following-up on all
requests for maintenance.
D.
Prepare all other reports and records accurately, completely, and in a timely manner.
D.
Inform the Residential Life Office of variations in occupancy as compared to housing reports.
E.
Assume night-time duty, 7:00 pm to 7:00 am once a week during the weekdays (Sunday –
Thursday) and up to two weekends per semester (Friday and Saturday).
At least four rounds are to be completed beginning at 7:00 pm and not ending before 1 AM,
Sunday through Thursday and often times later on the weekends as deemed necessary by the duty
team.
Each Residence Staff member is permitted to be away from campus one weekend a month for a
total of four weekends per term and prior approval for all weekends off must be given by the
Associate Dean of Students or Residence Life Coordinator.
V.
G.
Maintain a phone and audix account. Check your audix account daily.
H.
Check your assigned mailbox located in the Residential Life Office each business day for
materials.
I.
Check your pitt email account at least once a day.
Preparing Self with Information and Skills Necessary for the Job
A.
B.
Attend Fall and Winter Training, and a designated number of In-Service training activities and
weekly staff meetings.
Aid in staff evaluations by offering and accepting constructive feedback to/from fellow Resident
Advisors, Residence Life Coordinators and the Associate Dean of Students.
C.
VI.
Assist the Residential Life Office in the evaluation and modification of the Residential Life
program.
General Requirements for Continued Employment
A.
Maintain a QPA of 2.25.
B.
Attend all weekly staff meetings and programming meetings. It is an expectation to be prepared
for meetings, be on time, present and engaged.
C.
Attend weekly metings with your supervisor.
C.
Maintain good disciplinary standing in regard to both University and Residential Life policies.
D.
Understand that employment outside of the Residential Life Office is subject to the approval of the
Associate Dean of Students. This includes employment both on and off campus. RAs will not be
permitted to work more than 12 hours per week. Resident Advisors may be asked to resign from
their outside positions if their job performance or grades become unsatisfactory.
E.
Understand that the Resident Advisor position is primary in regard to all other co-curricular
activities and outside employment.
VII.
Disciplinary Expectations of Residence Hall Staff
1.
All Residence Life Staff members must abide by all of the policies of the student handbook of the
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
2.
All Resident Advisors must follow the expectations and policies as explained in the Resident Advisor
Manual.
Failure to follow these expectations will result in disciplinary action based on the severity of the infraction.
The Student Affairs Division of the college strongly believes that the Resident Advisor is the cornerstone of its
student development program. However, we recognize that there will be times when the performance of a Resident
Advisor will be judged inadequate or contrary to the standards of the College. The following sanctions are a
response to this behavior:
Probation
When infractions occur, the staff member will need to meet with the Associate Dean of Students or Residence Life
Coordinator for a conference. If it is determined at this meeting that an infraction has occurred, at the discretion of
the Associate Dean of Students or Residence Life Coordinator, a probation period will be set. A letter will be sent to
the Resident Advisor and a copy will remain in their file.
Termination
Incidents that take place during the probationary period may result in termination of the Resident Advisor. The
Associate Dean of Students is responsible for making this decision. The Resident Advisor will only receive a
prorated amount of the Resident Advisor Scholarship calculated from the date of termination. It should be noted that
some infractions are so severe that the result could be an immediate termination.
Compensation
The RA Scholarship covers the following items:
Standard double room rate (single room): $2,340 per semester
260F meal plan:
$1,610 per semester
Total:
$7,900 per academic year