Summer Positions in Residential Life

Student Staff Recruitment for Summer 2024

2024 Summer Residential Leadership Position Description: Summer Resident Advisor (RA) 

A Summer Sessions Resident Advisor (RA) is a live-in student leader who works within the Summer Session residential community to carry out the mission and values of Cornell University and Housing & Residential Life (H&RL).  

• RAs must commit to enhancing the overall residential experience of students at Cornell University by supporting the H&RL Pillars (Belonging at Cornell, Social Responsibility, Academic Empowerment, Culture of Care, and Navigating Transitions).  
• RAs accomplish this by building community through intentional engagement and maintaining safety and security.  
• RAs are committed to building relationships with their team and full-time staff members to strengthen a sense of belonging in the community. 

Time Commitment

• RAs can expect to be actively involved in the role as an RA for an average of 20 hours per week. The 20-hour-per-week commitment includes, but is not limited, to:
  • Building connections with residents
  • Facilitating activities and interactions amongst residents
  • Bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with their supervisor during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
  • Attendance and participation in a weekly team meeting held on Wednesdays, 5:15 PM – 6:45 PM.
• RAs participate in an on-call rotation to support the safety and security of the residence halls and residents that they support.
• RAs are to participate in RA training and resident Move-in and Move-out.
  • Dates and details about Move-in and Move-out times will be shared within the Student Leadership Positional Agreement.
• Outside work or enrolling in a class are permitted with this position and MUST be approved by the Residence Hall Director for Summer Sessions in advance. Other outside commitments will also need to be discussed. 

Dates of Employment: 

• The 2024 Summer Sessions RA appointment dates will be included in the Student Leadership Positional Agreement and are as follows:
  • Summer RA Move-in: May 19, 2024, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
  • Summer RA Dates of Appointment: May 20, 2024 – August 10, 2024
  • Summer RA Move-out: August 11, 2024, RAs have until 12:00 PM to vacate the community.
• To ensure resident needs are met, RAs must be present when the community remains open within the appointment dates listed above (including University breaks and holidays). RAs will work to create a coverage plan for breaks and holidays at their supervisor's direction.
  • Summer RAs will provide on-call support during holidays, which includes 7:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST (24-hour) shift while the University and H&RL offices are closed. Holidays include:
    • Memorial Day: May 27, 2024
    • Juneteenth: June 19, 2024
    • Independence Day: July 4, 2024
• Note: These dates are subject to modification in accordance with academic calendar changes. 

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain ongoing relationships with residents through social interactions and educational programming.
• Maintain consistent availability to residents by being present and accessible within the community.
• Demonstrate a commitment to inclusion and sense of belonging by supporting educational awareness and fostering a sense of community, ownership, and respect.
• Assess and respond to the needs of residents through community engagement, informing supervisors of needs, and connecting residents to campus resources.
• Respond to resident concerns and critical incidents with a restorative approach (listening, discussing impact, repairing harm), while being supported by full-time staff.
• Meet on-call responsibilities while serving on an overnight on-call rotation on weekdays, a 24-hour on-call rotation on weekends, and a 24 hour on-call rotation on the above holidays.
  • On-call responsibilities include, but are not limited, to:
    • Picking the on-call phone up promptly at the start of each on-call shift.
    • Keeping track of the dates of your on-call shifts.
    • Answering phone calls from residents, full-time Housing & Residential Life staff, campus partners, etc.
• Maintain the Community Living Standards, Student Code of Conduct, and Housing License through proactive education, addressing and documenting concerns, while role modelling personal behavior consistent with all University, NY State, and federal laws, guidance, and policies.
• Maintain timely communication with full-time staff, the RA team, and residents.
• Complete administrative responsibilities of the role within the provided deadlines.
• Attend and participate in mandatory bi-weekly one-on-one in-person meetings with their supervisor and weekly in-person team meetings on Wednesdays from 5:15 PM to 6:45 PM.
• Support residential Move-in and Move-out processes at the beginning and end of the summer sessions. 

Supervision

RAs receive direct supervision from a Residence Hall Director (RHD), a full-time staff member, to support the H&RL mission, values, goals, and objectives. RAs also receive indirect supervision from an H&RL Assistant Director.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must be Cornell students.
• Prior to the position start date, applicants must have completed at least two (2) semesters (not including summer or winter term) of college or university coursework, post-high school graduation.
  • Incoming transfer students will be asked to present their official or unofficial transcript from their previously attended institution(s).
• Applicants and current RAs must maintain a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5. GPA checks are conducted during the selection process to ensure good academic standing.
  • Applicants who fail to meet the minimum GPA requirement will not be eligible to continue in the selection process.
  • Applicants who are extended RA offers and fail to meet the GPA requirement at the end of the Spring 2024 semester will no longer be eligible for the position.
  • Incoming transfer students will be asked to present their official or unofficial transcript from the previously attended institution(s).
  • It is the responsibility of the applicant and RA to notify the H&RL Student Leader Selection Committee at hrl-sl-selection@cornell.edu regarding any special circumstance that may influence the GPA requirement (e.g., incompletes, grade changes, etc.)
• Summer Sessions RA appointments are for one (1) Summer and applicants must be able to commit to the entirety of the Summer Session.
• Applicants and current RAs must be in good standing with the Community Living Standards, Student Code of Conduct, Housing License, Policies 6.3 and 6.4 and must comply with all university, local, state, and federal policies or guidance.
  • Conduct status will be checked regularly by Housing & Residential Life, Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, and the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX.
  • Applicants offered a position must pass a criminal background check to maintain it.
  • It is the responsibility of the applicant and RA to notify the H&RL Student Leader Selection Committee immediately of any changes to their status by emailing hrl-sl-selection@cornell.edu. Should inappropriate, negative, or prohibited conduct arise, appropriate follow-up will be taken, up to and including, removal from the position.
• Applicants within the 2024 Summer Sessions RA Selection Process who are not offered a position or an alternate status will be removed from the 2024 Summer Sessions RA Selection cycle.  
• Applicants within the 2024 Summer Sessions RA Selection Process who are offered a position or an alternate status which they decline, will be removed from the 2024 Summer Sessions RA Selection cycle.  

