The number of Resident Assistants and Multicultural Advisor applicants at CMU for the 2008-09 school year was down 15 percent. This goes against trends at other schools that saw their applications increase.

The University of Michigan had a 30 percent increase, while Western Michigan had a 62 percent increase, the Michigan Daily reported.

Assistant Director of Residence Life Kim Voisin said she believes most students don’t actually realize the amount of work it takes to keep an RA position, and that might be why numbers are down.

“While RA and MA positions offer a great opportunity for professional development for a wide range of careers, not everyone wants to or can live up to the requirements of the position,” Voisin said.

Campbell Residence Hall Director Edward Span said students look at more than just the free housing when making their decision to apply.

“I think CMU’s numbers may be lower than other institutions because our students are more careful in their deliberation about whether to apply,” Span said.

Saxe Residence Hall Director Ben Witt said it is not necessarily a bad thing that fewer students applied.

“Quantity does not always equal quality,” Witt said.

Span said the current recruitment methods serve the system well.

“Our department has implemented a system that is candidate-focused, promotes sustainability and offers each applicant a fair chance at being offered a position as an RA or MA,” Span said.

Every spring semester, vacant RA and MA spots need to be filled because of those who leave after the fall semester. The applications decreased going into the fall semester, but when there was a large turnover after the end of the semester, Voisin said the applications had a bigger response than normal this past spring semester.

“We received almost three applications for every vacancy filled in our selection process this spring, which is a very good response rate,” Voisin said. “We had more hireable applicants than positions.”

CMU hosts perspective staff nights every fall and every January to recruit students who want to become part of the RA or MA staff.

Both Witt and Span have encouraged those who they thought would be good candidates to apply in the past.

Span said he uses his current RA and MA staffs to help recruit new candidates.

“I’ve realized the benefit of using my current RA/MA staff to assist me in identifying current residents who may have what it takes to do the job,” Span said.

university@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Edward Schutter