Thirteen resident assistants resigned at or before Winter Break last semester, and hall directors are struggling to fill in the gaps.
Former resident assistant Joe Thomas, who recently resigned from his position at Brayton/Clevenger, said his former job was extremely stressful.
"Being an RA is a 24-7 job, and I personally could not devote the time needed to do the job well," Thomas said. "I decided that being an RA was not my priority. My floor deserved someone that can be there for them more than I was able to."
Like Thomas, a number of resident assistants have resigned recently, leaving Ball State University students with questions.
Catherine Bickel, associate director of Housing and Residence Life, said the university hires 121 RAs for each semester. Of those 121 RAs, 13 resigned during or after the Fall Semester.
The perception that an unusually high number of RAs had resigned was probably because so many RAs have resigned around the same time, whereas it is usually more spread out throughout the academic year, Bickel said.
RAs are students who promote the academic and personal development of students in a diverse residence hall community, according to the Housing and Residence Life Web site.
Being an RA requires a great deal of time and responsibility. RAs aim to improve not only their own living communities, but the living and learning communities on their designated floors, Thomas said.
Aside from this goal, RAs create bulletin boards, sponsor floor programs, attend hall councils, work the front desk, have assigned duty nights and, most importantly, help the residents on their floor with any questions or problems they may experience.
Michael Messer, another recently resigned RA, said the two most important aspects of being an RA are being himself and being a student. But as an RA, he was afraid to do just that. Having thought about quitting prior to being asked to resign, he said he wasn't surprised it worked out that way.
"The main reason I quit was because the directors were afraid I wouldn't document incidents," Messer said.
Now that he's quit, Messer said he feels more free to be himself.
"The directors weren't bad people," he said, "but I think some of them had problems recalling what it was like to be an RA, or a resident for that matter."
Bickel said many RAs resign because they have personal family issues, learn they are eligible to graduate early or are offered academic internship opportunities.
Freshman Ryan Thrower said his floor's RA resigned at Thanksgiving, and it took until recently to replace him.
"However, because we started running the floor ourselves when the original RA resigned, we have built friendships that will last a lifetime," he said.
Bickel said each situation is different, but when an RA resigns, possible replacements come from students in the Edhi200 class, people who applied but were not originally selected or new students interested in applying.
Freshman Adrianne Gibson, public relations major and student in Edhi200, the RA preparation class, said she thinks being an RA could be a tough job.
"I am a bit skeptical of becoming an RA if I get the chance," Gibson said. "When RAs resign at mid-semester, it makes me wonder if I am capable of doing the job."
According to the Housing and Residence Life Web site, certain qualifications are required to be selected as a RA. Some include maintaining a minimum of a 2.2 grade point average, completing Edhi200 with a grade of C or better, completing a minimum 28 credit hours and accepting to work for the entire academic year.
"The resident assistant job is one of the most challenging of student leadership opportunities on campus," Bickel said.
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