:” rvey Resident assistant survey Submitted To: Dr M. Hyman In Partial Fulfillment Of The requirements For The course MKTG310 SP 19 Submitted B y
Monday, May 10, 1999 Mr. Bob Smiggen Director, Housing and Residence life New Mexico State University Subject: Report on the results of the Resident Assistant Survey Dear Mr. Smiggen I am pleased to present you with a report on the results of the survey I handed out to the Resident assistants to determine why the retention rate is low and what areas of their job RAs liked and disliked. This report was prepared in accordance with the guidelines you, Mr, Greg Block, and myself discussed on Tuesday, April 13 I think you will find some of the results surprising. I know when we talked we assumed that one of the main complaints the RAs would have about their job would not be money or time, but those two topics were brought up quite frequently and looked negatively upon by the RA's. The biggest problem this data brought forth was that the ra's do not find the current means of training useful or valuable This survey was distributed to every Ra employed at the time in each halls staff meeting, The total number of surveys tabulated came to 60. I believe that these questionnaires are representative of those RA's who filled out the survey. In preparing the questionnaire, I used information gathered from a focus group ofRa's and former RAs as well as the input from you and Mr. Block The results of this project can be used by your department to evaluate current trends and processes within your organization and may hopefully be used to shed some light on the reason why the ra turnover rate is so high. I would like to thank you for your cooperation in completing this research and I wish you the best of luck in the future Sincerely Researcher/Student New Mexico State Universit
Table of contents Resident Assistant Survey Result Letter of Transmittal Executive Summary. Research Introduction Objectives 456 Methodology Results Job Scope/Responsibilities How RA's Perceive They are Being Treated l788 Training Satisfaction 9 Positive and Negative Aspects of job 10 Why ras leave their job Limitations. Conclusions Recommendations 15 Appendix Research Proposal Questionnaire Frequency Statistics Cross Tabulation Statistics
Executive Summary Background The New Mexico State University Department of Housing and Residence Life is charged with the task of providing housing for those students who choose to live on campus. They take this process one step further in that they strive to not only supply students with a room to live in, but also supply them with a well-rounded group living experience where their education can be supplemented by various programs The Resident Assistant(RA)is the Departments tool to implement their goals and in many ways serves as the liaison between the residents and the Department. Having such an awesome responsibility on their shoulders, the RA is crucial to the Departments success. The fact that the ra turnover rate is so high for the Department lends itself to be examined The objectives of this survey were to do the following Determine if s felt comfortable with the scope of their job and their responsibilities Determine how RA's perceive they are being treated Determine positive and negative aspects of the ra job as they perceive them Determine how satisfied Ras are with their job Determine why RA's leave their job Results Job scope/Responsibilities 40% of ra's feel that the ations given to them by the department are not realistic given the scope of their job and other responsibilities and they feel that they
work on average more than twenty hours a week. 31% feel the job description they were given when they first applied is not accurate and a large percentage ofra's from the larger halls(25%)feel they have too many residents on their floor How RA's perceive they are being treated 41.6% of RA's feel they are being treated as valuable employees and 46% feel they are recognized for their efforts. 40% of the ra,s feel that there is a communication problem rall A majority of the RA's(63%)feel that Spring Inservices are invaluable to them 39.5% of the Ras feel that the required CeP class did not present them with useful information. 51% of RA's felt that the training in the beginning of the Fall semester was adequate and prepared them for their job Satisfaction Of all the Ras, 51.6% said they have been satisfied with their job and 56.7%said their experiences have been positive while being employed by the Department as an Ra Positive and Negative aspects of the job In general the Ra's like the aspect of their job that includes dealing with peopl They enjoy the diversity and the relationships they build with other staff members. On the same scale, they dislike the programming requirements and they wish they were paid more for the work they do Why RA's leave their job Of the 60 RAs employed by the department currently, over half of them will not be returning to work next year. The most common reason given was that the job did not meet their expectations and that they disliked the Department Conclusions and Recommendations a problem obviously exists in the department for the retention rate to be so low he most negative responses came when asked about training and whether or not rAs felt they were being treated fairly. While a large percent feel they have had a positive