The Residential Council recommended additions to the Community Assistant Program in a Nov. 22 resolution, though it did not suggest drastic alterations to the program.
The aim of the proposed changes is to make the program more visible, said Brendan Hargreaves '06, chair of ResCouncil. Hargreaves said ResCouncil wants to make the program "more effective" and "user-friendly."
ResCouncil's suggestions include having Community Assistants place a placard with their picture, phone number and dorm room in their building alongside a description of the CA's role within the community. The same information would be distributed to students in each dorm.
CAs, who serve as residential leaders for upperclassmen, are located in every non-first-year residence hall on campus except King House, Buxton House and Machado House. Their duties include performing certain types of dorm inspections as well as serving as a sounding board for general complaints and suggestions for the Office of Residential Life.
CAs sponsor dorm activities, develop a crime prevention and safety awareness program, conduct weekly "facility checklists" and report maintenance issues, according to the Residential Peer Leader handbook. They also serve as liaison between students and "appropriate university offices."
Associate Director for Residential Programs B. Afeni Cobham said recent complaints against the program are probably the result of the program's increased visibility, though she added that she has not heard many of these complaints herself.
At the meeting, ResCouncil debated how to address complaints aired against the CA program.
Student critiques have centered on the housing of CAs, which some view as unfairly designated outside of the lottery process, Hargreaves said. For example, a CA living in Young Orchard can fill the rest of his or her suite with friends although they perform no service to the dorm, said ResCouncil Policy Committee Chair and Herald Copy Desk Chief Katie Lamm '07.
Cobham wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that CAs are ineligible for the housing lottery and are placed in housing designated for the RPL staff. "(The job) offers no guarantee about housing assignments and/or arrangements," she wrote.
Another issue is how CAs are currently serving students - "whether CA's are not visible, not doing enough or both," Lamm said.
"We are trying to clarify what the actual job duties are," Hargreaves said.
A common concern is that students become CAs only for the financial payoff and have little interest in taking their responsibilities seriously, Lamm said. The job pays $1,750 per year.
However, CAs are only given $2 per student for programming for their dorm throughout the year.
Some of the shortcomings of the CA program stem from a tight budget, Cobham said, though she added that ResLife "is tightening belts to get more money for next year."
At the meeting, there was no resolution regarding CA compensation or programming requirements, though Lamm added that ResCouncil plans to examine these issues further.
The CAs evolved from Residential Programmers after evaluations of the RPL program. Cobham said that, along with the name change, ResLife created a more concrete job description for the CAs, though many of their duties remained the same as those fulfilled by RPs.
"The only difference between the program ... is there is now staffing in Young Orchard, 111 Brown St. and Metcalf," she added.
CAs also receive more training and have a closer relationship with ResLife. In the past, RPs trained for two days prior to fall semester, while CAs have a longer initial training period as well as in-service training once a month.
Another addition to the program is the CA Representative, a member of the program who also works as a liaison to ResLife. Jacqueline Newcomb, ResLife's assistant director of operations and director of the CA program, meets weekly with CA Reps.
The Office of Residential Life will be distributing a survey later in the academic year to evaluate the performance of Community Assistants.
