RA Appreciation Week! - University Hall

SIU Residence Life has some great things going on, and we want to showcase some of our proud moments on our blog. We also hope people considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to learn more about the things we are doing. More information about our department, including position descriptions, application information, and graduate and full-time staff profiles can be found on our recruitment website.

April 20-26 is Resident Assistant Appreciation Week! In Residence Life we know our RAs work very hard to provide a great experience for our on-campus residents. THANK YOU for all you do, RAs! This post features the amazing staff in University Hall.

The Spring 2014 University Hall Resident Assistant staff is a strong and capable group! This mix of new and veteran staff members have worked together seamlessly this semester to make sure the residents of University Hall have a positive experience. The staff consists of:

First Floor
Miranda Hayes & Veronica Nkunde

Second Floor
Rachel Homewood & Jamaal Moore

Third Floor
Natalie Cartolano & Chris Weiss

Fourth Floor
Mariah Patz & Lucas Sears

Fall 2013 RA staff also included Mike Hulyk and Kalekey Love El.

From left: Lucas Sears, Veronica Nkunde, Mariah Patz, Hall Director Drew Donahoo, Natalie Cartolano, University Hall Staff Mascot Li’l Hauler, Miranda Hayes, Chris Weiss, Rachel Homewood, Jamaal Moore

This staff has accomplished many great things this year, most noteworthy of which is an active, engaged community. With a residential population predominately ages 21 and up and with most residents having single rooms, this can be a tough goal to reach. However, this staff has excelled at getting residents out of their rooms and interacting with each other.

Some of the most successful events the University Hall RAs have planned this year include Tai Chi and Hot Tea, Safe Zone Training, Personal Safety Halloween Trick or Treat Sacks, Family Dinner (cooked by the RAs), a Super Bowl party, “A Day in Africa,” Spring Break BINGO, Rainbow Waffles, Frozen Festival featuring Sno-Cones, and more board game nights than you could imagine! Each of these events, as well as the numerous others we've had this year, have been popular with residents and helped to contribute to the active community we've had this year.

Between hosting Chancellor’s Scholar candidates, interviewing potential new RAs, providing extra assistance during busy weekends, their weekly RA responsibilities, and many other duties as assigned, this staff has really proven themselves over the past year.

I am very thankful to have worked with this staff and am in debt to them for all they have taught me this year. It has been a great year and it certainly would not have been without this group. The efforts they have put into getting to know their residents, providing quality programming, and effectively responding to issues as they arise are impressive and appreciated.

Thanks so much for a great year, University Hall RAs!