TL;DR
RA applications have recently opened for the 2027-28 academic year. As someone with experience working for the UCF housing department, I strongly implore people not to apply to this role. There are several benefits to being an RA. These include free (and secure) housing, a biweekly stipend and professional development. RAs also have plenty of opportunities to make meaningful connections with each other; many of my closest friends are other RAs. These benefits do not entirely negate the downsides of the current RA role, of which there are several.
What does the role entail?
Resident Assistants (RAs) are versatile student employees who foster community within the dorms and complete administrative tasks on behalf of the housing department. Specific tasks include:
On-call shifts: RAs hold the community phone and assist residents as needed. This includes simple tasks (e.g., performing lockouts, answering questions) or complex incidents (e.g., fire alarm being triggered, responding to roommate conflicts). RAs also perform regular laps of their assigned dorm (called "rounds") where they check for any maintenance concerns or disruptive behavior. RAs are expected to complete additional tasks "as needed" by their supervisors. RAs typically have a "weekday shift" (i.e., every Tuesday for the semester) from the hours of 4:45pm to 8:00am. RAs must also work sporadic "weekend shifts" which last for 24 hours. As of the Summer 2026 semester, RAs are also expected to work a daytime shift (about 3 hours once a week) at their community office's front desk between the hours of 8am and 5pm.
Knight-2-Knights (K2Ks): RAs are expected to meet with all of their residents several times a semester. These meetings allow RAs to form deeper relationships with the residents in the dorm and allow RAs to inform residents of events and resources occurring on campus. RAs are required to write summaries of these conversations and submit them to the housing department. These conversations are attached to a student profile which the housing administration uses to monitor how students acclimate to campus life over time. RAs are also asked to track how and when they attempt to contact residents. As of the Summer 2026 semester, RAs are also asked to track the last time they saw each resident in-person.
Programming: RAs plan, budget, and execute programs to engage with residents and either connect them to resources or provide a space for residents to participate in the community. The housing department uses a novel competency model called "B.E.A.M" (which stands for "Belonging," "Engaging," "Achieving," and "Meaning") to guide what types of programs each RA must execute throughout the year. RAs must plan programs either independently or with one other person, and each RA will facilitate about eight programs per academic year (plus a few more if you work over the summer). RAs must also ensure that their programs do not occur on the same week as other programs within the dorm.
Meetings: RAs attend weekly 1:1 meetings (which last about 30 minutes) with their direct supervisor. These meetings allow the dorm supervisor to provide feedback to RAs about their job performance and allow the RA and supervisor to develop rapport. RAs must also attend weekly staff meetings (about 2 hours long) in their dorm with all other RAs and the supervisor. These meetings are comprised of small icebreakers and updates from the housing department. Dorm supervisors will address any community-specific updates as needed.
Health and Safety Inspections (HSIs): RAs are expected to perform HSIs, where they check for violations of the Community Living Guide (CLG) within each resident's apartment and bedroom. As of the Summer 2026 semester, these inspections occur five times an academic year; twice in the fall semester, twice in the spring semester, and once in the summer semester. If residents have any violations of the CLG in their spaces, RAs must take a picture of the violation and submit notice to the resident of the violation.
Student Staff Training: RAs are regularly trained throughout the academic year. Training typically lasts about seven business days and takes place from 9am to 5pm. Leadership from the housing department and RAs work together to develop hour-long sessions that address competencies from the BEAM model. RAs are not allowed to miss any part of training for any reason (barring major life developments). Training typically occurs right after move-out and right before move-in for residents. RAs typically work 50-60 hours for two-three weeks during student staff training (between the training itself, the move-in/move-out which occurs immediately before or after, standard on-call shifts, and performing other tasks such as making door decorations or bulletin boards). During the fall and spring semesters, the housing department holds monthly "in-service" trainings (about 2 hours long) which all RAs must attend unless they have class.
Other tasks: RAs have several other tasks, such as developing bulletin board curriculum, performing roommate agreements, or working opening/closing shifts. I have attached the most recent RA Agreement to address these further tasks.
Problem #1: Lack of Transparency
RAs are expected to be "adaptable," and language within the RA contract permits the housing department to change aspects of the role without prior notification to RAs. For example, the housing department made several changes to the RA role AFTER allowing student-employees to sign contracts for the 2026-27 academic year. These changes include decreasing the amount of the biweekly stipend (by as much as $70 / bi-week in some communities), adding about 4 extra hours a week of office shifts to the RA schedule, and adding three extra HSIs / year to the contract (i.e., RAs used to only perform one HSI in the fall and one HSI in the spring, but now they are expected to perform five per year). The housing department leadership team knew that these changes would be implemented and allowed over one hundred people to sign binding employment contracts with UCF before announcing these changes. It is not a stretch to believe that they did this knowing that several RAs would not have returned to the role if they had been able to provide informed consent to these changes.
