RAs, MAs assist students in residence halls

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Resident assistants and multicultural advisers are training to make next year
better for students living in the residence halls.

The Office of Residence Life relies on RAs and MAs to carry out its mission
to provide comfortable facilities, academic success, a diverse environment
and personal growth, said Kim Voisin, Residence Life assistant director.

“Everything (RAs) do is toward the development of community,” Voisin
said.

Davison senior Kristin Ross, who will return next year as an RA in Larzelere
Hall, said she wants to make sure she can help students have a positive experience
living on campus.

“I had gotten a lot from my RAs, and I wanted to be able to help others,”
Ross said.

Residence Life Multicultural Adviser position so students would connect and
communicate better with minority, she said.

RAs and MAs are important to incoming freshmen, Voisin said.

“New freshmen are so vulnerable and needing of guidance to learn what
resources are available and how to use them. Having someone so readily accessible
to answer the smallest of questions is a comfort to them,” Voisin said.

Staff members help them understand what it means to be a CMU student, including
the importance of attending classes, connecting with professors and academic
advising, she said.

To prepare for the responsibility, newly hired RAs and MAs already have attended
four training sessions, each for two hours, Voisin said. They covered topics
such as roles and responsibilities, ethics, community building, discipline
and diversity, she said.

The RAs are a critical link to the university because they are some of the
first people students meet, and they are the most accessible, Voisin said.

They enhance the university by being knowledgeable, resourceful and caring,
she said.