Development of Evaluation Criteria and Comparison of Performance Between Sophomore and Upper-Division Resident Assistants

The high turnover of resident assistants at institutions of higher education continues to be a problem. Upper-division students of at least a junior standing typically fill the resident assistant (RA) position, but housing professionals are increasingly considering hiring sophomore RAs. The purpose of this mixed-methods exploratory study design was to develop evaluation criteria and to compare the performance of first-time sophomore and upper-division RAs. Content analysis was used to develop evaluation criteria. Performance criteria included relationships with residents and staff, residential community development, programming, and administration. These criteria were then used to predict class standing ex post facto. Researchers gathered data from nine U.S. universities for 302 resident assistants in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Excluded were RAs of nontraditional age. We analyzed data using binary logistic regression. Results showed that performance criteria did not predict an RA’s class standing. This finding will give housing professionals more confidence in selecting sophomore students to serve as resident assistants.