All in a day's work
Starting university can be both exciting and stressful, especially if coming to Sussex is your first time away from home. Luckily, a network of experienced students called Residential Advisers live on campus to help you settle in. Malcolm Williams has been busy welcoming new students to the University. Malcolm is studying for a BA in Social Anthropology in AFRAS.
As a student RA I help new students with the transition from home life to living on campus. I live in York House and oversee 29 students there. As people have been moving onto campus, my first job has been to collect students from Falmer station and drive them with their luggage to their new residences.
"This weekend (4 and 5 October) I will be getting my students together, introducing myself and taking them around campus. Part of being an RA is to get people to socialise together, possibly in a pub on campus! It is my responsibility to ensure everyone settles in well.
"RAs are also here as someone to talk to. We listen to any problem, even if it is late. For example, if you felt a bit homesick RAs are there as a shoulder to lean on. The RA can be like a personal Nightline (a confidential listening service on campus, tel: 678531) for any personal, welfare, or financial hassles. For instance, if it's three in the morning and someone complains that they cannot sleep because of the party next door, I would deal with the situation.
"Luckily there is a big network of assistance on campus. As well as over 60 RAs, our RA coordinator, Tommy Gracie, is here seven days a week (and every evening too). Like the rest of the RAs, he can be contacted any time through York House. There are also the porters, who deal with practical problems like blocked sinks, the medical centre is there for health advice, and we have a welfare officer on the Students' union - Jo Souter.
"I chose to be an RA as I enjoy being with people and it's a rewarding job. Also I get to live on campus on a three-termly basis, rather than paying rent in the holidays, and get a rent rebate of £7 per week. As a mature student, I take my studies very seriously so it's an added advantage to be near academic resources such as the library and computer centre. On campus there is an air of security too.
"If you wanted to become an RA, look out for application forms mid year. There is a very stringent procedure to ensure the right kind of people become RAs, because it is a position of responsibility. You need two references, and hopefully get an interview with previous RAs, and if successful you are then interviewed on a one-to-one basis. Basically they want to see if you're a level- headed person who doesn't have major social hang-ups! Once accepted, you do a course in problem-solving, from first aid to role-playing in hypothetical situations. Of course, there is no set way of dealing with an incident, but as an RA it will be your job to solve problems diplomatically.
"Ultimately, RAs are students too. In the event of a problem, I am more like a referee than an authority figure. For example, if there is a problem with kitchen hygiene, I would be expected to find a solution which benefits everyone, rather than jumping down the throat of whoever I believed was responsible. Communal living does have its bad points and you have to have 'house rules', not the RAs rules.
"I know it can be daunting for some students to come to Sussex. Especially for international students who are used to their own cultural background. I know that campus culture can seem to be alcohol based! After four years in the Merchant Navy abroad, I appreciate how it feels to be an alien in a foreign country. But if you move here from say, the Far East, and the first thing you see is a smiley face, you know you're not that far from home really.
Residential Adviser Malcolm Williams: always ready to help