RCAs to go on-call, patrol hallways on weekends

Starting this fall, Public Safety officers will not be the only individuals patrolling the hallways of residential colleges on weekends: Residential college advisers have been assigned to walk through the dorms, too.

Under a new initiative, each college will require an RCA to be on call from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and other “carefully selected” days such as Sept. 19, the date of Lawnparties. RCAs on duty will be expected to stay in their colleges and walk through the dorms twice during the night with a University-provided cell phone during those hours, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Cole Crittenden said in an e-mail. Each residential college will devise its own method for RCAs to sign up for shifts.

RCAs expressed concern that the new policy would negatively affect their relationships with advisees, and some noted that there was contention between RCAs and administrators in their conversations about the policy at a half-hour question-and-answer session during last week’s RCA training. But most of the 20 freshmen interviewed for this article did not share those concerns.

“The impression that I got is that this is something coming from higher up,” said Linnea Paseiro ’14, a Forbes College resident. “It’s [the RCAs] looking out for our health rather than condemning us for any choices that we make.”

Still, a few freshmen said that they were unaware of the new policy as of Monday, and some who were more familiar with the change said they were skeptical and had heard little about it.

“It’s still a little bit of a mystery,” said Mark Watter ’14 of Mathey College. “If your personal RCA is on patrol and if they still have to turn in their own ’zees, then it could damage the trust that’s there. It could be a little dangerous ... We’ll just wait and see.”

Simon Krauss ’11, a second-year RCA in Forbes who described his reaction to the new system as “not overwhelmingly positive,” said that the advisee-adviser relationship could be damaged if the administration and fellow RCAs do not effectively convey what the change entails.

Some RCAs were not aware of the new initiative until they received an e-mail from Crittenden on Aug. 6, though all RCAs applied for their current positions last fall. Others learned about the change — which was developed by the six residential college directors of student life under the guidance of the senior leadership of the Office of Dean of Undergraduate Students — last May.

Crittenden explained that the role of an RCA would not change with the new system’s implementation.

“Our primary goals in introducing the system are to ensure safety and to build community,” Crittenden said. “On-call RCAs will be able to do all the great things they already do, but in a more visible and proactive way.”

He noted that RCAs patrolling hallways will maintain their current responsibilities to intervene in certain situations. “Currently RCAs who see alcohol violations may not ignore those violations, and in high-risk situations they must take steps to curtail the risk and ensure safety,” he said. “This same policy will hold.”

In 2007, the University tightened its enforcement of alcohol rules after a freshman at nearby Rider University died of alcohol poisoning. According to the 2007 rules, RCAs must take action to stop “significant” violations of University rules, which include parties at which alcohol is made available to underage persons, students of any age participating in “pre-gaming” or drinking games, and any form of alcohol-related hazing or initiation activities.

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Crittenden emphasized that the on-call system would not replace Public Safety, but rather provide an additional resource on weekend nights to students facing uncomfortable situations that do not warrant Public Safety’s involvement, such as a serious but non-threatening argument between two students or a room party that might be turning out of control.

But Katlin Poladian ’12, a first-year RCA in Butler College, noted that she was not sure it would be helpful because a person patrolling the hallway may not be able to see emergencies behind closed doors.

Mathey College resident Alaka Halder ’14 said she had heard “briefly” about the policy and expects friends to take care of each other if problems with alcohol consumption arise, rather than rely on RCAs to intervene. She added that the change could lead RCAs to become “a bit nosy.”

For some RCAs, one concern was the added time commitment the new responsibilities would entail. The University introduced the on-call system at the same time as it eliminated one RCA position per college.

Poladian explained that all RCAs have other commitments — academic or otherwise — and as a member of the women’s water polo team, a 12-hour on-call shift could be taxing on nights before matches.

“I want to be there for my ’zees, and they’re one of my top priorities,” she said. “As an RCA, you’re supposed to be there for your ’zees pretty much any time. If they need me, yeah, I’ll go help them, but I feel like we’re students too.”

Second-year Forbes RCA Reggie Galloway ’11 expressed similar views, noting that he supported the change but would like to see its effectiveness reevaluated between the fall and spring semesters because of the additional demand on RCAs.

“If you’re an RCA, you’re an RCA 24/7. That doesn’t change,” Galloway said. “My approach has been if a ’zee needs me, he or she comes first. That takes precedence over certain aspects of my social life, but by the same token, I do need downtime.”

Some freshmen said they were not sure whether the policy is necessary.

“I hadn’t really heard about it,” said Michelangelo Ball Van Zee ’14 of Butler College. “My RCA kind of implied that you could call him at any time.”

Wilson College Director of Student Life Michael Olin said in an e-mail that he expects most advisees in need of assistance to reach out to their own RCAs first, and that the on-call RCA will probably be a “backup.” Two other directors of student life declined to comment, and three others did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Crittenden said that a major factor in the administration’s decision to implement the change was that several universities have similar on-call systems in place. At Yale, on-call duty during weekends is assigned to students who hold positions analagous to RCA, while at Harvard that responsibility falls on staff members.