Resident Advisors are given a large amount of responsibility on college campuses. They are trained to be peer mentors, community builders, campus leaders, and policy enforcers. The list of responsibilities that RAs are responsible for can get pretty daunting, so in an ideal world, we would love it if the residents saw eye-to-eye with us. Unfortunately, often times this is not the case.

Here are 15 things that we RAs would love our residents to understand about our job. Many of these things can be found in the Cazenovia College Student Handbook, so here is a cheat sheet for you all.

1: Quiet hours are there for a reason.

You may have the latest bed time on campus and really enjoy playing music at 1:00 in the morning, but there are others that go to bed way earlier than you. I know some that go to bed at 8:00 at night. That means that they have to listen to your loudness for hours on end until you go to bed or until they finally drift to sleep. Of course, it is unrealistic to ask everyone to quiet down at 8:00 p.m. during a weekday, so we ask for everything to be kept to a dull roar from 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the weekdays (Sunday through Thursday). Weekends are understandably different, so we only ask for silence from midnight to noon the next day on weekend nights (Friday and Saturday). We RAs would like our residents to please remember those two simple times and keep an eye on the clock if you are going to be up late. This way, we do not have to bother you and ask you to quiet down 15 times before we get fed up and have to document you. Watching the clock is much easier.

2: Please understand the college policy on fire and safety protocol.

What I just said may sound difficult, but really all you need to know is the following: no candles, no incense, no open flames, no hot plates, no toasters, no George Foreman grills, no extension cords, no gigantic refrigerators, no halogen or lava lamps, no smoking or vaping, and lastly, NO STRING LIGHTS.

I know that string lights look awesome when they are strategically placed along your ceiling and above all your tapestries. However, the lightbulbs can get really hot. All it takes is for one bulb, the one that happens to be resting on your beautiful tapestry, to overheat and set the tapestry on fire. It sounds amazingly stupid and impossible, but it happens more than you think it does. Please do not hang them and then tell the RAs that you never plug them in. We know that you do it as soon as the door is closed. If your room looks anything like the one below, you should probably fix that. On another note, try searching for LED string lights if you really want some in your room. We may be able to provide an exception for you because LEDs are much safer.

I know all of these things are used frequently at home and it is likely that nothing bad has happened, yet. However, this is a residence hall where 100-plus more students live. We RAs would like our residents to understand that any carelessness on their part can result in other students getting hurt, or worse. It has happened before. Look up the Seton Hall fire that killed multiple students because someone decided to smoke in their dorm room. It happens.

3. The fire alarm means get out of the building, so GET OUT OF THE BUILDING.

I know some halls on campus (Hubbard in particular) tend to have really sensitive fire alarms. It may be the third alarm of the day and you are tired and you have a 10-page paper due tomorrow that is not started or you are on 3 hours of sleep or some other pressing issue, but a fire alarm is the most pressing issue at that point. Do not assume it is just a drill. That is also what happened at the Seton Hall fire. Residents did not take the fire alarm seriously. Now, some are dead and some are scarred for life with extreme burns. Which is more important to you? Getting a good night’s sleep or guaranteeing your safety? We RAs would like our residents to get out of the building as fast as possible. Grab your keys and any extremely important medication you might need while waiting outside. Do it fast, but do it calmly.

4: Hall sports are banned, but not because we do not enjoy fun.

Believe it or not, RAs actually love fun. However, hall sports are stupid. In every residence hall on campus, you will find a sprinkler system. These were put in to ensure the safety of everyone in the building. When you decide to play soccer or lacrosse in the hallway or your dorm room, you are increasing the possibility of a sprinkler getting broken.

If you are not familiar with how a water sprinkler works, let me educate you. Inside the sprinkler is a glass bulb filled with mercury or some other heat-sensitive liquid. You can see the bulb in the picture below. When the temperature near the bulb reaches 155 degrees Fahrenheit, the bulb breaks, allowing water to spew out of the sprinkler at a rate of 45 gallons per minute. The water has been sitting in the lines for years, so it is not a pretty color or smell. If a sprinkler is tripped, either by fire or a lacrosse ball hitting the bulb, the fire will go out but everything in the room will most likely be damaged or ruined. The water then can seep through the floor into the rooms below you. Then you will be responsible for paying for your neighbor’s ruined belongings. Damage from a tripped sprinkler can easily soar into the tens of thousands. We RAs would like our residents to go outside or go to the gym if you want to play sports. It is for the benefit of EVERYONE.

5: We have to enforce alcohol and drug policy. It is our job.

I often hear people say, “oh it’s college, people are going to drink and have fun. Why do you have to ruin it?” The first part of that is pretty true. Three in four college students end up drinking at some point. However, almost every college or university has RAs, therefore getting documented by RAs for underage drinking and/or drug use is going to happen at some point.

