To whom it may concern,

The Resident Assistant Organizational Committee was originally created in the Winter of 2021 as a response to the mistreatment of Resident Assistants by the Texas State University Department of Housing and Residential Life. Due to recent changes–such as a much-needed increase in pay for RAs, which was universally recognized as a positive and much-needed change–we hoped that the Fall Semester of 2022 demonstrated a new beginning in RA/DHRL relations. We believed that we were finally being supported, valued, and respected by the university as employees and recognized as an essential part of the campus living experience.

Unfortunately, recent decisions by the department (particularly the decision to house students in campus housing at over 100% capacity) has shown us the department does not respect us as employees; DHRL has chosen to solve the housing issue by forcing residents to share living space with resident assistants. This is an unacceptable solution, for the following reasons:

Resident Assistants are partially compensated through free room and board. Because RA’s are traditionally allotted an entire room to themselves, foisting a roommate on RAs essentially cuts their housing compensation in half. Notably, this loss of value is significantly lower than the financial compensation which DHRL is currently planning on giving to RAs with roommates ($150.00). 
As Resident Assistants, we are in charge of enforcing DHRL policy in our dorms, as well as engaging in conflict mediation between roommates. Because of this, it puts both RAs and our resident roommates in an uncomfortable position: RAs are now expected to be on the clock at all times, even within their own living spaces, and residents sharing a room with RAs are denied privacy which all other residents rightfully expect. 
There is a clear conflict between the university’s policy towards mandated on-campus housing for certain students (freshman residents under the age of 20 and with fewer than 30 credit hours) and its policy to accept more incoming freshmen than it can actually house. 
For all of these reasons, it is our opinion that this decision to force RAs and residents to cohabitate violates the mission statement of DHRL to provide “welcoming inclusive living communities for our diverse student population that foster academic success, campus engagement, and personal development”. Our requests come from a place of self respect and our desire to uphold this mission statement as employees. We also are aware that as RAs, our housing and dining are in the hands of our employer. Many of us cannot afford to continue our college education without the financial assistance that DHRL provides, and  as a result speaking out has the potential to risk not only our employment, but also our continued education. Despite this, we believe that it is important that we make our voices heard. 

Requests:

We request a clear deadline from DHRL for appropriate housing measures to be found for incoming freshmen, after which RAs will resume single-occupancy living arrangements.
We request that as many RAs as possible no longer have roommates who are residents. Instead, RAs should be allowed to share rooms with each other wherever possible. 
We request that the department pay each RA that has a roommate a percentage of half of the base cost of housing for their dorm equal to the time that they will be living with a roommate (e.g. if the roommate is living there for half of the semester, the RA will receive 25% of the semester’s housing cost for their dorm). 
We request that DHRL temporarily alter its requirements for certain freshmen to live on campus so that more freshmen are eligible for off-campus living. 
We expect a response from the department addressing and providing for these requests by August 13th, 2022. We acknowledge that the housing department is facing a difficult situation; we believe that by being properly supported and acknowledged, residents assistants can be a vital component in assuring our first year bobcats of the best possible freshmen year. We hope to partner with the DHRL in ensuring we work together to further the mission of Texas State. We look forward to your response.