Time Management
You are running late to your staff meeting for the third time in a row, how do you communicate professionally about why you are late to your RHD?
Set a reminder on your calendar with an alarm so that you can get to the meeting on time. Apologize and work to prioritize the staff meeting.
A staff member is interested in going to a concert on their usual duty night so they ask you to swap duty nights. You already have your week planned out and have an obligation on the night that they are looking for coverage for. What do you say to them?
You are dealing with a roommate conflict with one of the suites on your floor. While you are facilitating this conversation, other residents keep texting you sharing an issue that they are going through. You feel overwhelmed, how do you handle both situations?
Focus on the present situation and message the other resident after to set up a time to meet one on one.
You are running late waiting for your dinner to be ready to pick up from the Mirage. Do you text your duty partner to let them know that you will be a little late or do you just show up late?
Text them! Communication is key... if you can't tell from this presentation
SRAs Kate and Sabrina are working on creating a game for their presentation. SRA Sabrina does not understand bingo and SRA Kate does not know how to explain it without a real bingo game occurring.
Instead of getting frustrated with each other, they slow down their explanations and use visuals to help the other better understand what they mean.
You don’t do your bulletin boards on time because of a test that you had to study for. You did not explain this to your RHD and now you are being reprimanded. What will you do differently next time?
Communicate commitments to your RHD prior to the due date for the bulletin boards. Ask for help or an extension.
Your duty partner keeps leaving the duty log to be your responsibility. How do you make it so that the work is not one-sided.
Alternate weeks
On move in day, you are talking to one of your new residents. They ask for your snapchat so that they can organize times to hang out with you, what do you do?
This varies by each RA, some RAs wouldn't feel comfortable sharing that because they don't want to see what their residents are doing and vice versa. Other RAs would feel comfortable doing that and that is good too!
You write a maxient and think that you covered everything. You told your duty partner that you got it covered so they did not read it over because they trusted your judgement. However, you included aspects that were not necessary and your RHD calls you in the next day to discuss. Your RHD asks if you need a refresher on how to write maxients.
Yes, you need a refresher, no shame in clarification or asking for help.
Your friend wants to hang out with another friend in another building. They don't want to hand in their ID at the front desk so they ask to borrow yours so that they can scan in without any issue. What do you do?
Never let anyone have your ID
You and your duty partner always complete your required three rounds in the first 3 hours of duty. That way you guys can go directly up to your rooms to sleep after office hours are done.
This is reasonable because sleep is important
Rounds are meant to be spaced accordingly. For weekly duty, there should be at least one AFTER 11pm
You are struggling with a personal issue and feel conflicted about sharing this with your staff during highs and lows at your staff member.
Just because others feel comfortable sharing a lot does not mean that you have to. Share what you feel comfortable sharing.
The main way that you communicate with your residents is through GroupMe. There, you send important campus announcements, info for fun programs, and info for the next floor meeting. One of your residents hasn't joined and is constantly asking you in person questions that would be solved if they were in the GroupMe. What should you do?
Reiterate the importance of GroupMe and what its purpose is.
Another RA has been desperate to get coverage for their upcoming duty weekend. They text you the night before it starts and asks for you to switch. You have plans with your friends to go into the city, how do you respond in a respectful manner?
Answer as soon as possible and explain that it is short notice and that you cannot cover due to prior arrangements. Suggest that next time they ask you with a few days notice, preferably a week.
You have noticed that one of your residents is struggling to maintain their hygiene. How do you approach them from a concerned and supportive position?
Ask them how they are doing and what is going on in their life. Usually when there is a lack of hygiene it is due to stressful situations. Start the sentence after they explain how they are doing with: "I noticed that x is happening" and offer necessary suggestions for them to overcome this challenge
You have a last minute club social event that would coincide with the monthly in-service and decide that it's ok to miss out on the in-service. The only thing that you would really miss from it is the ice-breaker question that is always movie related. They're annoying anyway so it doesn't matter if you miss.
Still go, it is a commitment you make as an RA
The front desk worker fails to show in the morning. You cannot stay the full amount of time because of an appointment and are worried about leaving the desk unattended and being late to your appointment. How can you solve this issue?
Communicate with RHD on duty about your availability for sitting the front desk. Possibly ask duty partner to take over for you.
Remind them of the counseling center resources. Remind them that you are a student as well and that you need time to yourself to relax. You are there for them, but they need to also take steps to self-regulate their emotions.
You and one of your fellow RAs agree to switch duty nights. They say that they will send an email to the RHD to inform them and that they will CC you but now it is the day of the switch and they still haven't sent the email. What should you do.
Always cover your bases and take action instead of relying on others. Everybody gets busy so it is important to make sure that important communication is not lost.
One of your residents has been having ongoing issues with their roommate/suite mates and they have been coming to you about it. You told them to share their concerns with their roommate and they said that the end result was no change in behavior/action. The next step that you would take is facilitating a roommate mediation and roommate contract. How do you facilitate the roommate contract?
Go through the entire contract step by step in each section. This is the end all be all, therefore, each person needs to express ALL their concerns. There needs to be an established time frame in which both parties agree to have the contract in effect.
You organize one of your duty weekends on a weekend that you will be away. Instead of immediately asking for coverage weeks before, you assume that someone will be able to take it the day that it starts. You decide not to worry about it and leave to enjoy your weekend! After all somebody will cover it, we are a team!
Not your fault bro, you asked for coverage. They are NOT team players if they can't help a homie out
Everybody has to maintain their own mental and emotional needs and cannot always take on the burdens of others when it is constant. Take a moment to ask them how they are doing instead of just directly venting and insure that they feel heard as well.
You notice that your friend isn't picking up their phone and you really want to talk to them. Instead of waiting, you scan into their room WITHOUT knocking or asking them to come over. Your friend is upset and says they feel violated. Why?
3 knock rule before scanning in. You should only be using your RA scanning privileges for necessary situations such as lock outs and emergencies.
You are planning a program with an RA from another building. At first, it’s going great but then you realize that you are doing more work than they are for this collab. What do you do next to fix this?
Talk to them respectfully and politely, ask them to do certain tasks to even out the load. Do not accuse them of failing to help on purpose.
One of your residents has come to you saying that they have something serious to share with you. Before the conversation begins, you have to state that you are a mandated Title IX reporter and that depending on the scenario you may need to alert your RHD of the situation and move forward with the proper process. The resident shares that it would be a Title IX situation and fills you in on the scenario. They then continue with the Title IX filing process but then decide to not pursue it because it is a stressful process. What do you do to help them?
Respect their decision, it is their choice to complete this process. Everyone has different ways to process and overcome stressful situations. Check up with them and see how they are doing.