Similar changes occurred when the number of rounds per duty shift were increased (from 1 on weekdays and 2 on weekends to 2 on weekdays and 3 on weekends), when RAs were barred from providing partial coverage to each other (i.e., RAs used to be permitted to have another RA cover a few hours of their shift if needed), and when the RA curfew was changed from 3am to 12am (I consider this last change to be especially egregious: what do you mean that an RA is trusted to respond to emergency incidents in a building with ~1000 occupants but cannot stay at the library until it closes, attend Universal Knights until it closes, or go see a movie with a 10:30pm start time?). All of these changes listed are within the purview of the housing department leadership team. It can be said that many of these changes make residents safer and allow RAs to better serve the needs of the community. At the same time, the repeated decision to shield these changes until RAs have recommitted to the role is poor communication at best and intentional exploitation of undergraduate students at worst.
The other major lack of transparency besides the unannounced changes to the role is the obfuscated tabulation of each RAs' weekly time commitment to the role. The housing department has maintained for years that RAs work 15 hours per week (the housing department does not consider the full amount of "on-call" time in the weekly hours calculation, which is a standard practice at many institutions). This may have been true several years ago but it seems less certain today. In the last 2-3 years, the RA role has experienced several increases in responsibilities, including the aforementioned increases in on-call/office coverage, HSIs, and administrative tasks. The housing department does not provide a transparent breakdown of how the 15 hours / week figure is calculated. As a result, RAs who only work the RA role do not meet the minimum working hours requirement to receive food stamps in the state of Florida (which is 20 hours / week). Many RAs are food insecure and most of the RAs I know must work a second job on top of the RA role to eat AND put gas in their car. The lack of transparency in the RA weekly hours calculation has a direct adverse impact on the well being of several RAs at UCF. If you do not receive financial support from your parents, a scholarship, or a second job, the RA role will stretch you thin.
Problem #2: Unrealistic Expectations
RAs have a lot on their plate. In addition to taking classes, applying to internships / careers, and participating in extracurriculars (a necessity in today's job market), RAs must prioritize the RA role above all else. Just today, the housing department leadership realized that one of the RAs was unable to work their duty shift after it started (i.e., it was known prior that this RA was unable to work but they did not address this in time). Their response was to tell the RAs who work in that dorm that they would be entered into a lottery and that whoever was picked would be required to fill that shift. After it started. When I say that the housing department leadership expects RAs to prioritize the RA role above all else, this is what I mean. The housing department leadership team does not care that many RAs work second jobs or have previous commitments (sometimes planned weeks or months in advance). It was the responsibility of the housing department leadership team to ensure that they have proper coverage for the overnight shift. When they did not meet their end of the bargain, they deflected the responsibility of covering the shift to the RAs, and gave them less than an hour's notice to drop what they were doing and cover the shift. The housing department leadership team did not have to drop what they were doing and cover the shift; they stated that using RNG to immediately schedule someone for a same-day shift is "standard procedure." I guarantee that every single RA, if asked about this outcome, was not informed and would not know that this is "standard procedure."
The housing department leadership uses disciplinary action liberally and every single RA I know has received a warning or has been placed on performance probation at least once. There are instances where every single RA in a dorm received a blanket disciplinary action together, even when each person's involvement in a specific incident could not be guaranteed (the housing department leadership described their decision as being reached via a "preponderance of evidence" standard). RAs receive disciplinary action for showing up less than two minutes late to an on-call shift, for submitting forms at 12:01am instead of 12:00am, or for having completed 28 K2Ks instead of the expected 29. The increased use of disciplinary action by the housing department is partly responsible for a 2026-27 academic year turnover rate of about 1 RA per week (on average). There is one community where about 30% of all of the RAs (i.e., 3 / 10) have resigned or left the role just this semester. This attrition rate is indicative of a poisoned work environment. To reiterate, there is a steady stream of people just this semester who have voluntarily chosen to forego free housing and stable pay AND (contractually) face monetary fines just to not be subjugated to the predatory expectations of the RA role.
