Correction appended
Applications for residential college adviser (RCA) and assistant RCA positions increased to a new record this year, with 216 students vying for 95 spots.
Last year 206 students applied, compared to 175 the previous year.
The application process shouldn't be significantly more selective than it has been in previous years, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold said. The opening of Whitman College in fall 2007 will create 13 RCA and one or two new assistant RCA positions, though the gain will be partially offset by the loss of three or four positions at Butler and Mathey colleges, Herbold added.
As four-year colleges, Butler, Mathey and Whitman will have a smaller proportion of freshmen and therefore fewer RCAs. Rocky, Wilson and Forbes will maintain their current number of advisers.
Mathey dean Steven Lestition said Mathey in particular will feel a bottleneck effect this year, as applicants requesting Mathey will compete for a smaller number of slots. In addition, Lestition said, Mathey will have only nine graduating RCAs this year, leaving 11 returning RCAs for a pool of only 16 total positions.
Butler won't fully become a four-year college next year but is nevertheless undergoing a similar constriction in RCA positions. Though it won't house its first batch of upperclassmen until 2009, the ongoing construction limits its housing space and consequently, the number of freshmen it will host.
The high number of applications comes after the University recently implemented a policy guaranteeing that the RCAs' monetary compensation won't negatively affect their financial aid packages.
Whitman's neo-gothic architecture and brand new facilities have also sparked enthusiasm for serving as an RCA in the college.
Butler dean David Stirk said colleges will seek the same qualities in RCAs that they always have: "a high degree of respect, empathy ... and an ability to work well in a group environment."
Correction
The original version of this article mistakenly reported that the number of RCA applications dropped this year from last year's high of 222. In fact, 206 students applied to become RCAs last year, as a number of students withdrew their initial applications. We regret the error.
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