To Yolany Gonell, Dean Rochelle Mason, and the Office of Residential Life and Campus Activities:  

Faculty, students, staff, and administration of Colorado College agree that Resident Advisors (RAs) play one of the most significant roles in student development and success for undergraduate students. Various studies show the impact RAs have on undergraduate students who provide peer-to-peer support, emotional consolation, trauma response, academic and personal guidance, safety/emergency response, and support in other areas of wellness and development.

Over the past few years, the employment practices and policies set by the Office of Residential Life and Campus Activities (formerly the Office of Residential Life and Housing) have not adequately met the needs and satisfaction of those employed as RAs. Current and past RAs have continuously advocated for specific changes through a wide variety of tactics, including but not limited to serving on committees (committees that were developed and operated only by supervisors and administration), writing letters/emails of discontent, writing articles in campus-wide publications, and having one-on-one meetings with RLCs and various program/department directors. Very little action and change has occurred, and the RAs are still treated poorly as employees and often have their identities as students erased.

This petition is brought forward by current RAs, former RAs, other affiliated staff members, and other members of the Colorado College community and beyond to demand that Yolany Gonell (Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities) and Dean Rochelle Mason (Senior Associate Dean of Students) implement these suggested changes, respond appropriately, efficiently, and strategically to the following demands, and work towards providing and supporting the RAs employed by the Office of Residential Life and Campus Activities with more adequate and appropriate employment practices and policies.

It should be noted that this is not an exhaustive list of concerns/demands and that this petition merely serves as a starting point for a departmental shift. Any other concerns or demands that supporters of the petition would like to see can be sent to Spencer Spotts (spencer.spotts@coloradocollege.edu) or Annika Kastetter (annika.kastetter@coloradocollege.edu).

 Our list of current demands includes:

 1.     RESCHEDULING FALL RA TRAINING: Fall training, which usually takes place in August of each year, has consistently been a point of disappointment, frustration, and inequity for RAs. The past few years, fall training has typically lasted approximately three weeks and RAs are trained on a 9-5 schedule. While the scheduling of this training already lasted too long and did not adequately use or respect the time of all those involved, RAs for the 2016/2017 academic year were now contracted for a full month of training, with a move-in date of July 30-31st. Very few universities, if any, require such a dramatic length of time for training and the previous schedule for Colorado College RAs already seemed to stretch too long. Even more concerning about this change in date/scheduling is the seemingly strategic inequity and manipulation caused by such an early start date. Many students seek out summer employment and/or internships to develop professionally, financially, and personally. Very few to no employers/organizations are willing to hire an employee/intern/etc for such a short amount of time during the summer, and many RAs are now being forced to choose between summer employment/internship/fellowship opportunities and their academic-year employment as RAs. The Office of Residential Life and Campus Activities is not only pressuring students to sacrifice financial and professional growth in return for their employment in the upcoming year, but the office is also manipulating students into only prioritizing and placing significance on their employment as RAs. This is consistent with how RAs are treated during the academic year and with the constant theme of being treated more so as employees, rather than student employees. We demand that the schedule for Fall 2016 RA Training be revised and moved later into the month of August. THIS CHANGE NEEDS TO HAPPEN IMMEDIATELY SO THAT STUDENTS CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUMMER BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

2.     COMPENSATION FOR RA TRAINING: In line with the previous demand, RAs are also not compensated for their time in fall training. While the argument has tried to be made that the RA Yearly Stipend covers this time, this is inaccurate and inappropriate as the RAs in different areas/buildings are paid differently depending upon where they are placed (i.e. Western Ridge RAs are paid $500 for the entire year while Traditional Hall RAs are paid $3500) because of their different duties/expectations for the academic year. Therefore, if the stipend were to cover training before the academic year has started, there would need to be some reflection of equitable pay for all the RAs during this time since all RAs are committing to the same level of time and duties during Fall RA Training. Additionally, with such a large time commitment during the summer for RA training, many RAs are missing out on almost a full month of summer employment wages that they may need to support themselves throughout the academic year. In turn, the Office of Residential Life should be compensating RAs during training since these RAs should not have to sacrifice their financial stability in order to be present for training. This same logic and argument can be applied to Winter Training. We demand that RAs be compensated for their time during Fall and Winter RA training.

UPDATE: THIS IS ILLEGAL. Thanks to the research of Annika K, we can confirm that Colorado College legally must pay RAs for their mandatory training sessions in the fall and winter. This has historically not been the case and is a violation of Regulations 29 CFR 785.27 issued by the US Department of Labor. We will be sure to present this information when we meet with administration. 

3.     REVISING AND DEVELOPING FALL RA TRAINING: Training has not only been scheduled for too long and uncompensated in the past, but it has also not adequately developed the needs and skills required to be a successful RA during the academic year. RAs have consistently tried to express their feedback and make a difference in the programs/trainings/workshops that are part of RA training, but feedback is never effectively considered and implemented. As RAs, we are able to provide the most accurate insight on what we need to succeed/where we need to improve. Many members of the “RA Training Committee” often communicate to their fellow RAs that numerous decisions that are being made were made without their consent, knowledge, or input. We demand that RAs be more critically involved in the process of developing the training program, beginning now in order to prepare for fall training.