Remuneration

• RA position remuneration includes
  • A single room
  • A stipend distributed semi-monthly throughout the Summer. Stipends are subject to taxation. The remuneration may not be adjusted or allotted in other ways.  Please consult with the Office of Financial Aid to learn how the position remuneration grant may impact your financial aid package. You should speak with the Office of Financial Aid before accepting the position.
• Semi-monthly stipend totaling $2,588. The stipend is subject to proration in the instance of late arrival or early departure.  

Application 

Applications are submitted through Qualtrics. You can find instructions around the application process within the Qualtrics application.

The application will include the following questions: applicant information, eligibility questions, and three (3) short essay questions. Each short essay question should be completed in 350 words or less. Below you can preview the short essay questions:

1. As a Summer Sessions Resident Advisor, you will be required to build and maintain an inclusive community for a group of residents that may change often, and who have diverse identities, backgrounds and experiences.  This change in residents will be due to session turnover (students moving out and new students moving in).  Not all students participate in all three summer sessions, and it can be difficult to develop community.
   1. Give an example of a time when you had to deal with turnover within a team/organization. How did you maintain a sense of belonging and inclusivity in your team/organization for both new and current members? What did you learn from this experience? How would you apply what you learned to the Summer Sessions RA role?  
2. As a Summer Sessions Resident Advisor, your role is to promote social responsibility, safety, and security by addressing conflicts and concerns both proactively, through building relationships and setting expectations, and reactively by helping residents identify and repair harm. Through this process, residents should learn more about their own values and how to incorporate it into decision making while keeping personal and community impact in mind.  
   1. Give an example of a time you addressed concerns and/or engaged in conflict. How did you identify and address the needs of everyone involved? What did you learn from this experience? How would you apply what you learned to the Summer Sessions Resident Advisor role when addressing concerns/conflict amongst residents while also maintaining relationships?
3. As a Summer Sessions Resident Advisor, you will be required to build an inclusive community for residents with diverse personal and social identities (gender, religion, race, orientation, to name a few), backgrounds, and experiences.  
   1. Give an example of how you have intentionally built relationships with people who have different social identities, backgrounds, and experiences.  What did you learn from this experience? How would you apply what you learned to the Summer Sessions Resident Advisor role?

Note: Submission of application does not guarantee an interview or position.  

Timeline for Resident Advisor (RA) Application

* All applications will be considered if submitted by the priority deadline. 
* Application consideration or submission does not guarantee an interview invite or position.  
** Applications sent after the priority deadline and by the application closure date will be considered based on departmental need.  

Interview and Status Updates 

Interview invites will be sent on a rolling basis after the priority deadline and will continue until the end of April. If an applicant is extended an interview invite, applicants will have 2-3 business days to sign up for a 30-minute interview time slot upon receiving an interview invite. Interviews will occur Monday through Friday between 9 AM and 5 PM. Interview dates will be included in the interview invitation. Please monitor your Cornell email account regarding updates.

Final position status updates will be sent out on a rolling basis starting the first week of May. Candidates will have 4 business days to accept or decline an offer. If we do not hear back from the candidate after an offer has been made, they will be removed from the selection process.  

Note: An interview invite does not guarantee a position. We ask that you wait for a status update regarding interview invitations and final decisions post interviews as inquiries can further delay the process.  

Additional Information & Resources 

It is highly recommended that you speak to a representative from the Office of Financial Aid prior to applying and interviewing for the position. The remuneration for the position is room and a semi-monthly stipend and this may affect your personal financial aid. Information can be found on the Office of Financial Aid website.  

If you are an international student, it is recommended that you connect with the Office of Global Learning to learn about eligibility requirements. Information can be found on the Office of Global Learning website. 

If you are a graduate student, it is recommended that you connect with your Graduate School to learn about eligibility requirements.  

If you are interested in resources available to you regarding interview preparation, we encourage you to visit the Career Services website. 

Questions

If you have questions after reviewing materials for the Summer Sessions RA position, please email hrl-sl-selection@cornell.edu. Please allow at least 2 business days for a response, as we may be experiencing a high number of emails during the selection process.