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About two weeks into the fall semester, Syracuse University resident advisers began discussing the idea of sending a list of demands to the Office of Student Living.

By then, RAs had realized that they were doing more work than they had signed up for this year, with less support and communication from the university than they had anticipated, several RAs told The Daily Orange.

“We are exposing ourselves to dozens of students on a daily basis,” said an RA in Booth Hall. “We are expected to perform the same tasks and the same responsibilities with the same resources we were given before the pandemic.”

A group of RAs presented a list of nine demands to OSL on Tuesday. The demands include adding hazard pay for RAs due to their potential exposure to COVID-19, providing more personal protective equipment and clarifying the role of RAs in the event of a campus shutdown due to a coronavirus outbreak.

The list of demands comes as RAs find themselves responsible for enforcing SU’s coronavirus-related health guidelines in residence halls on top of their normal responsibilities.

The three RAs who spoke to The D.O. asked to remain anonymous out of fear for their job security.

An RA in DellPlain Hall said they, along with other RAs, received an email about two weeks into the semester from another RA outlining a plan to compose a list of demands for OSL. The email asked other RAs for their support and input.

Dozens of RAs have joined a group chat where they discussed the demands, said an RA from the Lawrinson-Sadler Hall complex. RAs also invited one another to join a Google document so they could edit or add to the demands as they wished, the RAs said.

Resident Advisor Demands to Office of Student Living at Syracuse University by The Daily Orange on Scribd

The Booth RA said they heard about the demands through RAs from other buildings, but they were not involved in the initial planning or leadership. Over a dozen RAs between Booth, Marion and Kimmel halls joined in supporting the demands, the RA said.

“We all support the demands, and we support the people behind it, but we weren’t involved in the leadership or even the tiny details about it,” the RA said.

Although they weren’t among the RAs who took the lead in creating the demands, the Lawrinson-Sadler RA said they sat in on a meeting where RAs reviewed and restructured the demands.

The DellPlain RA said they remember the Google Document having about 20 demands at one point.

The focus of the demands is prioritizing the health and safety of RAs, the Booth RA said. They said they hope OSL takes the demands seriously.

The demands suggested a biweekly hazard pay of $12 per hour for two additional hours of work per week enforcing SU’s public health guidelines. The hazard pay would also include an additional 20 hours of work from SU’s expanded move-in process, totaling a $620 stipend for each RA throughout the semester.

The Booth RA, who was also an RA last year, said the expectations for RAs have expanded during the pandemic, which has left them feeling stressed and exploited.

RAs who might rely on the free room and board that comes with the position to attend SU are now paying out of pocket for protective equipment that the university should provide, several RAs said.

OSL has already started working to address the recommendations, said Dean of Students Marianne Thomson in a statement to The D.O. on Tuesday night.

“We recognize that COVID-19 has changed the living and learning environment for every campus community member, including our resident advisors,” Thomson said. “The Office of Student Living is continually assessing the practices, procedures and activities in the residence halls during this unprecedented time.”

COVID-19 cases would be much higher if not for the RAs enforcing health guidelines in dorms, the Lawrinson-Sadler RA said. RAs are an essential part of upholding the university’s Stay Safe Pledge, which outlines SU’s expected health behaviors for students for the fall semester. Violating the pledge can result in punishments ranging from warnings to suspension or expulsion.

RAs all said they’d like more open communication from the university. The DellPlain RA said some students in their dorm moved off campus or returned home for the semester, and the university didn’t give them any notice that they had left.

The university didn’t give RAs enough information over the summer regarding their coronavirus-related responsibilities, the Booth RA said. RAs are responsible for ordering their own protective equipment and wiping down the front desk for themselves during mailroom shifts, the RAs all said.

The demands also include creating a “safe place” for RAs to express concerns regarding their position, high-pressure situations and residents’ emergencies. They’re also asking for further clarification on the spring semester move-in process, including whether RAs from coronavirus hotspot states will have to quarantine upon arrival, which SU has yet to announce.

The RAs’ demands follow similar actions from RAs at other universities across the country, including the University of Michigan and Cornell University. RAs at both schools have striked for hazard pay and increased COVID-19 protections in recent weeks.

The demands state that the RAs expect a response from their respective residence hall within one week. According to an email RAs sent to SU personnel, if the university does not respond in a timely manner, the RAs may take “alternative measures.” It is unclear what those alternative measures would be.

RAs all said they hope that OSL will take their demands seriously and consider the importance of RAs’ roles on campus.

“People talk about how the university should focus more on stopping the spread of COVID,” the Lawrinson-Sadler RA said. “To be frank, we’re the ones stopping the spread.”

Published on September 16, 2020 at 11:55 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan