:” rvey Resident assistant survey Submitted To: Dr M. Hyman In Partial Fulfillment Of The requirements For The course MKTG310 SP 19 Submitted B y
Monday, May 10, 1999 Mr. Bob Smiggen Director, Housing and Residence life New Mexico State University Subject: Report on the results of the Resident Assistant Survey Dear Mr. Smiggen I am pleased to present you with a report on the results of the survey I handed out to the Resident assistants to determine why the retention rate is low and what areas of their job RAs liked and disliked. This report was prepared in accordance with the guidelines you, Mr, Greg Block, and myself discussed on Tuesday, April 13 I think you will find some of the results surprising. I know when we talked we assumed that one of the main complaints the RAs would have about their job would not be money or time, but those two topics were brought up quite frequently and looked negatively upon by the RA's. The biggest problem this data brought forth was that the ra's do not find the current means of training useful or valuable This survey was distributed to every Ra employed at the time in each halls staff meeting, The total number of surveys tabulated came to 60. I believe that these questionnaires are representative of those RA's who filled out the survey. In preparing the questionnaire, I used information gathered from a focus group ofRa's and former RAs as well as the input from you and Mr. Block The results of this project can be used by your department to evaluate current trends and processes within your organization and may hopefully be used to shed some light on the reason why the ra turnover rate is so high. I would like to thank you for your cooperation in completing this research and I wish you the best of luck in the future Sincerely Researcher/Student New Mexico State Universit
Table of contents Resident Assistant Survey Result Letter of Transmittal Executive Summary. Research Introduction Objectives 456 Methodology Results Job Scope/Responsibilities How RA's Perceive They are Being Treated l788 Training Satisfaction 9 Positive and Negative Aspects of job 10 Why ras leave their job Limitations. Conclusions Recommendations 15 Appendix Research Proposal Questionnaire Frequency Statistics Cross Tabulation Statistics
Executive Summary Background The New Mexico State University Department of Housing and Residence Life is charged with the task of providing housing for those students who choose to live on campus. They take this process one step further in that they strive to not only supply students with a room to live in, but also supply them with a well-rounded group living experience where their education can be supplemented by various programs The Resident Assistant(RA)is the Departments tool to implement their goals and in many ways serves as the liaison between the residents and the Department. Having such an awesome responsibility on their shoulders, the RA is crucial to the Departments success. The fact that the ra turnover rate is so high for the Department lends itself to be examined The objectives of this survey were to do the following Determine if s felt comfortable with the scope of their job and their responsibilities Determine how RA's perceive they are being treated Determine positive and negative aspects of the ra job as they perceive them Determine how satisfied Ras are with their job Determine why RA's leave their job Results Job scope/Responsibilities 40% of ra's feel that the ations given to them by the department are not realistic given the scope of their job and other responsibilities and they feel that they
work on average more than twenty hours a week. 31% feel the job description they were given when they first applied is not accurate and a large percentage ofra's from the larger halls(25%)feel they have too many residents on their floor How RA's perceive they are being treated 41.6% of RA's feel they are being treated as valuable employees and 46% feel they are recognized for their efforts. 40% of the ra,s feel that there is a communication problem rall A majority of the RA's(63%)feel that Spring Inservices are invaluable to them 39.5% of the Ras feel that the required CeP class did not present them with useful information. 51% of RA's felt that the training in the beginning of the Fall semester was adequate and prepared them for their job Satisfaction Of all the Ras, 51.6% said they have been satisfied with their job and 56.7%said their experiences have been positive while being employed by the Department as an Ra Positive and Negative aspects of the job In general the Ra's like the aspect of their job that includes dealing with peopl They enjoy the diversity and the relationships they build with other staff members. On the same scale, they dislike the programming requirements and they wish they were paid more for the work they do Why RA's leave their job Of the 60 RAs employed by the department currently, over half of them will not be returning to work next year. The most common reason given was that the job did not meet their expectations and that they disliked the Department Conclusions and Recommendations a problem obviously exists in the department for the retention rate to be so low he most negative responses came when asked about training and whether or not rAs felt they were being treated fairly. While a large percent feel they have had a positive
experience working as an RA, over 50% did not feel as if they did. The things RA's like most about their jobs is the relationship they build and the interaction with people Recommendations a survey should be created that gets at the heart of the problem as to why RA'S are not returning and examines more specific aspects of the job. The survey needs to be administered during a neutral time in the semester. Consider that the data may have to be recoded when you create your questionnaire and design it accordingly. The Department needs to examine training and try and open up communication within the department They need to try and recognize the RA's more and try build upon that relationship they have with their peers
