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