Fall Semester 2016 was the most stressful time in my entire college career, mostly because I underwent the most demanding job application process yet for any job I’ve had. I was applying to become an Undergraduate Hall Director, and I already had a good idea of what I was getting myself into.
As a hall director, I work with every department in JMU’s Office of Residence Life (ORL): Housing, Business Operations, Student Learning Initiatives, and Community Development. If you’re a Hall Director or a Resident Adviser, you work in Community Development. Each department has their own function, but Community Development connects all of them.
I was hired over Winter Break of 2016 and I had a training session immediately after returning to campus. This session involved interviewing RA candidates for the forthcoming year. I had to interview four candidates and determine their eligibility for the job. A month later I helped out with CHOICES by giving future Dukes tours of the halls. Then came time for all the RAs to pick their halls for next year, so I had to help facilitate that process. In the last full month before summer, I finally met the hall director staff I would be working with for the upcoming year. Summer came next month, and I worked almost 40 hours a week (at a different job) until the day before I moved back to campus.
Training started the day after that, and boy was that a roller coaster of a time! I had to be ready by 8:00 a.m. (sometimes 9:00 a.m.)each morning for a day of training sessions at either end of campus. I had to plan out how my building was going to look for the year. I had to plan and facilitate icebreakers and team-building activities for my staff and for the area. I had to schedule all my meetings, and this was just during training. When the semester began, a completely different set of tasks came before me.
As a hall director, I’m not only responsible for a staff of resident advisers, I’m also (indirectly) responsible for the safety of nearly 200 residents. I should mention that the size of your staff and building varies where you’re assigned to, but the weight of the responsibilities are the same. Regarding my RA staff, I usually have nine meetings in a given week: six individual meetings with my RAs; two staff meetings, one with my RAs and the other with the hall directors in my area; and a meeting with the supervisor, that is unless anyone has to cancel.
In my individual meetings, I track my RAs’ progress and write evaluations for each of them, which is time-consuming in and of itself. They do the same for me.
Apart from meetings, I have to plan five programs a semester just for my building. I also have to plan what are called DEVOs (Developmental Meetings) for my staff and for the entire RA staff in my area. DEVOs are designed to be fun, educational activities for RAs so they have the ability to grow in the job and get to know RAs in other buildings. These can range from topics pertinent exclusively to Residence Life to community service and even professional development.
There is so much more I could tell you about what I have to do as a hall director, but I can’t because I’m facing the deadline. I will leave you with this, though.
This job is not just for anyone. It is demanding. You will experience stress in this job, and you skills in time management will be tested on a daily basis. If there is anything I’ve learned from this job so far, it’s that the smallest quirks in your behavior can impact everyone around you. Your state of mind influences your behavior, and if you are not in the best state of mind, then neither is your staff or the students you interact with
Oh, yeah, there is one thing I forgot to mention: you’re doing all of this while enrolled as a full-time student. One thing for sure is that it was worth it.