Resident Assistant Survey Results Introduction The New Mexico State University Department of Housing and Residence Life (the Department)is charged with the enormous responsibility of providing housing for the over 3, 000 students that choose to reside on campus. More than just providing a room to stay in, the Department strives to provide students with a well-rounded living experience by encouraging them to get involved in a community, take responsibility for their actions, and challenges them mentally by supplementing the students'education through the availability of quality educational, social, and informational programs The Departments main resource in implementing their goals is the Resident Assistant(RA). The RAs responsibilities are broad and range from enforcing Universit and Housing policies to serving as a mentor and a counselor to the residents in their hall Each RA is responsible for a floor or building in their hall and can have anywhere from 35 to 75 residents. There are seven different residence halls on campus. Alumni, Garcia, and Vista del monte are the biggest, Greek Complex and the Women's Residence center are medium sized facilities and Regents row and Rhodes-Garrett-Hamiel are the smallest facilities. The ra is in charge of the rooms on his or her floor and the residents /ho reside in those rooms. The ra is encouraged to get to know each and every resident and to foster a sense of community among them Having been an Ra for nearly three years, one of the biggest complaints I have heard from my supervisors is that the retention rate for RA's is very low. The department
spends a lot of time training and developing their RA's and a returning RA can be considered a very valuable commodity by the Department. The turnover rate being so high forces the department to almost literally start from scratch at the beginning of each Fall semester The purpose of this project was to survey current RA's and try to determine why the retention rate is so low. In order to ensure that I had the most information possible and that i did not bias the results I surveyed all the RAs employed by the Department This project aimed to discover how satisfied RAs are with their job correlated with different aspects of their job and why or why not ra's would choose to leave the Department as an employee. I feel this project was worth doing because the information it provided can be a useful tool for the Department in trying to increase the ra retention rate and become a stronger, more marketable employer Objectives The objectives of this project were broken down into several key factors that set the scene for the purpose of this study. In order to answer the research question, the following objectives were established To determine if RA's felt comfortable with the scope of their job and their responsibilities To determine how RA's perceive they are being treated To determine how ras feel about training
To determine positive and negative aspects of the Ra job as they perceived them To determine how satisfied RAs are with their job To determine why RA's leave their job Methodology This project consisted of exploratory research conducted through a survey of all 60 RA's currently employed by the NMSU Department of Housing and Residence Life A structured questionnaire survey design was used because it was a convenient and inexpensive way to collect the data that was needed. The questionnaire contained 35 questions, four of which were open-ended. The questions on the survey were formulated after an interview with a small group of former RA's and current RA's. The small group was asked what aspects of the job they did/didn't like, what they thought were strengths/weaknesses of the department, and why they quit their job or why they decided to stay The survey was distributed in person at the weekly staff meeting of the individual hall. Respondents were instructed to completely fill out each questionnaire and to take their time in answering the questions. There was a 100% response rate making this project a complete census of the target group. Each question on a returned survey was verified to be answered completely and correctly. The statistical methods used to analyze the data were obtained through the SPSS Statistical Analysis Computer Program Through the use of the SPSS program, frequency and cross tabulation data was generated reflecting the results of the survey
Results Job Scope responsibilities 40% ofRA's feel that that the expectations of the Department are not realistic given the scope of their job and their responsibilities as a full-time student. Of those 40% 29% said they would not be returning as an ra next year Whether ar rct RAs ayreewith Epectatiars 31%of RA's feel that the job description they were given for their job when they first applied is not accurate to what they really do. Of that 31%, only 13.6%are returning next year r 40% of the RA's feel they average working more than 20 hours a week while 39% feel that their work week balances out over the semester, meaning that some weeks you may work more than twenty hours, but other weeks you may work less than twenty hours. 65% of RA's feel there is plenty of time to fulfill the five programming requirements required each semester by the Department 25% of Ra's feel the ra to resident ratio is not manageable in their specific facility Of that 25%, 68% of those people were from the three largest facilities. 15.3%were indifferent on the matter, and 61% felt the ratio was manageable
