Students who are interested in becoming a Resident Assistant (RA) for the 2025-26 school year have limited time left to apply, as applications close on Jan. 20.
After Jan. 20, applicants will begin the interview process, where they will participate in a group interview, followed by one-on-one interviews by a panel of Resident Directors from various residence halls.
“In their group processing they are just really evaluated on how they work in a group, which is such a major part of being an RA,” Abby Fisher, a current RA in Reed Hall said.
Fisher will be reapplying for her position next year, but will not be expected to participate in group processing with first time applicants.
Alana Harrington, the RD for Evans Hall, said that the reason for this is because returning RAs are given different questions in their individual interviews.
“They’ve learned in the role already, like, they know what they’re doing,” Harrington said. “And so the questions are a bit more like ‘how are you hoping to grow next year?’ Or ‘what is something that you’ve learned this year that you want to bring into the next year with you?’”
Fisher said one thing that she wants to continue doing as an RA in the future is hosting Dancing with the Stars watch parties in the Reed lobby.
“That was a great way to get people from different units, because I love hanging out with my unit, but I love when I can connect them with other people,” Fisher said. “So then it feels like Reed is more of a home instead of, like, just divided.”
Fisher said that for that particular event, every couch in the lobby was filled.
“It was amazing to see how passionate people got,” Fisher said.
Clare Covert, a first-year student applying for the first time, said that activities in the lobby, specifically movie nights, are something she wants to continue doing if she becomes an RA.
“I just think it’s fun, and movies are something everyone universally enjoys,” Covert said.
Harrington said that every RD looks for different things when considering potential RAs.
“For me, I really value teachability and like, just kind of a desire to learn and grow,” Harrington said. “I think you can not be good at organization, or you can not be good at starting conversation, but if you’re teachable, I can teach you how to do those things.”
Fisher, who is on the track and field team in addition to being an RA, said that learning how to do the job is a process.
“My first two months were rough, trying to find a balance, but keeping a strict schedule and just holding those boundaries with the residents and with my team too, just being like, this is how much free time I have, and just making sure you, like, stick to that schedule.”
For those who have not applied yet but are still interested, applications close on Monday.
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