        |
|
|
Home > Staff > RA Information > Special Instructions for the RA/CA Selection Process
Special Instructions for the Resident Assistant (RA) and College Assistant (CA) Application Process Thank you for your interest in becoming an RA/CA! These instructions are meant to augment and clarify the information presented on the "Overview" page. Please feel free to contact the Residential Education Office if you have any more questions. Table of Contents
This section describes more details about the different steps, but does not include dates/times/deadlines. Remember to regularly check Overview of the Process or Important Dates for dates/times/deadlines.
Note: Remember to keep copies of all materials you submit for your own files. Reading Resident Fellow (RF) and College Director (CD) Biographies on the Web site It is important that all RA/CA candidates take some time to read the RF/CD Biographies. In their biographies, RFs/CDs/Supervisors provide information on their background, specific goals and educational objectives for the house, their concept of the RA/CA role and the specific characteristics they are seeking in candidates, and questions they are likely to pursue in interviews. All of this information will be helpful to you as you decide on where you want to apply to be an RA/CA. You may read RF/CD biographies on the Web site. We will update RF/CD bios for the next academic year during winter quarter and as new RFs/CDs are assigned (in late February and early March). To access the RF/CD biographies on the Web site, select: You may print copies of a particular biography by selecting Print from the "File" menu at the top of your window or clicking the Print button on top of the browser. New RA/CA applicants must obtain two recommendations for your application to be complete. Re-applicants must obtain a recommendation from the RF/CD/Supervisor with whom you work(ed). There are two separate forms for new applicants and returning applicants available through the Web site (see instructions below). You may give your recommendor a copy of the recommendation form included in this application packet. As a new applicant, you should seek recommendations from people who know you well, know about Residential Education and the Frosh/Soph College programs at Stanford, and know what the RA/CA job entails. RFs/CDs/Supervisors (current and former), RA/CAs (current and former), and other people you have worked closely with or who know you well are the best recommenders. You may have an RA from a house to which you are applying write a recommendation for you. Faculty you have had in classes may or may not be good to use depending on how well they know you and the RA/CA role; just getting an A in a large class, while terrific, is not generally a strong basis for writing a relevant recommendation for the RA/CA position. To be useful, recommendations should be concrete and should include specific examples of the points the recommenders are making. General accolades and adjectives about a person do not generally give the reader a good sense of what the candidate is capable of. Writing recommendations is a difficult task. You should give the recommender at least two weeks advance notice. You can help those you are asking to write you a recommendation by providing them with materials to help them write a thoughtful recommendation:
The main goal is to give the recommender as much information as you can to help them write specifically about you so that you stand out to readers. Obtaining Disk or Printed Copies of Recommendation Forms from the Web site
Remember to complete the part of the recommendation form that asks for applicant information. Check the appropriate box indicating which phase of the selection process you are in (Away Winter/Spring, Away Spring, or Regular Spring), and indicate whether you are waiving or not waiving your right to see your recommendation. Most people waive their rights to see their recommendations (mostly because it ensures the readers of the recommendations that the writer could write confidentially). Some recommenders will give you a copy of what they write (whether or not you waived your right to see it), but you need to know that many will not do so just out of routine practice. Be sure to give your recommender an envelope (stamped if they will be mailing it in) with the Residential Education Office address. Recommenders may write their recommendation on a separate page, but they must return the recommendation cover page with your signature on it stapled to whatever they write. Be sure to sign your recommendation forms before giving them to your recommenders. Introduction to the RA/CA Application The RA/CA Application is located on the Stanford University Application System. The RA/CA Application consists of the following six sections: Section I: Personal Profile and RA/CA Applicant Profile Section II: Away Winter/Spring Information (For Away Winter/Spring & Away Spring Applicants Only) Section III: House Choices (Regular Spring Process Only) Section