Editorial: Bad changes for RAs

Student Affairs does not have the best track record for well thought-out plans, but the latest news to emerge from its offices--substantial changes to how the residential adviser system works--is by far the worst change to residential life in recent memory. Eddie Hull, director of residential life and housing services, and his boss, Larry Moneta, vice president of student affairs, should act immediately to reverse the plans, which will do nothing except hurt student life.

Among the changes is an increase in the number of on-call hours RAs need to serve, doubling the number of RAs on call on weekends and requiring RAs to remain at the University over holidays. But there is not enough work during breaks to occupy the RAs, so increasing the number of on-call hours only increases the number of hours RAs spend doing nothing. Especially on West Campus, where the primary purpose of an RA is to unlock doors for residents, having more than one RA on call is little more than an inefficiency.

The worst change in the new RA policy prevents RAs from being involved in campus activities that take up more than 10 hours per week. That is, RAs can no longer be heavily involved in organizations like Duke Student Government, the Duke University Union, selective living and greek groups, and any number of other leadership activities on campus. The result of this policy is that instead of allowing RAs to be a vibrant and integral part of the University community with interesting experiences and activities from which residents can benefit, RAs will become one-dimensional arms of the administration. Additionally, RAs will now be expected to eat with their residents two times a week, which is an ill-advised attempt at forced interaction.

Essentially, what these changes mean is that RAs can no longer have a life outside of student affairs. If the University wants to build community, the first step should be allowing them to be part of the campus culture instead of chaining them to the dorms. Worse, since many students become RAs because of financial necessity, these negative changes will disproportionately affect poorer students.

The administration should also be strongly criticized for the way these changes were made--without any input from students or current RAs--and because the changes were announced only after the entire RA selection process had been completed. This new policy is a huge step in the wrong direction, and student affairs should immediately change its plan.