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William Harris
Brandi Bradley
ENC 2135
11/23/15
Resident Advisors: Promoting Healthy Communities
Within the U.S. there is a high demand and expectation for achievement and education
which as a result pushes large quantities of people towards higher education opportunities. In
fall of 2013 alone, total U.S. undergraduate enrollment for colleges totaled at 17.5 million people
(IES 2015). These students in going to college are now embarking upon a journey that may take
them away from their homes and into cities and states that they have never experienced before.
A concern as a result of this is housing for these students within the college town. In the case of
FSU there are 32,948 undergraduate students enrolled, with 80% of them living off campus, and
20% living on campus (U.S. News 2015). The students living on campus reside within residence
halls, staffed by a group of cleaning staff, administrational staff, and resident advisors. Each of
these groups satisfies a particular need within the hall, the cleaning staff maintain the conditions
of the dorms overall, the administration keeps a handle on the work schedule and organization of
the other two groups, and the resident advisors help provide for the social needs of the students.
These occupiers of the halls are coming to school for a better education and an
enrichment of their own human capital and are thusly one of the primary reason for these halls
existence outside of pure housing concerns. It is then in any universitys best interest to assist
these students in their daily life ensuring a healthy social experience and as a result of it more
involvement in the schools programs, increasing their own standing as a result. This gives
credence to why there are 9,710 resident advisors working within colleges and universities in the

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U.S. (U.S. Department of Labor 2009) These resident advisors are necessary staff that exhibits
the universitys interest in supplying the necessary tools and functions for a students success.
FSUs page on University housing describes the resident advisor, RAs are carefully selected for
their academic proficiency, extracurricular involvement, concern for the welfare of fellow
students, and ability to cope with the demands of their role. They are trained to be sensitive to the
academic, emotional, and social challenges facing college students, particularly those involved
with the normal adjustments to residence hall living. (FSU Housing Page 2015)
The resident advisor provides this service in the form of social programs and floor
activities designed to get residents out of their rooms to interact with one another and promote
the solidification of a more well-connected community. The resident advisor is thoroughly
trained in how they ought to approach situations, how to take up a position as a leader, and how
to successfully integrate social interaction and persuasion in their efforts to affect the population
as a whole within the residence hall. The problem that resident advisors face is then one in
which they must try to foster such an environment in their halls, reaching the residents through
use of their training and own social skills. But before resident advisors can begin to try to
cultivate an environment in which social interaction is a healthy and mutually beneficial
experience, they must first be able to ameliorate the problems already present within the system;
the abnormalities that most residents typically present them with. Yet another issue comes in the
training that they receive, it is important that the resident advisor is able to not only deal with any
physical maladies that crop up, but also those that fall under the mental category.
In order for resident advisors to actually be effective in how they operate within their
communities they need to have an understanding on how to deal and interact with their residents.
There is a need to be knowledgeable and adaptable in order to tailor interaction with every

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individual within the community. Frequently special occasions arise in which the resident
advisor must be prepared to effectively and directly address the situation at hand in a timely
manner lest it deteriorate and worsen as time progresses. Resident advisors must then attempt to
still increase the unity of the community even as other factors act as deterrents to their progress
in that field.
Residents can often come into school with dispositions that may lead to substance abuse,
previous mental disorders, depression, and a wide range of social or emotional disadvantages
that may impede their ability to work in a close proximity community environment. In research
done by Dennis Thombs and others, they research the effectiveness of resident advisors training
for first aid and dealing with substance abuse, claiming that current methods are inadequate for
teaching resident advisors the necessary steps to take for successfully dealing with such events.
Dennis in affirming the importance of such training says that, Alcohol use, drug use, and mental
health disorders are not rare in the US college student population. He also utilizes data from the
American Psychiatric Association stating that, the following proportions of 19- to 25-year-old
US college students met criteria for certain conditions: 18 % for any personality disorder, 13 %
for alcohol dependence, 12 % for any anxiety disorder, 11 % for any mood disorder, 8 % for
alcohol abuse, 4 % for drug abuse, and 1 % for drug dependence. Another national study found
that in the past school year, 43 % of college students felt so depressed it was difficult to
function, 9 % seriously considered suicide, and 1 % attempted suicide. (Thombs 2014) The
resident advisors must then be able to act in such ways that can overcome these problems that
can be found within residence hall communities. Resident advisors are able to cross this
boundary or else their ability to communicate and interact with the residents will be impeded, it
requires tactfulness on the resident advisors part to deal with those suffering from dependencies,

