DU’s Department of Housing and Residential Education received 125 more Resident Assistant (RA) applications than last year, making it the most applications ever submitted in school history.

According to Jacob Hahn, the Resident Director of Centennial Halls, there were 150 applicants last year and 275 this winter. The increase in applications was due mainly to greater advertising, said Hahn.

The RA staff created signs and put them all over campus. They also advertised in Centennial Halls and J-Mac much more than last year and sent out emails to every student, neither of which they had done in the past. The RA staff screen-printed all of the signs by hand in an effort to grab student’s attention.

“As a whole, this year’s RA staff is engaging at a much higher level than the past,” said Hahn. “The quality of RAs this year is the best advertising we could have because these are the people that they are connecting with on an everyday basis. They are showing the students what being an RA is all about and it is a pivotal example for students.”

The RA position is a 10-month, part-time, live-in position. The workload is an average of 15 hours per week. In exchange for their work, RAs are compensated with a single room and full meal plan.

The main roles and responsibilities of an RA are to enforce community development, to demonstrate a positive attitude, to attend training sessions and meetings, to fulfill administrative activities on a timely manner, to respond to student behavior and to work as a team with the other RAs, said Hahn.

Hahn added that it’s important for RAs to demonstrate leadership characteristics like enthusiasm, flexibility, commitment, integrity, responsibility and fairness.

“When we pick RAs, we are not looking for one specific person; we want people with different outlooks on life,” Hahn said. “People involved with different clubs and groups, and with values and beliefs that can make up a diverse team. The best things applicants can do is to be themselves.”

The next step for students who submitted applications is a series of workshops that will be held on Jan. 27 and 28.  On Feb. 2 and 3, applicants will have individual interviews. Candidates will receive an offer around Feb. 14.  If candidates don’t get the position, they can be placed in an alternate candidate pool.

According to Hahn, the RA staff relies heavily on the alternate pool of candidates because over the course of the year and during summer some students decide they don’t want to take the position.

Selections for the RA position are based on the five dorms: Centennial Halls, Centennial Towers, J-Mac, Nelson and Nagel. According to Hahn, there were 75 RAs in the five dorms this year and 20 of those will be returning next year, leaving 55 spots.

“Fifty-five spots is really going to boost the competitiveness and the quality of the RA candidates,” said Hahn.