IV: House Choices (Away Winter/Spring &Away Spring Applicants) Section V: Re-applicant Essay Questions (For Re-applicants Only) Section VI: Essay Questions (For Away Winter/Spring, Away Spring, and Regular Spring Process Applicants) Please note that some sections of the application may not have to be completed, depending upon which application process you are going through (Away/Winter Spring process, Re-applicant process, or Regular Spring process). Please carefully read the application and the instructions. It is important to make sure that all information provided is saved. After completing each section of the application, click on the Next button which is located at the bottom of the screen. Your information will remain saved by clicking on the Next button. At the end of the application form you will be provided with two options: 1. Submitting your application form. Please Note by doing this you will not be able to make changes. 2. Return to a summary of the entire application form. Choosing this option provides an opportunity to make changes and print the application form. This option will save the changes you have made. To begin the application process follow these instructions:
This will lead you to submitting your RA/CA Applicant profile. Registering as an RA/CA Applicant (Submitting your Applicant Profile) You will need to register in the RA/CA computer database by creating an RA/CA Applicant Profile for yourself. To do so select:
Important Warning: To enter information into the Web site pages be sure to click in each box before you start typing. In some cases the tab key works to move you from box to box. In other cases it doesn't. You should make sure each time that your cursor is blinking in the box you wish to type into and is not still in the box you just completed. The registration phase (submitting your RA/CA Applicant Profile) asks for basic identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc). Because our goal is to build diverse staffs, some of the information requested may be reviewed by RF/CD/Row or Suites Supervisors. Also, the RA/CA Applicant Profile will ask the name of residences in which you have lived in at Stanford and the names of your past and current Resident Fellows. Lastly, the Applicant Profile will ask you to list the names and titles of people whom you have asked to complete recommendation forms. Re-applicants must have their current Resident Fellow or Row Director submit a recommendation. Make sure you enter your Stanford ID, your SUNet ID and all other information correctly. Much of the information you enter in your profile will be used to generate the first page of your application and will be used for subsequent mailings and email communication, so you want to make sure that the information is correct. Completing Away Winter/Spring Information, House Choices and Essay Questions After you complete the first section of the application, you need to complete the remaining sections: Away Winter/Spring Information (Away Winter/Spring Applicants), House Choices, and Essay Questions Please note that some sections of the application may not have to be completed, depending upon which application process you are going through (Away/Winter Spring process, Re-applicant process, or Regular Spring process).
The safest way to put your essays into the essay page is to type your responses into a Word document first, save as a "text only" file, and then copy/paste your responses into the appropriate text boxes (making sure the cursor is in the appropriate box where you want to paste the text) --you can then do additional editing within the text boxes. You may type your responses directly into the essay text boxes, but if you do that and for some reason the host computer goes down, or you forget to "save" your responses, you will lose all of your work! Hence the suggestion to do your "essays" as a Word document first. For the Essay section, try to limit your responses to 250 words per question. The best essay responses tend to be concise and to the point. While you will not be penalized for submitting essays longer than 250 words, a longer essay is more likely to be construed as rambling or boring. Use the TAB key to switch between boxes while working on the Essay section of the application. Please skip a line between the paragraphs. Once you are done, click on the Next button at the end of the page to upload your responses to our system. If you hit reload before saving, your changes will be discarded. After you click on the Next button, you will automatically be led to a page that provides you with two options: 1. Submitting your application form for review. Please Note by doing this you will not be able to make changes. 2. Return to a summary of the entire application form. Choosing this option provides an opportunity to make changes and print the application form. Please review all information prior to submitting your application.
Remember to submit your application. Failure to do so will make you
unable to receive any interviews.
