University RAs underpaid
By Stacy Feathersone
Writer
Last year I served as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Swartz Hall. I loved my job, despite Swartz’s notoriety and reputation for boisterousness. Life was interesting to say the least, and my residents were fun. Intangible benefits like leadership or mediation skills were innumerable. My pay, on the other hand, was measly.
University RAs receive significantly less compensation than RAs at peer institutions, yet do significantly more.
RA duties here include extensive programming requirements, participation on committees, weekly staff meetings, room inspections, mentoring and mediating, hall Web site maintenance and regular duty (building rounds and office hours).
For all this toil, RAs receive a room credit. These students are Office of Housing and Residential Life (OHRL) employees, but they work long after hours. The position is 24/7, demanding and unappreciated.
For years, RAs have quietly petitioned for better compensation. I say quietly because their contract asks RAs to resign rights to protest or speak disparagingly about OHRL or University policy publicly. Imagine the havoc if RAs went on strike just one weekend night. Imagine the cost to the University if students sought more fruitful employment and “professional” RAs had to be hired. The importance of the job RAs fulfill would suddenly be brought into sharp relief.
A few years ago some RAs asked outright for better pay, a decision almost costing them their jobs. Luckily, I’m not an RA anymore. My newest job is reporter. Sorry, OHRL.
I’m being unfair. OHRL does appreciate its staff with an occasional free meal, bubble solution, some candy, a magnet imprinted with “OHRL” and $5 to spend on fried food and a school bus ride to the Bloomsburg Fair.
You’ll forgive me for not jumping up and down.
As a member of the RA Council last year, we decided to research just how far University compensation lags behind peer institutions. To our shock, most schools expecting their RAs to complete a programming requirement provided a free room, free board and a stipend. The Council did submit a tactic to the Plan for Bucknell. But there are over 500 tactics awaiting review, and while implementation happens, the logic of prioritization is questionable and the speed of implementation is slow. The longer we wait, the longer University RAs are taken advantage of.
If the University is strapped for cash, perhaps RAs could be compensated more or less depending on their position. For instance, I would argue that RAs leading a first-year community work harder than RAs for upperclassmen. There is already a hierarchy of pay in place—Gateway RAs receive a half-room credit—that could be extended.
But I find it hard to believe funding is the issue. After all, we seemed to have enough lying around for that attractive archway near the Bison terrace. My guess is the administration knows students coping with the University’s price tag will be forced to serve as RAs and accept meager compensation.
