Resident Assistant; RA)

Resident Assistant (RA) for Spring 2027

The resident assistant (RA) serves as a liaison between the Division of Student Affairs and residential students. The RA's primary function is to offer peer assistance and direction to the residents. Specific duties include: interaction and developing strong relationships with their floor residents and developing a sense of community among residents in a residence hall. Complete programming requirements each semester. Enforce college policy, confront students concerning possible violations and report incidents via the established reporting procedures.

Serve in an on-duty rotation in assigned residence hall on various evenings throughout the semester. Help establish a sense of safety and security in the hall by understanding and following procedures as they relate to duty, safety and emergency situations. Complete all administrative tasks as assigned. Attend and participate in all training sessions (including sessions before the start of the semester), RA staff meetings, and one on one meetings with supervisor.

Represent SUNY Cortland, on and off campus, in a positive and professional manner, including following the SUNY Cortland Code of Conduct and local, state, and federal laws. The RA is considered a member of the Residence Life and Housing staff and is directly supervised by the residence hall director (RHD) or area coordinator (AC) of the hall where they are assigned to work.

RAs are expected to sit hall duty coverage on an average of one to two nights per week. Office hours run from 9 p.m. – midnight on Sunday through Thursday and 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays. RAs are also expected to return to campus before the start of the semester in January and August and attend all training sessions and to assist in the opening of the residence halls.

In addition, RAs are expected to stay one to two days past the end of each semester to assist in the closing of the hall.

RAs are assigned to work in one of the 17 residence halls on campus, including the West Campus Apartments and Leadership House.

All RA candidates must be enrolled full-time as a SUNY Cortland student at the time of application and have at least a two semesters of college experience when they start the position. A minimum grade point average of 2.5 for the last enrolled semester and cumulatively is required for the RA position at the start of the RA position. The GPA for all applicants will be reviewed at the time of application and anyone who does not meet the 2.5 requirement will still be considered but may not start the position if their cumulative and semester GPA are not at least a 2.5. New transfer students who do not have a GPA yet may still apply.

Candidates must not be serving on a current Student Conduct probationary status to be eligible for the RA position.

Asiana Smith, Associate Director of Residence Life and Housing, asiana.smith

First semester RAs receive a full waiver of their room cost for a single room, a $600 stipend per semester for their first year, a discount on a parking pass, and a 10% discount on non-book items at The Campus Store.