He or she is the first person a new student sees when moving on campus at Eastern, the person to see when seeking help on the floor and the one who knocks on doors all day trying to make everyone get to know one another; he or she is the resident assistant.

A resident assistant, known as the RA, has an important job in the residence halls. That job is to help settle students into their new living environment, to ensure their residents’ safety and to make the year a pleasurable experience for everyone on the floor.

RAs are carefully selected by the RA Search Committee, headed by Doug Howell, also the complex director of Carman Hall. Everyone who is interested in an RA position must go through a multi-stepped process to be selected.

The process begins with turning in an application. Applications are available online at Eastern’s housing web site and should be filled out on the computer, printed out and turned in along with two letters of recommendation to the front desk of the applicant’s residence hall. These applications are due by Friday, Nov. 19.

“Last year we had 47 spots open out of 86,” Howell said. “After the entire application process, 108 applicants were left.”

The second part of the process takes place throughout spring semester. Applicants attend a workshop once a week beginning the first week of the semester until the third week in April. The workshops, comprising various activities focusing on team building, time management and diversity, last about an hour each, Howell said. After the first three weeks, participants begin to get feedback from the committee during interviews. Participants do get time off from the workshops for a few weeks during the semester.

Later in the semester, during another part of the application process, applicants receive more formal evaluations. Their strengths, limitations and self-awareness are evaluated.

After the workshop portion of the process, final interviews are conducted. Interviews last about half an hour each and take place on Friday, Feb. 25, Howell said. Before spring break, the committee makes its initial selection of applicants to fill empty RA positions for the coming year.

Workshops continue even after the selection. Applicants who acquired a position, or even ones who did not, are welcome to come to these sessions because everyone can “benefit from leadership training,” Howell said, adding that the applicants that make it through the workshop process could still be hired in the spring. Becoming an RA is a “yearlong process,” according to Howell.

Certain requirements are needed to become an RA and to stay one. RAs must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.25 or higher, on a 4-point scale. They must be registered as a full-time student taking 12 or more hours each semester. Attendance and good study habits are also important to have.

RAs have a lot of responsibility. They assist with check-ins and check-outs, do administrative paper work, decorate doors and bulletin boards on their floors, do floor inspections and report situations that may need to be handled further by a higher authority, among other things. There are certain programming requirements that each RA has to meet for their floor, but “most RAs exceed what’s required,” said Becca Finks, a Taylor Hall RA.

Finks was a member of the Resident Hall Association last year, and so she attends RHA meetings whenever possible, although it is not required.

“Most people have negative ideas about RAs,” Finks said. “A lot of people think it’s about enforcing rules. We are more concerned about individual residents.”

Although RAs are required to be on duty one night a week, roaming their residence halls “checking for safety,” according to Finks, it is not all about the rules.

“I love (being an RA),” she said. “I think it’s really fun and neat to know I’ve helped people adjust and I’ve made a difference.” Finks explained that her job is to “try and make (Taylor Hall) a place where students can call home.” She wants people to know that she is fun and that she, too, “is a kid and goes to classes as well.”

Finks first became interested in being an RA because she “had an awesome RA” herself, and she thought her creativity would make her a good leader.

Danielle Steibel, a freshman education major, wants to become an RA.

“I feel like it should be my kind of thing,” Steibel said, explaining that she had been very involved in high school. She is currently the vice president of Taylor Hall Council.

“Being vice president is very fulfilling to my leadership desires,” Steibel said. She hopes that being a part of Hall Council will help her make connections in the resident hall, which she thinks might be helpful if she becomes an RA.

“I would meet some of the RAs and get to know them better,” she said.

Floor involvement is an important part of being an RA. Steibel is already an active leader on her floor. A group of girls got together and decided to collect money to transform their lounge “so it looks more pleasant and inviting,” she said. She was elected the leader of the group.

Informational sessions for anyone who is interested in applying for an RA position are being held on Thursday, Sept. 28 in the Effingham room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, and on Friday, Sept. 29 in the Kansas room, both at 7 p.m.