The Assistance Residence Director (ARD) position will be merged into a Senior Community Advisor (SCA) position.
There will be one SCA for each residence hall, including Andreen, Seminary, Swanson, Westerlin and Erickson.
The SCA will be focused on being a role model for other Community Advisor (CA) staff in residence halls, according to Christina Lorge-Grover, director of residential life.
“The duties are the same as a CA in terms of programming, opening/closing, and performing building rounds,” she said via email. “We are looking to highlight those leader/mentor qualities in the staff we already have.”
Currently, there is one ARD for each residence hall and one CA per hallway. The ARD oversees the CAs throughout the building.
Juinor Ayanna Wade was a CA last year and is an ARD this year in Swanson.
“Since our Res Life has Area Coordinators who have multiple buildings to attend to, ACs look to ARDs to help take care of the administrative tasks that help a building run smoothly,” Wade said via email.
The decision to change the ARD position was made because the position was out of date.
“The ARD position description has not been modified for many years even though the majority of duties listed on the contract are now obsolete due to technology changes and the limited desk hours in the residence halls,” said Lorge-Grover.
To be a SCA, students must have served as a CA. The SCA position will have the same housing rate as a CA. CAs receive $3717.00 – $3912.00 stipends per academic year and discounted housing, according to the Augustana website.
Augustana’s residential life positions are similar to other small, private colleges but have different titles. St. Ambrose University and Loras College have Resident Advisors on each floor while St. Ambrose has an Academic Community Advisor for each building and Loras has an Area Coordinator. According to the colleges’ websites, the ACA and AC positions hold similar duties to the SCA at Augustana, including being a mentor towards students.
Wade is not considering a job in residential life next year, but believes the SCA position is a good idea.
“I am pleased with what Res Life is planning for the SCA position,” said Wade. “Over the years, the ARD position has changed from what it was originally meant to be, and I think the SCA position more accurately reflects what the ARD position has become.”
Lorge-Grover said the SCA position will offer residents programming to help them develop academically and interpersonally.
“Change is really difficult, but nothing amazing comes from doing the same thing over and over again,” said Lorge-Grover. “We must ask ourselves why we are doing this and make sure the answer meets our goals.”