Engaging sEnior rEsidEnt assistants during fall ra training

ExEcutivE summaryresident assistants attend a mandatory fall ra training every au-gust as either 1) new ras or 2) returner ras. How can the dept. of Housing use its time and the knowledge of resident assistants with five semesters of service or more, better known as senior ras, during fall ra training?

the goals of this study are to:•analyze what senior ras learned from fall 2014 ra training•understand the employment and professional development needs of senior ras•identify how to best engage senior ras during fall ra training sessions

returning ras who complete ra training will be able to:•list the expectations the doH has of them as returning ras •identity at least one approach to assisting their area as returning ras•complete refresher trainings on crises and conflict management, programming and administrative duties

“i don’t think i learned one new thing in training.”

“there were many sessions where i saw many students disengaged from being already well aware of how the topic works.”

“don’t make senior returners attend the same session they’ve been to the past two fall trainings.”

returners’ commentary from the fall 2014 ra training survey

mEtHodology

183 ras 26 senior ras 13 survey & 5 group interview participantsa Qualtrics survey was emailed to all senior ras with questions gauging amount of information learned and satisfaction with fall 2014 ra training.

as an ra with five semesters of service or more, please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:

strongly agree agree disagree strongly disagree

Because of fall 2014 ra training, i feel more connected to the dept. of Housing than previous trainings.

Because of fall 2014 ra training, i can identify at least one of the dept. of Housing’s values/guiding principles.

a group interview was conducted after the Qualtrics survey closed to expand on findings in the survey and generate ideas on how to improve fall ra training for senior ras. all senior ras were emailed a doodle poll link to sign up for the interview, and the interview was capped at 5 ras.

on the Qualtrics survey, participants indicated they wanted to re-move “round robin” sessions. What should substitute this?

How should social justice sessions be implemented since it is becoming a critical part of the ra job?

What is the most conductive environment for learning?

QuantitativE: likert scale; ratings; comparisons QualitativE: commentary; lists; names

involvEmEnt = EngagEmEnt: Professional staff should reach out to returning senior ras during the summer to see if they are interested in helping lead or present a training session

Practicality: training sessions for returners should lean toward situa-tional reviews rather than protocol reviews

usE camPus rEsourcEs - litErally: the training committee should incorporate all parts of campus, such as locations and presenters (professors, staff, faculty), during fall ra training

BrEak it uP: make returner sessions more active, especially sessions longer than 45 minutes. Have a lecture but then break out into groups

tangiBlE rEviEWs: create a review packet for returners consisting of administrative notes such as how to write an incident report, crisis protocols (sexual assault, medical, psychological) and how to use sharepoint for rcrs and activity assessments

findings rEcommEndations•senior ras want to be involved in the training sessions•overall, satisfied with information learned and topics presented•majority were dissatisfied with time spent•returners want consolidated training sessions so they can be more productive in the halls•theme should be incorporated more•staff should provide food throughout the day

nicolE la Hoz, fall 2014