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mental disorders, or depression. This form of support comes either in the act of simply being
present for the affected individual as well as being proactive in their addressing of the situation,
they must be able to foresee future problems and solve them before they become more
expansive.
At this point that a specific type of resident advisor training comes into play, gatekeeper
training for suicide prevention, enabling resident advisors to more adequately and quickly come
to deal with problems as they develop. Deborah Taub in her research found that, new RAs
showed significant improvements in their knowledge of suicide, knowledge of suicide warning
signs, knowledge of places to refer, and crisis communications skills, after having applied the
new gatekeeper training. It works in such a fashion that the main focus on the trainings
effectiveness is not on the quantity of lives saved, but rather on, gatekeeper attitudes, skills, and
knowledge necessary to recognize individuals at risk and make effective referrals to available
sources of assistance. These were the main concerns in communicating to the RAs just what
was required of them in this new training and why it was important. In the research Taub also
found that the training was treated more carefully by new RAs than by returning RAs, who
already demonstrated mastery in that regard. The rationale behind this type of training for RAs
was that, RAs interact with students more than other student affairs professionals and are
therefore in a position to intervene more directly in students' lives. (Taub 2013).
Susan Pasco also addresses gatekeeper training in her research and demonstrates how the
training can be incorporated to have a better retention of the knowledge gained. She noted that
the researchs findings, demonstrated the positive impact that participation in experiential
exercises and role play practices brings to gatekeeper training. By doing mock runs and trials

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of these situations, the resident assistant is then better prepared to deal with such instances in the
future. (Pasco 2012)
In the end, its the resident assistants prime placing within the community of incoming
students who may need help that puts them in the best position to help identify problems
occurring within the community. It is integral to the effectiveness of the resident advisors
attempts for social involvement that there are no maladies affecting the resident population in
such a negative manner. Through the initiation of gatekeeper training into the resident advisors
repertoire, it allows for both an increased self-efficacy of the resident advisor in how they are
directly influencing the lives of others as well as providing for the well-being of the individual
who can then contribute to the community as a whole.
Outside of atypical situations involving suicidal thoughts or tendencies, its important for
the effectiveness of resident advisors to address the social cues they receive from their residents.
While some of these cues can be indicative of a greater problem like depression, in most cases it
can just be an indicator of how well received certain strategies are. William Gentry in his
research article, expresses that, forming interpersonal relationships with student advisees is an
important responsibility of resident advisors, and, resident advisors must maintain and
cultivate interpersonal relationships with their residents and therefore the ability to recognize
emotions is paramount. He observed the effect that being able to correctly identify facial
expressions had on resident advisors overall performance. In the study Gentrys hypothesis of
more effective resident advisors recognizing more emotions accurately held true. Gentry
continued on to say in response to these results that, successfully recognizing facial expressions
related to emotion is one important skill resident advisors need to ensure their success on the
job. (Gentry 2007)

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A resident advisor for Landis Hall on the FSU campus, Kelli Doyle, shared her insight on
her interactions with residents, Ideally I would love to communicate with everyone face to face
in a perfect world where we were all here all of the time. She values the ability to make a
personal connection with her residents on a daily basis that then both strengthens her own bond
with the community and increases the chances of communal participation at later points in time
by residents who have already interacted with and are more at ease with her. Kelli also detailed
how she approaches different situations, often adapting her own disposition towards the resident
in order to communicate on a more effective level with them. Kelli went on to use an analogy,
Its just like trying to teach a classroom full of different children. Youve got to change your
tactics to appeal to them. Its a multi-tiered and varied approach that works best in situations
such as this. A majority of the time figuring out how a person best responds to certain social
situations takes some getting used to, which is why it would be prudent of the resident advisors
to be able to quickly adapt to such situations.
It is in this way that training the resident advisors to accurately interpret and react to
different facial expressions is a reliable means for preparing them to more effectively interact
with residents and promote a healthy community environment. Accurately interpreting the
feelings and emotions of residents can allow the resident advisor to more quickly address issues
as well as more effectively influence and encourage participation by students in the residence
hall as a whole. Such the intent and purpose of the resident advisors within the halls.
Resident advisors are also of course privy to many cases of trouble or conflict within
their communities as well, though every one may not be a conflict or problem in the traditional
sense. Doyle comments on their frequency, [Conflicts happen] Quite often, and only because
the conflicts vary under each circumstance. Its not always your typical residential conflict, its