4.     RLC SUPPORT AND DIRECTOR RESPONSE: The Office of Residential Life and Campus Activities has not adequately and professionally responded to RAs concerns about RLCs or other affiliates of the office. Over the past academic year, various RLCs have posted discriminatory/triggering content in the halls, made discriminatory/triggering jokes and comments to RAs and other staff members, sponsored/allowed for discriminatory actions to occur at Residential Life and Campus Activities sponsored events, and consistently not provided the support or leadership that RAs have needed to succeed. When these concerns have been brought forward to the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities, very little to no serious action has been taken and RAs are left to feel completely unsupported in their office and discriminatory/triggering behavior that contradicts the institutional values of Colorado College continues to happen and be encouraged by the office. We demand that (I) RLCs be held more accountable for their discriminatory, triggering, inappropriate, and harmful behavior, (II) The Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities respond more efficiently and professionally to the concerns and needs of RAs, and (III) a larger and more transparent support system of other college professional staff members at CC be developed for RAs to approach and seek help from. In addition, we would like the exceptional work of Charlotte Bassam-Bowles and Skylor Morton to be recognized.  This year, Charlotte and Skylor worked tirelessly to create communities that are equitable, inclusive, and safe and ensured that RAs were supported and cared for.  This year, these were ‘unique’ communities of inclusion and support across Residential Life, and on many staffs, RLCs failed to provide adequate support for RAs and neglected to focus on inclusivity, equitability, and safety.  Thus, in the coming years, the communities created by Charlotte and Skylor should serve as the standard model for all Residential Life staff, and anything less should be confronted.

5.     RA STUDENT CONCERNS COMMITTEE: We would like to see support given to incorporate a RA Student Concerns Committee into the active list of RA employment committees. This committee will consist only of RAs for the purpose of serving RAs and their concerns throughout the academic year. This committee would establish a formal process for filing grievances, report any formal grievance to a designated Dean or an objective “third-party,” be responsible for collecting/writing evaluations for RLCs and the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities (of which would be submitted to previously noted Dean or third-party), and meet with the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities blockly or bi-blockly. We demand that RAs be given a professional and institutionally-supported platform for this committee to be formed and operated. 

6.     STIPEND FOR WESTERN RIDGE APARTMENT RAS: The current stipend for Western Ridge Apartment RAs is currently only $500 for the entire academic year. We feel as though this stipend does not adequately compensate RAs for their work throughout the year. While the room-in-kind costs more in an apartment than other buildings, this small stipend still does not equally meet the amount of work RAs in Western Ridge supply, especially with the higher quantity of on-call duty nights for this staff. RAs should not get financially "penalized" for being put in certain buildings when the expectations are fairly similar or equal to (if not more in terms of duty) other RAs in different buildings. We demand that Western Ridge Apartment RAs either be provided a more equitable and larger stipend or be contracted on a new form of hourly wage in addition to the stipend.

7.     TRANSPARENCY CLAUSE: This year, the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities seemed to increase the demand and pressure on RAs without actually making an effort to engage with RAs and directly communicate what their overall aims are.  This has put an immense amount of pressure on RLCs to convey messages to RAs that have often been contradictory or confusing, as well as an incredibly disappointing and frustrating amount of inconsistencies among staffs and supervisors. Additionally, many projects, ideas, committees, and actions were created then suddenly ceased to exist or function without any explanation or communication (such as the Gender Neutral Housing Committee and other commitments to diversity and inclusion). As the primary leadership position in the office, we demand that the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities make a greater effort to engage with RAs to shape goals and visions for the future, and provide us with a plan for creating more transparency within the office.

8.     PROFESSIONALISM AND CONSISTENCY WITH RA PRACTICES: In line with our previously stated demands, we have noticed that the RLCs and Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities continue to proceed with RA employment practices in inconsistent and unprofessional manners that have caused alarm and discomfort amongst RAs. There should be an expectation that as professionals, if there are problems/concerns with the performance of an RA, that this manner be addressed immediately, respectfully, and consistently across the department. Student employees are still students and learning young professionals who are seeking development opportunities from this position; thus, Residential Life and Campus Activities should model professional standards/knowledge when working with and potentially confronting RAs about their performance. Once again, we demand and reiterate that RAs are STUDENT employees and needed to be respected as so. We also demand that the practices and conditions regarding termination of RA employment be revisited with input from RAs.

 

Once again, this is not an exhaustive list but merely current concerns and a stepping-stone for future improvements. We hope to foster a stronger professional relationship between RAs, RLCs, and the Director of Residential Life and Campus Activities.

 

We demand an informal response to this petition by the end of the work day on April 8th and a formal response/beginnings of a plan of action by the end of Block 7 (April 13th, 2016).