Nearly 250 Boston University students are watching their inboxes for an email saying they have made the cut – the cut to be personally interviewed for a resident assistant spot at BU.
“Right now, I’m still in the fingers crossed stage, hoping I can prepare,” said College of Communication sophomore and RA applicant Joe Kirkland.
Personal interviews are the final phase of a four-part selection process that will determine the next year’s RA staff, and spots are only offered to one-third of applicants, according to Director of Residence Life David Zamojski. The final contenders will be selected this week and will be notified by next Friday, he added.
All candidates recently completed two group interviews, which are used to evaluate applicants’ communication and teamwork skills, according to South Campus Area Director Yvette Lancaster, the RA selection committee chairwoman. During the interviews, the candidates work in small groups to solve scenario problems on topics like vandalism and inappropriate behavior in residences.
“There’s a lot to think about when you bring five people from different places on campus to review this problem,” she said. “It’s a very interesting process.”
Kirkland said he thought the group interviews were useful in deciding how he would act as an RA.
“While it’s great saying I’ll do this or that, you don’t know how you’ll react until actually in a situation, and the cases really helped you try and decipher what was really wrong and how to find a practical solution that could be used,” he said.
College of Engineering sophomore Farhaan Razi, another RA candidate, said the most important thing about the interviews is to be yourself.
“Some people will go in there and be ‘gung ho’ about how to solve the problem and try to do everything with their floor,” he said. “I try to do things too, but I know [the other candidates] have time constraints … so you have to give them space.”
Though time given to solve problems is limited, the entire selection process takes several months, Zamojski said. The Office of Residence Life began searching for candidates in November, and applications were due in January.
“It’s a fairly long process,” COM sophomore and potential RA Christa Nordman said. “I turned in the application a month ago, and the interviews have been a week apart.”
But Zamojski said the process is thorough because RAs manage student life all day, every day for more than 11,000 undergraduates. He said the time RAs spend in weekly staff meetings, at on-call hours and completing daily logs of personal responsibilities is just part of the job.
“We don’t simply hand out RA’s room and board,” he said. “They work 20 hours a week to earn it.”
Razi said interviews are necessary to evaluate whether a candidates are just applying for the free room and board.
“The process is good because obviously they aren’t going to give free money to somebody who is pretending to be an RA,” he said.
Financial help is not the only perk of being an RA, Lancaster said. Some students apply for the positions for job experience, and several potential RAs said they want to make an impact on their residents.
College of Arts and Sciences and COM sophomore Jean Post said her experience as a freshman motivated her to apply.
“Whenever I needed someone to talk to or if I needed a friend, a councilor or advisor, I would go to my RA,” she said. “I just want to do the same for other freshmen.”
Nordman said she would make it her goal to be a resource for her residents and not try to be a “best buddy” to everyone.
“I think residents can differ in their level of involvement on a floor or in a house,” she said. “I just want to make lots of things available … and leave my door open so that people can choose, rather than being pressured.”
The candidates are not only competing with new applicants for RA positions, but with current RAs as well, Zamojski said. About half of the current RAs, who undergo a separate reapplication process with their supervisors, will be reappointed to positions for next year, leaving the roughly 250 new applicants to fight for only 100 open spots.
But Kirkland said even though the number of applicants is high, he has not felt a lot of competition among candidates.
“During the interviews, everyone listened to everyone else and was always helpful and understanding,” he said.
Nordman said she is also applying to be a summer RA as a back-up plan if she is not chosen to be an RA for the fall. She said her other strategy is to apply for any spots that open up if accepted applicants decide not to take their positions.
“If neither works out, I’ll just have to be a regular resident and try again next year,” she said.
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