In case you need a reminder of what the alcohol policy says, I will give you the short version. Anyone under the age of 21 cannot consume or possess alcohol. If you are 21, you are only permitted 750 ml of liquor or wine OR twelve 12-ounce bottles/cans of beer or the equivalent at one time. Guests are not allowed to bring in alcohol no matter the age. If some residents are 21 and there are underage residents in the room, drinking is not permitted. Common source containers, like kegs, drinking games, and drinking paraphernalia that encourages binge drinking are not allowed regardless of age.

As far as drugs go, all synthetic drugs are illegal on campus. We RAs would like our residents to refrain from violating the alcohol or drug policy on campus. We want to be go-to people for our residents and support them in any way we can, but we will enforce these policies no matter what.

6: If there is an emergency, tell us!

We are trained to handle almost every single possible emergency that could happen in the residence hall setting. Please tell us if there is something wrong. I could not be more serious about this. We can get the help students need. Also, be aware of the amnesty provision within our policy guidelines. The school cares about student safety the most, therefore if any drug or alcohol violations have been conducted at the time of a violent act, such as domestic violence or sexual assault, such violations will be overlooked to ensure that the violence is reported to the proper people. In other words, if you are underage and drinking, but your friend is sexually assaulted, you will not be punished for your drinking if you report the crime.

On a side note, we take sexual assault very seriously. We highly encourage anyone who is, or knows, a victim of sexual assault to report the crime to their RA, Campus Safety, Student Life, the Health Office, or the police. We RAs would like our residents to know that we are here to help.

7: Please do not make sign-in a big deal.

There is always the handful of residents who always make a huge deal when they have to sign in a guest. It takes less than a minute to sign your friend into the building. Trying to sneak past the RA desk, or standing there and arguing with us, will just waste more time and cause a ton of unnecessary problems. We RAs would like our residents to understand the guest policy and be honest with us when you are bringing a friend over after 9:00 p.m. If an argument starts over sign-in and gets out of hand, remember that RAs reserve the right to put a temporary ban on the guest until 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

8: No one likes a gross bathroom.

Please try and keep the bathroom clean. We do not expect you to actually clean it, but we do expect you to leave whatever you used in the same, or better, condition that you found it in. We RAs would like our residents to respect that no one wants to use a disgusting toilet or a sink filled with hair and leftover toothpaste. Please do your best. We are adults.

9: For Caz students: leave Cooper the Cat outside.

I love cats as much as the next person and I understand that Cooper is a cool cat. However, he needs to stay out of the residence halls. People are allergic to Cooper. I understand your concern when it gets cold and snowy outside and he is sitting outside the door to your hall. He puts on the cute kitten face to make you feel bad. Still, we RAs would like our residents to leave him outside. He has been here longer than any of us, so he can definitely survive a snowstorm. He has a house to go to, with food and water, so he does not need to be in your dorm room. He will be okay.

10: We are not your personal door-unlockers. Remember your keys.

We understand the occasional slip up when your roommate locks your keys inside the room while you’re in the shower. That is totally understandable. However, when we are unlocking your door every day, you will be charged for a new key because we will assume you lost your original one. We would like our residents to know that we keep track of which doors we unlock and how often we do it. Save yourself some money, and aggravation, and remember your keys.

11: The programs are for you, so do not skip them for a Netflix marathon.

I know that a warm bed and an Orange is the New Black marathon is so tempting, but programs are worth going to! RAs would like our residents to understand that the programs are for their benefit. Please go to them! Nine times out of ten, there will be free food! Sometimes, there will even be free condoms! We love doing sex-ed programs. Who doesn’t want free stuff?

12: Please leave the boards and door tags alone.

These are another aspect of our position that we do specifically for the residents, but please understand the long hours and hard work we put into them. It really sucks when someone comes along and tears down a board or throws their door tag away in the trash (or leaves it ripped up on the drinking fountain, that was nice). We would like our residents to enjoy the bulletin boards and door tags and not vandalize or ruin them.

13: We aren’t just the “fun police.” We are a huge resource.

A lot of our job involves enforcing college policy, but we are a big resource for students in need. RAs would like our residents to know that they can come to us for any reason. Feel free to ask us questions. If an RA doesn’t know the answer to your question, they will look for the answer or point you in the direction of someone who does know. We love to help. Many of us took the position specifically to help college students. Please do not overlook our potential as a very useful resource.

14: We are safe people you can talk to.

Whether it be homesickness, stress, a roommate concern, a private issue, or a tough day, we are always here to talk to you. We RAs would like our residents to approach us if they need us. Personally, I try to be as approachable as possible for people because I like helping people.

15: We are great listeners.

Part of my job is to ensure the college community is a safe and comfortable one to live in. I do so by listening to what the residents have to say as far as ideas, problems, and concerns. Even if you just need someone to vent to, RAs are always here to listen. We are trained to be good listeners. We RAs would like our residents to know that despite policy enforcement as sometimes having to be the “bad guys,” we are always acting in the best interests of our residents. No matter how crazy the school year gets, we will always be down the hall ready to listen, or act if you need us to. We are on your side.