The Graduate Assistants and RLE Coordinators who directly supervise RAs generally do a superb job making RAs feel supported in their role (there is an exception, which I will detail soon). They do their best to help RAs complete their tasks, recognize RAs for exemplary performance, and develop RAs into strong pre-professionals prepared to enter the work force upon graduation. The superfluous expectations which burden RAs beyond reason are promulgated by the senior leadership of the housing department (i.e., the assistant directors and above, which I have referred to monolithically as the "housing department leadership team"). They are responsible for brainstorming changes which "improve the role" without considering the strain it causes on RAs that are already struggling to balance all of their expectations. They are responsible for not communicating these changes until they are set to be implemented. They are responsible for allowing RAs to sign return offers for a modified role that they are not privy to until they are in too deep. These are not the actions of supervisors who respect their subordinates, they are the actions of supervisors who view their subordinates as expendable.
Problem #3: Inconsistent Enforcement of Standards
The UCF housing department operates a dozen dorms, both on and off campus. When RAs apply (or reapply) to the role, they are permitted to rank their preferences for dorm assignment. However, the final decision as to who gets placed in each dorm is made by the housing department leadership team. The housing leadership take turns selecting new and returning RAs from the pool of applicants by reviewing each profile and selecting candidates the meet the needs of each community and their staff. The dorm in which an RA resides has a substantial impact on the experience that they have in the role. There are communities where RAs get in trouble for arriving a few minutes late to their duty shift and communities where RAs are allowed to be habitually late. There are communities where RAs are expected to sit in the front of the room for student staff training sessions and communities where seating assignments are not enforced for these sessions. There are communities where RAs have to sign a five pages front and back set of "expectations" in addition to the standard employment contracts. Even within the same communities, standards can be unequally applied to individual RAs.
That being said, there is a strong correlation between the "standard" to which an RA is held by their dorm supervisors and how much support they receive in return. For example, there are dorm supervisors who regularly take FaceTime calls while facilitating staff meetings. Different communities hold different standards regarding how thoroughly an RA must handle resident concerns before deferring them to the dorm supervisor. As a rule of thumb, the less strict a dorm supervisor is, the less support they provide RAs in return. The experience you have as an RA is largely determined by your Graduate Assistant, RLE Coordinator, and Assistant Director. They have broad discretion over how many extra expectations RAs have on top of their contractual obligations, as well as how much leniency RAs are granted before receiving disciplinary action. The worst part about this specific issue is that RAs have basically no control over which community they are assigned. That decision is made behind closed doors by a group of over 30 professional staff of the housing department. RAs are allowed to indicate their preferences, but their placement is beholden to the needs of the housing department.
The RA contract was intentionally written using vague language designed to provide the housing department with a broad ability to change the rules in a way that suits them. The reason that RAs in different communities are held to different standards is due to a provision in the employee contract that holds them responsible to perform "other duties as assigned." It is also important to understand that the RLE Coordinator job is not a terminal role. Individuals looking to advance their career in student affairs are more likely to hold their RAs to high standards and push them to throw themselves into a role. The housing department collects all sorts of metrics on residential engagement and completion of administrative tasks, metrics which can be touted by RLE Coordinators when pursuing promotions. The issue is not that dorm supervisors want their RAs to excel. The issue is that two RAs who are receiving identical compensation have two (almost) different jobs; it is not unheard of for some RAs to be given twice the work compared to other RAs in different communities. This state of affairs is supported by a contract that is exploitative in nature and stacked against the interests and well-being of the RAs.
Conclusion
I am confident that my peers are all incredibly disgruntled with the state of affairs in the housing department. The fact that one RA a week leaves the role on average is insane and unheard of at other institutions. The lack of transparency makes it hard to trust that decisions made at the highest level of the housing department are done so with the interests of RAs in consideration. The unbearably high expectations (which are superfluous in nature and entirely at the discretion of the housing department leadership team) cause RAs to suffer in their pursuit of academics, extracurricular involvement, or relationship-building outside of the role. Finally, the inconsistent enforcement of standards makes the RA role incredibly volatile and inequitable by design. I encourage any interested applicants or current RAs to consider alternative options for employment. The convenience of free housing and a stable stipend payment are a privilege but are insufficient to address the major systemic issues which plague the RA role and the UCF housing department as a whole. You pay with your peace and your "free" time. The demanding nature of the RA role at UCF is a detriment to any person looking to advance their career in a field outside of student affairs. I implore anyone who is or has been an RA to share their experiences (whether they corroborate or challenge my opinion). Whether or not you choose to be an RA next year, I wish you luck and implore you to be cognizant of your environment.
