By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Other changes include mandated information sessions and less emphasis on group learning
Students applying to be resident and community assistants for next year will now be required to have higher grade point averages.
Residence Life has changed the required grade point average from a 2.25 to a 2.5 and has returned to mandating sessions that provide information to prospective assistants. A section of the four-week workshop that involved group process selection has also been eliminated.
"The first semester a student is a RA or CA can be very taxing on a student's grades," said Kimberly Bowie, coordinator for selection and recruitment of residential education.
"In the past, the RAs and CAs have raised their own standard by usually achieving a 3.5 or above," Bowie said.
While some assistants have been able to excel academically during their time as RAs and CAs, the higher standards may hurt the number of students interested in joining Residence Life.
"The new GPA may discourage a few students, but it is a good move because it can be too intense for students who are struggling with grades," said Marcus Kolb, director of La Paz Residence Hall.
The information sessions are mandatory because students must sign in and show their CatCard, and this information enables them to receive the application on the Internet, said Steve Gilmore, assistant director of Residential Education.
Requiring students to attend information sessions is something the university has done in the past with the exception of last year, Gilmore said.
"We are now doing on the Internet what we have always done on paper," Gilmore said.
The general requirements to be a RA or CA are that a student have at least sophomore standing and be a full-time student, said Patrick Call, assistant director of Residential Education.
The selection process includes an information session, two interviews and a four-week workshop. The interviews start the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the workshop and the second set of interviews are in the spring.
Students can apply to be either a RA or CA, but the applications are different. Only the UA-occupied apartment complexes have CAs.
The university apartment complexes can be more difficult because they do not all have common rooms, said Kolb.
Each living situation is different, so each RA or CA must know about each living community. However, the main duty of an RA or CA is to provide information for residents, Bowie said.
"We are not sure how many positions will be available until we know how many RAs or CAs want to keep their positions another year," she said.
On average, about half of the RAs or CAs apply for re-appointment in mid-February.
There are now 172 RA positions and 28 CA positions. Residence Life receives between 250 to 300 applications a year, Call said.
Last year, 62 members stayed for a second year, leaving 109 positions open, Bowie said.
RAs and CAs do not get paid, but they receive room and board as well as food subsidies.
The directors and assistant directors of Residential Education are in charge of the selection process. Current RAs and CAs help with the interviews, workshops and information sessions, Call said.
The applications are available online at www.life.arizona.edu/ between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31.
