Resident assistants (RA) are a lot of things: problem solvers, strong and effective communicators, and strategic thinkers. They also need to be able to cultivate and foster a strong sense of community as well as be empathetic mentors.
Most of all, they need to be leaders.
The Residential Education leadership team has long realized that and decided to build a program in which RAs would be able to showcase all of the skills they need to hone in the position, creating the opportunity for them to get academic credit for all they do.
To bring this vision to life, Alysse Kavanagh, associate director of first year residential experience and LLCs; Keeosha Hamlet, assistant director, Chapin Apartments, Campus Residences; and Richard Czyzyk, assistant director, West Apartments, Campus Residences, partnered with Urszula Zalewski, director of experiential education at the Career Center, to design a new experiential learning course, dubbed RA EXP+.
“[We] have long envisioned bridging the RA experience with academic recognition by offering course credit for their work. Developing a meaningful and impactful curriculum required careful planning and collaboration,” said Kavanagh.
Throughout the 2023/2024 academic year, the team worked with Zalewski as well as Associate Vice President for Career Readiness and Experiential Education Mariana Savoca, and Campus Residences — including Unity Watts-Bailey and Michelle Singletary — to develop a comprehensive program that enhances both professional and leadership development for RAs.
Following a cohort-based model, the program launched in 2024 with seven students and will see this group through until 2026. The next cohort is scheduled for Spring 2026, as the team wants to take feedback into consideration while building out future models. However, the number of cohorts will most likely double, at the very least, as interest has been piqued.
“The cohort-based model was chosen to best support our students’ needs while fostering an interactive learning environment that emphasizes collaboration, group work, and effective communication,” said Kavanagh.
In addition to RA EXP+ being a cohort model, this program is also based on a backward design model to develop the curriculum, ensuring that each assignment was intentionally aligned with the course’s overarching goals. A backward design model is one that is more focused on the learning outcomes instead of content, allowing students to achieve specific goals instead of reaching goals set for them by instructors.
To join, students need a minimum of a cumulative 3.0 GPA, a returning resident assistant status, good academic standing and a recommendation from their direct supervisor.
However, said Hamlet, this program is more than just being an RA. Not only are these students in an interactive learning environment, but they top it off with a Capstone project that is designed to foster critical thinking, problem-solving and real-world impact, all of which allow students interested in pursuing careers that require leadership experience the ability to be mentored by senior university leadership, gaining valuable insights and professional guidance. In addition, students also work with CliftonStrengths coaches, which helps enhance self-awareness and leadership development.
“With a strong emphasis on professionalism, leadership, and project management, students critically engage with and refine the competencies necessary for professional growth and long-term success,” Czyzyk said.
— Emily Cappiello
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