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sometimes something that you notice within your floor. She goes on to mention a specific
problem that is unique to her floor, in that due to the layout of the residence hall, there is a
ground floor that is also of concern to her. She has seen an issue in getting the first and ground
floor to really interact on a large scale level because of the elevation difference.
Things like this lead into how Doyle operates in her inter-floor relations, trying to create
events that incorporate areas accessible to both types of residents and trying to instigate better
relations and more familiarity between the two areas. Specific problems such can occur with
frequency in any residence hall situation and they arent necessarily things like drug abuse or
mental illness. Kelli stated that in her previous dorm as a resident advisor she had difficulty in
getting people involved and getting outside of their dorms, whether due to a lack of initiative on
the residents part or simply due to busyness of the residents, there are workarounds that have to
be constantly brought up and thought of in order to achieve a healthy and involved community.
Another important aspect that contributes towards the success of resident advisors and
their programs stems from the way they communicate with the resident advisors. While there are
face to face interactions that rely namely on facial and tonal cues, the importance of this
exhibited by Gentrys research, all communication is not done in such a fashion. A multitude of
communication occurs while resident advisors are away from the dorm and while students are
absent. In the college environment, many students are transitioning from one place to the other
in a very rapid and hurried flow that is to be expected of a high load schedule and a spread out
campus. The opportunity for a lot of face to face interactions and appeals is simply not present
as the most available form of communication, rather the resident assistant must utilize posters,
fliers, and even small slips of paper taped on doors in order to inform and connect with their
residents. Doyle mentions this, Even if its not verbal communication its a form of

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communication (posters). At least its still me putting an extension of myself out there even if
its not in person. She recognizes the effect that such postings and effort shows to the residents
and details, and its not just the work put in that shows in her efforts to communicate, its also the
way these posters are designed.
Facebook provides another way in which resident advisors can communicate with their
residents. While Doyle did not discuss her use of such a medium, Lauren Kacvinksy researched
its impact on resident advisor and resident relations. The rationale behind such a tool being that,
Facebook may represent a new tool that RAs could use to maintain connections to their
residents or to identify concerns. While not exactly being a replacement for face-to-face
interaction, it is able to supplement it as a tool in which oversight on the mental health of
residents can be assessed by telling cues or even Facebook status updates that may seem
depressed.
A multitude of factors come into play when designing a poster that catches the eye,
delivers a message, and doesnt spend too long going into too much detail and as a result losing
the viewer. Doyle said how she takes such things like font, color, pictures, titles, and even
placement of the posters on the walls and doors into account, trying to post them at around eye
level or if theyre small slips taping them directly to the handle in order to ensure the content is
viewed by the residents of the dorm. Again though, such efforts into advertising events and
keeping residents involved can be disregarded by residents who either dont wish to participate,
or dont have the desire to connect with many people, seeing college as less of a balance between
social and school work and just being that of schooling. It plays into the expectations of social
interactions that many people come into college expecting.

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Its a balance between incorporating and enforcing the rules and standards of the resident
hall as well as providing a personal interaction with the resident. Doyle faces troubles with how
she regulates herself and her image in the hall community. She describes herself as a very
friendly person who also just wants to be liked, but not necessarily be friends with, by everyone
under her care as it stimulates more interaction in the community and encourages them to see her
as not just a leader, but someone to talk to, Theres not a clear divide between the friend and the
enforcer, its hard to cross that divide sometimes. A consolidation between the two roles or an
instance of split personality are ways in which to incorporate both positives and negatives of
other side, and its the ability of the resident advisor to apply their knowledge in such a way that
it inspires the confidence of the residents and enables them to see him/her as a leader and social
focal point among their community.
The training involved in making resident advisors out of current students is an arduous
process that involves comprehensive coverage of the multitude of differing tasks that must be
addressed in the residence hall. Doyle said, We get training before every semester of being an
RA, we have a week and a half before summer session, 3-5 days for spring, 3 weeks for fall, as
well as describing the typical workload of such a day, Were always prepared and kept updated
on changes, its always good to review even if you think you remember everything... We go
through very intense training all day long sometimes from 9am -9 pm. This amount of training
works into the ethos of the resident assistants position in the hierarchy of the hall system in that
the residents.
Howard Margolis observes the necessity of properly trained resident advisors while also
noting how integral they are to the community, The entire movement toward community
integration rests ultimately on the foundation of RA skills, like an inverted pyramid. Failure to