1. Printing the front page of your application:
2. Printing your application:
Make sure to sign and date the last page of your essays. Staple the essays to your front page. Submitting Application Materials 1. Make copies of your application for the Residential Education Office and for each house you selected in your RA/CA Applicant Profile and circled on your Specific Interest List. Label each copy with the house name on the front page in the upper right and corner. For Row special interest houses--Muwekma, La Casa Italiana, La Maison Française, Haus Mitteleuropa, Slavianskii Dom--put those house names on the application. For all other Row houses just put "Row", and/or "Row Fraternity"/"Row Sorority". 2. Deliver the original copy of your application to the following locations:
3. Deliver copies of your application for each house--do not include your Specific Interest List-- to which you are applying to the following locations:
4. Check with your recommenders to make sure that they can/will have their recommendations to the Central Residential Education Office (425 Arguello Way) by the application deadlines. Checking on Interview Status via the Web site To find out if you have been offered an interview(s) you may check on the Web site during the designated dates/times. See either Overview of the Process or Important Dates for dates/times/deadlines. You may be offered interviews in houses for which you did not express a specific interest. This may happen because RFs/CDs/Supervisors may read applications from the "general interest" pools (e.g., all frosh houses, 4-class houses, upperclass houses) generated when you submitted your Specific Interest List (house choices) with your original application. To check on your interview status and sign up for interviews, select:
Click on RA/CA Application Process and type in your SUNet ID and password. To sign- up for an interview, click on Interviews then select Away Spring RA/CA Interviews or Spring Process Interviews (you will notice that there three interview sign-up periods for the Spring Process: First sign-up period, Second sign-up period, and Third sign-up period). You will be shown a list of Resident Fellows which have offered you interviews. Next, select the Resident Fellow's name to view his or her interview schedule and sign-up for an appointment. Some RFs/CDs may call you for interviews outside of the centralized interview sign-up system. It is your responsibility to keep track of your interview schedule! Please print a copy of your schedule after completing interview sign-ups and mark your calendar. Missing an interview is not a good idea; there are not likely to be any make-up interviews. We re-emphasize the fact that no one is guaranteed an individual interview with an RF/CD/Supervisor. Interviews with RFs/CDs/Supervisors Your application will be read by RFs/CDs/Supervisors and current RA/CAs who are not themselves reapplying (reappointed RA/CAs will be reading applications). After reading your application and recommendations, RFs/CDs/Supervisors with some input from the current RA/CAs (those not reapplying), will decide which applicants to interview. Some will interview you individually, some will interview you in groups. Some will have one interview round, others will have two rounds of interviews. RFs/CDs/Supervisors may hold no more than 2 interviews with applicants. Please remember that not everyone is asked for an interview. In the interviews, RFs/CDs/Supervisors are looking to see how you respond. How well do you express or explain your views? How skillful are you in communicating and discussing complex ideas? Are you able to move a conversation from a superficial to a deeper level? Do you seem to need to be "right" or to "win" a point of an argument? These and similar questions reveal how successful you are likely to be in engaging residents in discussions of substantive issues. In the past, some RA/CA applicants have been concerned because they were asked about their views on politics, religion, and personal matters such as drinking. The particular views of a candidate in and of themselves cannot be the basis selection. Don't forget that you should be interviewing the RFs/CDs/Supervisors as well. This is just as much a time for you to ask questions of them--their values, their working style, their reasons for being RFs/CDs/Supervisors, their hopes and fears--as it is for them to find out about you. If you are an AWS or AS applicant you may find that some RFs/CDs/Supervisors are not interviewing during the interview phase, especially those who are leaving the system at the end of the year. If you do not get an interview with a house in which you are interested, try to spend some time in the house with residents or visit with an RA/CA so that someone on the residence staff will have had a chance to talk to you before you leave. Submitting Preference Lists and Matching Process You must submit to the Office of Residential Education (425 Arguello Way) the "RA/CA Candidate's Preference Form" by the designated deadlines listing in order your preferences for assignment (including applicants to the Row). If we do not receive your Preference Form by the deadline, you will not be considered for an RA/CA appointment. There will be no exceptions. The "RA/CA Candidate's Preference Form" is an essential part of the selection process. Please note that this list is a ranked order list of your preferences for appointment. You should fill out this list after you have completed all your interviews. You must submit a preference list even if you list only one choice or interviewed at only one place. You may submit a preference list whether or not you received interviews during the process. Note: the house choices that you identified on the Web site when you registered as an applicant plays no part at this stage of the process. AWS and AS applicants may send your preferences to Josh Schiller via e-mail (hbunny@stanford.edu), by Fax at (650) 725-2821, or by phone (650) 725-2800. RFs/CDs/Supervisors will also be submitting a rank ordered preference list to the Residential Education Office. Once the RFs/CDs/ Supervisors and RA/CA candidates' preference lists are received, the Office of Residential Education conducts a matching process, which is designed to maximize the applicant and the RFs/CDs/Supervisors preferences. Every year applicants ask if there is some special way to list their preferences. The answer is "yes"--put your houses in the order that you really want them--there is no "gaming" the system. We will not go to a lower choice on your preference list until your higher choices are no longer available. It is often the case that vacancies remain on staffs after the initial matching process. After the initial reconciling of lists and before the notification date, you may receive a call from an RFs/CDs/Row or Suites Supervisor who needs to fill a vacancy and is still interviewing. If you receive such a call, it means that you were not assigned in the initial round and that the RFs/CDs/Supervisors are considering you for an appointment at that time. While that may be very disappointing news, if you want to be an RA/CA this is a great opportunity to become one, even if not in a house in which you were originally interested. You may go on the Web site at the designated dates/times to learn of your appointment status. To check on your appointment status, select:
