Outcomes of the Resident Advisor Position

Researchers suggest there are many outcomes associated with attending college. There is also research that suggests there are positive outcomes connected with involvement in college, and living in residence halls. Resident Advisors (RAs) are college students who are involved in college via their RA job, and are on-campus residents. Studies to assess the outcomes associated with serving as a RA, however, have been. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure self-reported outcomes of the RA experience.

The data were gathered by administering the Student Leadership Outcomes (SLO) survey to all RAs on campus in the Spring, 1998 semester. The SLO is an instrument designed by the university at which the study was conducted to measure outcomes of student leadership experiences. Data were analyzed to determine if the outcomes associated with the RA position differed by: size of residence hall (small, medium, large); type of residence hall (single-sex, co-educational); gender of supervisor; or, status of supervisor (undergraduate versus graduate).

The SLO is a 37-item instrument which asks respondents to assess the degree to which they believe they have achieved certain outcomes associated with their leadership position. Respondents rate items on a 4-point Likert-type scale (1= strongly agree, 4= strongly disagree).

Data were analyzed by calculating the mean scores for each group of RAs (i.e., RAs in single-sex halls, RAs in co-ed halls) and rank ordering their scores. Then comparisons between those rankings were examined.

The results of this study provided some interesting information about outcomes associated with being an RA. The findings suggest that the size of hall has a positive impact on loyalty to the university, respect towards others, and leading a group or committee. The findings also suggest that type of hall and status of supervisor has a positive affect on loyalty. In addition, the results indicated that gender of a supervisor has no affect on RA outcomes.