Resident Assistant (RA)

To advance in the selection process, applicants must earn at least a 2.75 cumulative and term GPA at the conclusion of Fall 2024.

Note: To advance as a finalist and participate in a Workshop Week Session, you must also meet other minimum requirements as outlined in the application and this website.

Yes! Full participation in the asynchronous informational session and the associated quiz is mandatory. To access this content, enroll in the associated Canvas course using this link. The module concludes with a quiz that must be completed. We strongly recommend completing this informational session prior to submitting your application as it will provide useful insights to inform your application! However, technically, this needs to be completed by Monday, November 18, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

During these optional sessions, candidates benefit from the opportunity to connect online with members of the Student Staff Selection Committee and current RAs to ask questions about the positions and discuss strategies for success during the selection process.

These sessions will occur via Microsoft Teams and the link will be shared in the 2025-26 Residential Education Student Staff Selection Canvas Course.

This selection process is not about numbers or competition. It’s an opportunity for candidates to learn valuable skills while putting their best foot forward. This is why the Student Staff Selection Committee hosts several different initiatives to support candidates. This support includes question and answer sessions, Canvas, this website, etc.

Furthermore, the points needed to advance as a finalist or secure a position will fluctuate depending on the number of applicants we receive that meet minimum qualifications.

Because of the reasons above, we don’t share details about the number of points allocated to the different components of the selection process. Points are relative depending on the size and quality of the applicant pool.

Finally, we don’t know how many new RAs we will hire. This number depends on the applicant pool and on occupancy during the 2025-26 academic year. 

Unfortunately, we don’t offer an alternate Workshop Week Session for any reason, including illness, study abroad, a significant life event, etc. Therefore, if you are unable to attend a Workshop Week Session, you will be disqualified from this selection process.

Justification for this is important: Maintaining the integrity of this search process is critical. In light of the fact that we don’t host traditional interviews for RA applicants, interaction with other candidates and multiple staff members within Residential Education is a critical part of a Workshop Week Session. Therefore, it is not possible to consistently recreate the selection process for a few candidates.

Within 24 hours of experiencing this technological difficulty, email raselect@usf.edu with details about the situation, including a screenshot of the error message you receive. Please ensure that this screenshot includes the date and time of this experienced technological difficulty on the screen. This way, we are able to verify that this error occurred prior to the application deadline of Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. If the date and time of your technical difficulty is not clearly displayed in your screenshot, we will not be able to verify that the error occurred before the deadline and therefore will not accept your application.

No late applications will be accepted for any reason, unless a candidate provides clear documentation of a technological difficulty prior to the application deadline.

Yes! When you apply for an LLC RA position, you remain eligible for an RA position that supports non-LLC students.

No, you are not able to preference more than three LLCs in your application. Why? We want candidates to strategically select LLCs that align with their field of study, interests, or future career goals. It is essential that an RA feels connected to the LLC they support in order to maximize the learning that occurs in this specialized community. Therefore, we limit the number of LLCs a candidate is able to preference to ensure that they thoughtfully reflect on these choices.

A Workshop Week session is Residential Education’s version of an interview. It is the final step of the selection process.

During a Workshop Week Session, you will facilitate one to three different activities that RAs implement in their daily work to support student success. More information about what to expect during Workshop Week sessions be available in January 2025 via Canvas. Additionally, we encourage you attend the optional question and answer session about Workshop Week in mid-January 2025. A link to join this Q&A can be found on the 2024-2025 Residential Education Student Staff Selection Canvas Course. 

If you advance as a finalist and are therefore invited to a Workshop Weekend Session, this is a mandatory part of the selection process. As part of this invitation, we will provide resources to support you during this experience. However, we will not share every detail of the process as we also want to assess your ability to navigate ambiguity.

If you are offered a RA position for the 2025-26 academic year, you are expected to attend the 2025-26 Residential Education Student Staff Kickoff. However, exceptions to this expectation are approved on a case-by-case basis because of extenuating circumstances only. If you are offered a position for the next academic year, you will receive more information about this event in February or March 2025.

In Residential Education, RAs are given the tools to be successful in their respective positions.

Living on campus is a condition of the RA positions. Resultantly, RAs are assigned a rent-free room, which RAs must agree to live in as a condition of employment.

If hired as an RA, either position may impact your financial aid or scholarship award(s). Since every person’s situation is different, the Student Staff Selection Committee encourages candidates to contact Financial Aid Services at (813) 974-4700 to understand the position’s impact on their award before applying for the position and/or before accepting the position.

2025-26 RAs are required to attend and fully participate in the Fall 2025 Student Staff Leadership Institute (Training) and Spring 2026 Rejuvenation (Training).

The Fall 2025 Student Staff Leadership Institute is anticipated to begin on August 10, 2025 and continue through August 24, 2025. Spring 2026 Rejuvenation is anticipated to begin in January 2026, six or seven days before the start of the semester.

RAs are expected to hold the entirety of these training days and evenings for training and/or opening responsibilities. Exceptions to this expectation are not made for academic reasons, study abroad experiences, other employment opportunities, internships, other leadership opportunities, etc.

It depends! RAs can’t hold internships that interfere with their capacity to complete the responsibilities associated with the RA position. RAs are unable to hold intensive internships.

An internship cannot interfere with the Fall 2025 Student Staff Leadership Institute (Training) or Spring 2026 Rejuvenation (Training) in any capacity. Internships also can’t interfere with opening, closing, implementation of the residential curriculum, student support, weekly meetings, on-call responsibilities, and other job responsibilities.

If hired, you will sign a 2025-26 RA Agreement. In this agreement, outside commitments are defined as research assistantships, internships, extracurricular involvement, student organizations, practicum experiences, paid employment, etc. Outside involvement is limited to no more than twelve (12) hours per week, with no more than nine (9) hours of paid employment per week outside of the RA position.

International students are typically unable to hold additional paid employment appointments, but are encouraged to consult their visa for more information. Outside commitments must be approved by a RA’s supervisor prior to the start of these commitments and this supervisor approval may change throughout the academic year.