Scheduling changes and decreased dependency on Public Safety will make resident advisers more present in St. Thomas residence halls this year.

Aaron Macke, director of Residence Life, said the changes were put in place to provide a more comprehensive set of services to on-campus residents when Residence Life offices aren’t open.

RAs could previously schedule their required four hours of desk duty, working night access or at the residence hall’s desk, anytime during the day. Now, they must be on-duty, working at those locations starting at 4:30 p.m. Previously, the RAs did not need to be on-duty until 8 p.m.

During this time, RAs are responsible for checking out cleaning and recreation supplies to residents, dealing with lockouts and answering questions.

Although RAs will have to compromise scheduling flexibility, attendants will now be available immediately after the Residence Life offices close each day.

This year, RAs have also been instructed to take on more responsibility and postpone calling Public Safety unless it’s a necessary measure. In the past, Macke said Public Safety would be called for lockouts and noise complaints, which should be the RA’s responsibility.

“This year at RA training we spent a lot of time talking … about what is the scope of our responsibilities,” Macke said. “We’ll try to handle as much of that as we can so we’re not calling Public Safety and pulling them away from things on campus that are actually more risky.”

Junior Jimmy Froehling, a Cretin Hall RA, said the stricter hours don’t interfere with his schedule, and he sees that RAs have the ability to solve many problems that were previously referred to Public Safety.

“We had kind of been getting a little out of hand, instantly calling Public Safety for an issue, but we can resolve them by ourselves or with another RA,” Froehling said.

Junior Heather Meeks, a Grace Hall RA, said she has not encountered any issues with scheduling, but the new policies are taking time to adjust to.

“It’s just different because we have to be at the desk from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. whenever we’re on duty,” Meeks said. “It’s just … hard to get used to.”

Meeks said the longer hours and additional responsibilities will help foster community within residence halls.

“I think that (Residence Life) wants to increase the presence of RAs in the building so the residents know that every Monday from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., I’ll be sitting right here,” Meeks said.

However, the increased presence of RAs and Apartment Coordinators for the Flynn and Morrison residence halls has decreased the number of available hours for student front-desk workers.

Senior Steven Gitzen, a desk attendant for Flynn, worked six hours a week last year, but this year only works four and a half.

“It doesn’t bother me much, I got four and a half hours, and that’s plenty of hours for me,” Gitzen said. “I know some workers might want more hours, but there’s always people canceling so there’s always opportunities for getting more hours.”

The reason St. Thomas has professional staff living and working in on-campus buildings, Macke said, is to provide an immediate point of contact.

“(It’s) to really get them to identify their RA and their hall director as their primary point of contact if they need support or services, so this reinforces that,” Macke said.

Grace Pastoor can be reached at past6138@stthomas.edu.