Binghamton University is known for its nontraditional dormitory style. While most universities have dorms that stand alone, BU living communities instead foster a closer environment within the greater campus community. But one of these living communities is currently standing at a disadvantage from the rest: Mountainview College.
The Mountainview College pilot program is testing the role that resident assistants (RAs) play in the lives of students who live on campus. It strays from the usual system of having one RA on each side of a dormitory floor and instead only has one senior resident (SR) per floor, essentially doubling the number of students that an RA is responsible for.
I lived in Mountainview College for my freshman and sophomore years at BU. Freshman year, I happened to be blessed with the best RA in the entirety of BU — at least in the minds of my floormates and me. He pointed us in the right direction for our first day of classes when we were just learning how to navigate the campus, he let us know we needed to hide our tapestries when the fire marshal was coming for inspections. He was more than just our RA — he was our friend.
So I was excited to meet my new SR when my overpacked car pulled into the Marcy Hall parking lot for the fall 2016 semester of my sophomore year. Though I knew I wasn’t going to have nearly as many questions about campus mail or local liquor stores as my freshman self did, I still wanted to get to know the main support system in my dorm. Little did I know that a new pilot program had been put into place that would cause my SR to not even learn my name throughout the entirety of my sophomore year.
The problem with having one SR per floor rather than an RA on each side is the sheer number of students that the SR is responsible for. Since Mountainview College is comprised of suites and triples, there are approximately 35 people on each side of a floor, meaning there are about 70 residents per floor. Putting one SR on a floor means that this single person is solely responsible for all 70 kids — and their questions, concerns and problems. That’s just too many.
This also means that the relationship between the student and the SR suffers. Students are meant to interact with their RA for more than just disciplinary reasons; RAs are leaders throughout the BU community and are an extra source of support for students, especially since the majority of their residents have never been to college before. But with twice as many residents to care for, these relationships never even have a chance to form.
An RA is also the leading force in encouraging floor friendships. By calling meetings, coordinating dinners and hosting floor events, an RA has the ability to create a close environment between floormates that is particularly essential for freshmen who start completely alone when they walk into the school. But when your floor was designed to be 35 people and it suddenly explodes to 70, these friendships never develop.
BU claims the purpose of this pilot program is to better help us students. As quoted in Pipe Dream’s 9/5 news article, “Mountainview pilot program redefines RA role, residential experience,” Dean of Students April Thompson says, “For the dollars that you’re putting in, we want students to get the most from their residence hall experience. We’re really reinvesting in them with infrastructure and support and direct attention to them on the things that matter to students.”
Speaking as one of these students, I can tell you that paying thousands of dollars to live on this campus and having overworked SRs with so many residents that they don’t even know all their residents’ names is not something we asked for. Having less of a relationship with the leader and primary source of support on our resident floors is not what “matters to students.”
RAs are supposed to promote an inclusive, supportive, fun atmosphere for their residents. Students need to know that they can approach their RA with any questions or concerns they may have, but making RAs responsible for twice the usual number of students only encumbers the essential relationship between an RA and their residents. Having to reintroduce myself in the middle of the semester just so my SR could remember I lived on his floor certainly does not show me that the Mountainview College pilot program is even close to a success.
Emily Houston is a junior double-majoring in English and political science.