By: Jady LeDoux

For Casper College students living in the campus dorms, life can feel stressful and hard, which is why the resident assistants work to build a community that feels like a family.

Resident assistants, often known as RAs, handle situations students may not see. From helping students get back into their rooms or sorting the mail, RAs do it all. 

Austin “Woody” Woodgreen, a second-year RA at CC, said he helps residents with everyday issues, and sometimes that means just being a friend to other students. Woodgreen is from Pinedale, Wyoming, and he is in Casper finishing his associate degree in entrepreneurship. He developed a personal love for pursuing a personal training certificate.

Woodgreen did not plan on attending CC, but one phone call changed it all. Just two weeks before the beginning of freshman year, Woodgreen made his final decision to attend. Once he became an RA at CC, he found his passion for helping students, which became a goal of his college experience. 

“It just feels really nice when people can come and talk to me because they have questions and they feel safe enough to approach me,” Woodgreen said.

Being an RA is not just comforting the student but also protecting them. RAs are not the police, but they receive professional training, so they are able to be on standby for serious situations. 

Elizabeth “Liz” Dobson is the residence hall coordinator at CC, and she oversees the RA team.  Dobson also supervises the training and hiring of RAs, including student conduct and behavioral training. 

Dobson attended Montana State University, where she served as an RA. She said that her time as an RA led to leadership roles and a career in housing and student development. 

Before an RA can be certified, they go through an intense two-week training in order to hold the official title of a resident assistant. The training consists of crisis response, threat awareness, de-escalation strategies, bystander intervention, and use of Title IX policies.

All this training prepares RAs to respond quickly because they are on the clock 24-7. 

“Most of the time RAs handle normal residence hall responsibilities, but the smaller number of serious situations make their training especially important,” Dobson said.

Building a community throughout the halls is another important part of the RA. They organize programs, communicate with roommates, and check in with classes. RAs also connect students to different resources such as a tutor or any other additional campus support.

One of the most common complaints RAs receive is noise complaints. While they understand that students want to have fun and hang out, they also take into consideration that there are hundreds of students living in the same building.  RAs must balance social activities with students sleeping and studying, which is why there is an established curfew time for the residence hall. 

Another challenge that only RAs face is that they live where they work. Residents may see RAs outside of their on-duty hours, so it becomes difficult to separate personal life from job responsibilities. 

“Learning to establish boundaries has become an important part of his experience as an RA,” Woodgreen said. 

Students who find an interest in becoming an RA can start by talking to current resident assistants. 

“It’s a fun job, but it’s such a meaningful job because you really are there for people in some of their lowest moments,” Dobson said. 

Both Woodreen and Dobson stressed that ‘RAs are not the police,’ but they do ensure a safe environment, give residents proper resources, and offer a listening ear for resident conflict. RAs balance the job while still maintaining the responsibilities of an active student at Casper College themselves.