Community Advocate

Position:

Community Advocate

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree preferred in psychology, the social sciences, human relations, education or a related field

Enrolled in a graduate program of study at RIT.

Experience in Residence Life, Student Activities, Fraternity & Sorority Life/Greek Affairs, Student Government or related area is highly desirable

Mediation, conflict resolution, and outreach skills

American Sign Language skills or a willingness to learn

Terms:

20 hours per week supporting the life skills development of students residing in RIT\’s seven on-campus apartment complexes

2 weeks of training, 40 hours per week, prior to the start of the academic year (in August)

Ten month position, from August 2010 through May 31, 2011

Renewable on an annual basis by mutual consent

Compensation:

Hourly wage - $13 per hour - approximately 12 hours per week plus partial meal plan (approximate value - $1800)

One bedroom apartment, utilities and local phone service included (approximate value - $7,500)

Duties and Responsibilities:

Conflict Resolution
- Facilitate the resolution of roommate and neighbor conflicts within the geographical complex/area in which you live. Proactively reach out to the students to help them learn to manage these types of conflicts.

Student Advocacy
- Act as an advocate for students who are dealing with a variety of issues and concerns including personal crises, academic underachievement, and fiscal mismanagement.

Outreach
- Proactively reach out to students, get to know the residents in your complex and develop relationships with students and maintenance staff. Develop liaison relationships with a variety of Institute resources to enable an ease of referral when working with students.

Programming
- Facilitate regular educational programs working cooperatively with other Community Advocates to address the life skills issues identified in your complex/area. Identify special populations and/or programming areas within your assigned complex/area, assess needs, and develop creative intervention strategies. Populations or programming areas may include non-traditional, transfer, or international students, families, single parents, deaf and/or hard of hearing students, and seniors or graduating students.
- Coordinate opportunities for residents to get to know each other and interact in a social setting.
- Organize community service opportunities/projects for apartment residents.

On Call Duty
- Act as a crisis response resource during emergencies for the apartment community. Assess immediate student needs and facilitate next business day professional staff follow-up. Resolve the immediate crisis and act as a referral agent for the students involved.

Office Hours/Administrative Duties
- Maintain six office hours per week
- Provide immediate assistance to walk-ins
- Support administrative processes (data entry, filing, answering phones & email, etc.)

Application Process
Applications are available online at: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/SAGraduateAssistantships.php
Applications will be reviewed until all positions are filled; however, applications submitted on or prior to March 31st will receive priority consideration:

Interview Day

Interviews for Graduate Assistantships will be conducted in early April 2010 (specific date has yet to be confirmed) at RIT. If your skills and experiences indicate you are a potential candidate for any of our positions, you will be contacted to schedule an interview.
In-person interviews are strongly preferred; however, telephone/videophone/SKYPE interviews may be scheduled for those candidates who cannot travel to RIT.

If you have any questions about the Community Advocate position or the application/interview process, please contact:

Jeff Spain - Area Director
Center for Residence Life Apartment Area
1 Colony Manor
Rochester, NY 14623
Phone - (585) 475-4300 (v/tty); Fax - (585) 475-4301
jhsrla@rit.edu