Andrew Kim said he never knew what to expect working as a residential adviser at OU, but he couldn’t imagine a two-hour standoff between himself, the housing team in Headington College, the OU Police Department and a student along with a bat living in their dorm room.
Unfortunately, Kim said, this Jan. 2022 situation presented a health and safety risk to the residential community and required him to ask the bat be removed from the building.
“We're not sure how the bat even got into the building to begin with, but the stars aligned for this story to happen … (and) for those two hours, Headington College was the center of the universe,” Kim said.
Kim, a 2020 OU community health and sociology graduate and a former RA for about three years, said memorable situations like this show that the primary role of RAs is caring for residents 24/7.
“There's an old saying that even when you're not on duty, you're still on duty, because at the end of the day whatever happens to your specific residents is going to be very much your business,” Kim said. “You care about their health and safety and well-being, and so you want to always stay on top of the latest and greatest developments that may involve them.”
According to a statement by an OU spokesperson, RAs are crucial to housing and residence life. They are frontline support in the residence halls and are imperative to the health and safety of OU Housing residents.
Students in this position are typically upperclass students who lived on campus during their first year, according to the spokesperson. Each RA works approximately 20 hours per week during the academic year, not including move-in and August training.
RAs go about their day like every other student, Kim said. They wake up, go to class and do their homework just like each of their residents.
Jackson Rigdon, a marketing and supply chain senior and current RA at Cross Village, said from 8 p.m. to midnight he patrols the dorm. During the day, he might have a short desk shift where he sits near the front of the residence hall in case a resident needs help finding information or resources around campus or getting into the building.
“We're still just mainly students,” Rigdon said. “Our lives aren't driven by things we do.”
Kim also said RAs are responsible for various administrative work, including running the front desk of each residence hall, holding office hours, scheduling one-on-one meetings with residents or planning events, which Kim said helped expand his creativity.
“I will say prior to the RA job, I never really had much of a creative side to me,” Kim said. “Being in charge of developing programs for students has allowed me to work with others to put together something that the community at large will enjoy.”
The job certainly keeps employees busy, Caxton Muchono, former RA and OU data science and aerodynamics graduate student, said. Every day, Muchono was on his phone, ready to address any concerns his residents had.
One time, Muchono said, he was doing homework with friends when a resident called to ask if he could come by and check on him. Muchono said the resident had been drinking heavily and was concerned about his health. The resident was fine, Muchono said, but this was one of many examples of how OU RAs set aside time to help their residents.
“I feel like time management (is difficult),” Muchono said. “Sometimes you get really involved being an RA that you kind of forget your school obligations … and then (if) a big situation arises (in) your residence, which you have to address — sometimes it could take weeks following up with different people.”
Even though the job can be taxing, there are plenty of fun memories each RA said they will never forget.
Rigdon, who has been an RA for four years, remembers the “wild” things he’s seen freshmen do. Parties, fights and damage to school property such as ripping off exit signs and security doors are among the many incidents Rigdon has seen.
“I am a male, and I am a little bit on the bigger side so I can handle those stuff, and for me, it's just a ton of fun to watch all that happen,” Rigdon said. “I like the stories of it.”
Since RAs often have to get involved in stopping the things residents try to do, Muchono said many students think of RAs being an authority similar to the police. However, he wants residents to know he is there for their safety, but also to be their friend.
“When I came into OU, I just came in by myself, and I feel like a lot of freshmen come in like that too,” Muchono said. “I'm like (their) first friend, which has been through at least one year or more of this university and has a lot of resources that (they) can use toward building your next four years of college. I just wish people saw us as a friend more than just an authoritative figure.”
Muchono said the job can also be taxing to mental health, as RAs must deal with residents while also balancing academic work.
Even so, Muchono said he has been able to form many great relationships with residents and co-workers during his time as an RA. Rigdon also said that being an RA for four years has brought him over 200 residents, many of whom he still keeps in touch with.
Although the job has brought great memories and relationships for RAs, Rigdon said he has had many difficulties as well. Rigdon said there were three sexual assault cases during his junior year that impacted his residents, affecting his mental health.
“That weighed on me mentally because I was there for my students,” Rigdon said. “I helped them out as much as I could. I gave them the correct resources. I did everything I was supposed to for the job, but it was still very stressful. It sucks seeing people go through life changes in a negative way.”
Kim said one of the main issues he struggled with as an RA was the culture of the workplace. Often, as an RA, he said he felt underappreciated and that there are many areas in which the department can improve.
“I just believe that more can be done to support RAs, support a culture where there is like, open honesty and transparency within the departments,” Kim said. “It's not necessarily attributed to any one person, I believe it's just with how the department is structured. There are limited opportunities for RAs to provide feedback and also be enlisted to provide their input on how we can make this department better.”
According to the spokesperson, OU Housing does its best to support students in every way it can.
“As with most student jobs, navigating workplace responsibilities with academic requirements can be challenging for student employees, which includes RAs,” the statement read. “OU Housing and Residence Life works to provide a safe and open working environment where all team members feel valued and heard.”
Kim said although RAs receive free housing and a university meal plan, the compensation for the job is another area he feels needs to be improved. According to the spokesperson, OU resident advisers receive a monthly stipend of $225, a private room and a meal plan.
Although the job can be difficult, Muchono, Rigdon and Kim all said the experience they had and the relationships they formed have greatly impacted their experiences at OU.
“You very much learn this on the job,” Kim said, “You always have to expect the unexpected, especially when you're on duty.”
