Significant literature exists exploring interview and selection processes broadly, but little research specific to Resident Assistant (RA) interviews is available. Studies on RA interview processes include quantitative studies connecting interview scores to job performance or discussions of bias within processes. The purpose of this qualitative…

Residence halls are consequential spaces for many college students and purport to offer comfort, community, and home while facilitating meaningful learning opportunities, including interaction across difference. This qualitative case study uses theories of white space to examine campus housing at three historically white universities. Findings…

Evaluating candidates for the Resident Assistant (RA) position is typically a time consuming and resource intensive process. As a result of the considerable--and necessary--human capital required to facilitate multicomponent hiring processes, routine daily job responsibilities are often limited, deferred, or eliminated altogether. Thus far, no…

Religious, secular, and spiritual identities (RSSIs) are an important aspect of the complex experiences of students in higher education. Often dismissed or forgotten by higher education professionals, RSSIs have shifted drastically over the 20+ years since Love and Talbot first wrote about them in 1999. While scholarship on RSSIs has steadily…

Promoting staff well-being has been a challenge for many residence life departments long before the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in the mental well-being of the general population as well as in residence life staff. The stressful work environment and demanding work hours in residence life have been linked to burnout and intentions to leave…

Conducting informal individual interventions with students is a professional expectation for residence life professionals in higher education who live in campus residence halls. Despite this expectation there is limited understanding about what constitutes an effective individual intervention, especially from the perspective of the person…

The role of a resident assistant is complex and multi-faceted, requiring a unique blend of strong interpersonal skills and professional decorum. By contrast, little is known about the depth of self-care needed to mitigate the impact of the role on resident assistants' quality of life. This exploratory mixed-methods research project seeks to…

Hiring the most capable students to serve in the RA role should be a top priority for housing departments due to their critical role as front-line student success employees. The effort to identify and hire RAs typically includes a substantial investment of personnel resources in hiring processes, where candidates are typically evaluated across…

Supervising resident assistants (RAs) on college and university campuses is one of the most critical roles of housing staff. The job responsibilities of RAs are demanding, and the position is filled with multiple stressors, including role ambiguity, role conflict, and burnout, which can lead to attrition and reduced job satisfaction. Supervision…

Research evidence suggests that approaches to promote student success in higher education are becoming more holistic and integrated in nature. This implies that not only classrooms and laboratories, but also residences, as informal out-of-class learning environments, can potentially contribute significantly to promoting student success. The…

The benefits of living in residence halls have attracted increasing attention, yet it remains uncertain which particular aspects (academic performance, interpersonal outcomes, or personal development) students perceive as most beneficial from their residential experience. The present study examined the relative strength of the aforementioned…

With the increasing cost of attendance and concerns regarding incoming student preparedness (Jackson & Kurlaender, 2013), administrators of U.S. colleges and universities are seeking ways to help more students be successful and persist to graduation. Although research has demonstrated the contribution of psychosocial factors to student success…

The separation of work and life creates unique challenges for residence life professionals, given that they often live in their place of work. The culture of this work pushes such employees to integrate their work and personal lives in ways that are not always healthy or fulfilling and that frequently lead to burnout. This study sought to explore…

Students in the autism community are a currently underrepresented, yet growing, population in higher education, which strives to understand student experiences on campus and find ways to better support students with autism. This qualitative research study examined the expectations and experiences of seven students on the autism spectrum in…

The current study investigated the relationship between supervision, job satisfaction, and burnout among "live-in" and "live-on" Housing and Residence Life professionals. The literature review consists of empirical research for each construct presented (supervision, job satisfaction, and burnout). The study sample consisted of…