If you are an AWS or AS applicant at a Stanford program (or elsewhere) with electronic mail, or a Fax number (see below*) we will notify you as to whether or not you received an appointment through an electronic message (or Fax in cases where there is no electronic mail.) If you are not at a Stanford program (or elsewhere) where we can reach you by electronic mail or Fax, call the Residential Education Office at (650) 725-2800 on the notification date specified above. If you have not heard from us by May 2, 2008, please call the Residential Education Office to find out whether or not you have received an appointment. If you are assigned to Mirrielees or the Suites, you may choose your own roommate(s). Your chosen roommate(s) should not participate in the Draw, but should instead, sign a Residence Agreement indicating that they are a roommate of a staff person and have their name entered into the exempt student database as a roommate. Your roommate(s) must have at least one full year of undergraduate guaranteed housing remaining. If the house drew preferred the previous year, your roommate(s) will be using a preferred year of housing if one is still remaining. If not, the unpreferred year will be used. Once offered a position you need to let the Office of Residential Education know of your decision to accept (or decline) the offer. We cannot hold your spot if we do not hear from you by the designated deadline. You may let the Residential Education Office know of you decision in any of the following ways:
Employment materials must be submitted to 425 Arguello Way by Monday, May 2, 2008. If you have been offered a position you will need to pick up and complete Employment Materials (RA/CA contract, employment forms, Residence Agreement, tax information). Employment materials will be available at the Residence Field Offices for the house to which you have been assigned.
For AWS and AS applicants: We are willing to send the packet of materials to a US address, but not overseas (unless we can get packets into the Stanford overseas campus "pouches" in a timely manner). Please make sure that we have an up-to-date US address where we can send your employment materials (if you have no permanent US address, please give us an address where we should send materials). The employment forms need to be returned by the end of June. If you will not be returning to the US for the summer, you may want to arrange to have a family member complete the forms for you. Please let the Residential Education Office know if that will not be possible. Miscellaneous for Applicants Away Winter/Spring (AWS) and Spring (AS) only. Come to the Residential Education Office before leaving campus to check for last minute updates on the process, to make any changes of your choices or other information in the database, and to verify that you have taken all necessary steps. We will not be contacting you once you leave campus. Make sure we have the correct address information (use the Supplemental Address Form in your "Becoming a Resident Assistant" materials) for the time you will be away from campus. The form must be submitted to the Residential Education Office before you leave campus. If there is any change in your address status at a later time, be sure to let us know and identify yourself as an AWS or AS RA/CA applicant. Before leaving campus, check with Housing Assignment Services (HAS) to make sure you understand how the spring housing draw works. You must enter the Spring Housing Draw if you want to live on campus next year. If you receive and accept a staff appointment, you may cancel your draw assignment without penalty. Before leaving campus, if you are on financial aid, check with the Financial Aids Office to make sure you understand how being an RA/CA may affect your financial aid package. For those of you who will be at a Stanford Overseas campus we will be able to contact you either through electronic mail (all centers), by FAX (all centers), and through the weekly express mail pouch (all centers). For those of you who will be in the Washington DC program, we will be able to contact you via electronic mail, FAX, phone, and regular mail. Please make sure you introduce yourselves to the office personnel to let them know that you may be receiving messages about the RA/CA selection process during winter and spring quarter and to establish how each of these communication systems work. We strongly encourage you to maintain contact with the RFs/CDs/Supervisors with whom you interview by corresponding directly with them during the year. Send cards/letters/email reminding them of your continuing interest and telling them more about yourself by sharing your thoughts and feelings about various issues or your experiences away from campus. Please, though, do not expect nor invite RFs/CDs/Supervisors to write back. Make sure you have the correct address for the RFs/CDs/Supervisors you are interested in before you leave. You will need to keep on top of the process by meeting all deadlines (though we of course will help that happen as much as possible) and to let us know where you are if your plans change. We advise you to select a friend who will be on campus to help you through this process. If you have any questions while you are away from campus, please contact Josh Schiller at the Central Residential Education Office (425 Arguello Way, Stanford CA 94305-3016), by email hbunny@stanford.edu or calling (650) 725-2800 (you need to know that we cannot call you overseas). We can receive FAX at (650) 725-2821. |