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provide adequate training will surely topple the pyramid, or strain it to the point where the blocks
will separate, crumble, and plummet to the ground. Unfortunately, these blocks are people. He
also expresses the effect that better training will have on resident advisors, It is believed,
however, that making the RAs more effective, and providing them with standards against which
to judge their competence, will improve their professionalism, job stability, and job satisfaction.
(Howard 1980) It is therefore critical that the training provided to these resident advisors is
completed in such a way that results in a lasting understanding of the techniques and
expectations of their own performance.
Community building is the chief responsibility of a resident advisor, and through the
various training methods displayed as well as a multi-tiered approach to fostering such growth in
a residence hall, they can achieve relative success in conquering this obstacle hled within their
jobs. Though the difficulty varies from RA to RA as does the quality of the individual in the
position, so long as they are provided with the techniques and the tools to succeed, social
integration of all the residents can reasonably be achieved.

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Works Cited
Caza, Arran, and David M. Rosch. "An Exploratory Examination of Students' Pre-Existing
Beliefs about Leadership." Studies in Higher Education 39.9 (2014): 1586-98. Print.
Doyle, Kelli, Personal Interview, October 9, 2015
EVERETT, DIANE D., and ZACHARY V. LOFTUS. "Resident Assistants as Rule Enforcers
Versus Friends: An Exploratory Study of Role Conflict." Journal of College & University
Student Housing 37.2 (2011): 72-89. Print.
Gentry, William A., Lauren S. Harris, and Stephen Nowicki. "Recognition of Emotion in Facial
Expressions and Resident Advisor Effectiveness." Journal of College & University Student
Housing 34.2 (2007): 61-9. Print.
KACVINSKY, LAUREN E., and MEGAN A. MORENO. "Facebook use between College
Resident Advisors' and their Residents: A Mixed Methods Approach." College Student
Journal 48.1 (2014): 16-22. Print.
KRANZOW, JEANNINE, STEPHANIE M. FOOTE, and SARA E. HINKLE. "Fostering
Success for Students in Transition." Journal of College & University Student Housing 41.2
(2015): 124-7. Print.
Margolis, Howard, Terry D. Meddock, and Joseph S. Fiorelli. "Training Resident Advisors: A
Product-Process Competency Approach." Journal of Special Education 14.3 (1980) Print.
Occupational Employment and Wages Resident Advisors Bureau of Labor Statistics. United
States Department of Labor May, 2008. Web 11/25/15. url:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes399041.htm
Pasco, Susan, et al. "The Impact of Experiential Exercises on Communication and Relational
Skills in a Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper-Training Program for College Resident Advisors."
Journal of American College Health 60.2 (2012): 134-40. Print.
Shim, Sungok, and Allison Ryan. "What do Students Want Socially when they Arrive at College?
Implications of Social Achievement Goals for Social Behaviors and Adjustment during the
First Semester of College." Motivation & Emotion 36.4 (2012): 504-15. Print.
Taub, Deborah J., et al. "The Impact of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention on University
Resident Assistants." Journal of College Counseling 16.1 (2013): 64-78. Print.
Thombs, Dennis, et al. "Resident Assistant Training Program for Increasing Alcohol, Other Drug,
and Mental Health First-Aid Efforts." Prevention Science 16.4 (2015): 508-17. Print.
Undergraduate Enrollment National Center for Education Statistics. NCES, May, 2015. Web
11/27/15 url: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cha.asp

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University Housing Florida State University. FSU, 2015. Web 12/3/15 url:
https://housing.fsu.edu/employment