Ohio University resident assistants will soon be required to keep only one campus job after Residential Housing officials “clarified” an existing policy.
It will require current RAs who hold another job on campus to quit their other positions beginning summer 2014. “Some” students will find themselves in this situation, Peter Trentacoste, executive director of Residential Housing, said in an email.
It was not clear by press time how many students will be affected by the change.
University policy states that students are only allowed to work 20 hours per week in university positions, such as those through Culinary Services or Residential Housing.
The RA job description states that “a great deal of time commitment,” is required, but doesn’t clarify the exact number of hours required to do the job.
Officials have now deemed the RA position a 20-hour per week job, barring them from holding other on-campus positions.
University RAs are still able to hold jobs off-campus.
“It’s mainly to protect the students so that they focus on their academic requirements,” said Gregory Fialko, senior human resource director, of the policy.
RAs who also hold a work-study or PACE position, which are federally funded, will also be affected by the change in policy, Fialko said.
Human Resources has a comprehensive system of all campus workers, which monitors the amount of hours they work — and if they go over the 20-hour limit, Fialko said.
Daniel Pittman, assistant director of auxiliary sales for Culinary Services, said they try to accommodate students working multiple on-campus jobs.
“Our varied venues and diverse hours of operation offer essential scheduling flexibility to any student interested in approaching the maximum allotment of 20 working hours per week that is allowed under university policy,” Pittman said in an email.
For the 2013-14 academic year, RAs received a single room, 90 percent off their housing costs and a stipend based on years of experience.
Currently, a first-year RA receives $1,070 per semester, second-year RAs receive $1,620 per semester and third-year RAs receive $1,770 per semester.
The positions won’t get a pay increase at this point, Trentacoste said. For the 20 hours, first-year RAs will receive $12.33 per hour, after the room stipend is considered.
A committee to discuss RA compensation and a possible raise for the 2015-16 academic year will be convened this summer.
“We review the starting pay of RAs every few years to ensure that we are providing a competitive compensation for our student staff members,” Trentacoste said.
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