Community Advocate Spring '10

Position:

Community Advocate (anticipated vacancy)

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, and currently on contract for RIT housing in the residence halls, RIT apartments, or the RIT Inn & Conference Center.

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.

Some training in February prior to start of Spring Quarter 2010.

Eleven week position, from March 8, 2010 through May 31, 2010.

Compensation:

Hourly wage - $13 per hour - approximately 12 hours per week plus meal plan (if residing in RIT residence halls or RIT Inn) or debit plan of $600(if residing in an RIT apartment).

Rent credit for current RIT housing assignment for Spring Quarter 2010 (specific value will be based on housing assignment).

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

Cover letter, including the name of the graduate program to which you are currently enrolled in.

Resume.

Three references - please include name, email addresses, and phone numbers (at least one academic reference and one work reference).

A written response to the following questions:
- How will your personal qualities influence and contribute to the RIT community?
- How prior experiences have prepared you for this assistantship opportunity?

Please mail/email your completed application by February 4, 2010 to:
Sharon Kompalla - Assistant Director
Kathleen Schreier - Area Director
Center for Residence Life Apartment Area
1 Colony Manor
Rochester, NY 14623
Phone - (585) 475-4300 (v/tty); Fax - (585) 475-4301
Sharon: slkrla@rit.edu
Kathleen: kmsrla@rit.edu

Interviews:

Interviews for this Graduate Assistantship will be conducted beginning in February 2010 at RIT. If your skills and experiences indicate you are a potential candidate for the above position, you will be contacted to schedule an interview.
In-person interviews are strongly preferred; however, telephone interviews may be scheduled for those candidates who may be away on co-op during Winter Quarter.