DUTY
GUIDELINES
Duty is a system where a staff member is in the
building every night from 8:00pm to 8:00am to gather information, assess the
condition of the building, and to create and establish relationships with
residents. The staff member is to
follow the guidelines below.
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Make three to four sets of walking rounds of the
building. One set should
be done at 8:00pm. This set
gives you a chance to get a feeling of the atmosphere and making connections with residents.
Two to three more should be done throughout the night.
On weekdays and weekends, the second set should start around 10:00pm
and a third around 12:00am. On
weekend nights (Friday and Saturdays), a fourth set should be done around
2:00am.
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When on rounds, you serve several functions; assessing
the building for damage or loss, maintain the atmosphere for study, watch
for health and safety issues, and discourage and end serious disruptions.
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To assist you in the success of rounds, use the
following guideline:
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Check fire extinguishers. They
should be fully charged.
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Remove outdated signs and posters.
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Check kitchens, they should be clean and all burners should be turned off.
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Check computer rooms and study rooms.
Notify your Area Coordinator if items are missing.
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Check all outside doors. They
should be closed and locked.
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Submit service requests if repairs are needed to the building such as
burned out light bulbs ...
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Use of duty logs.
There are places for you to document the events of your night of
duty. There is a spot to write
the times you started your rounds. A
spot to write general comments and the atmosphere of the hall, and finally a
spot for your to document any interactions you had from giving a resident a
warning to writing a CR and from checking out the VCR to writing a work
order.
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When you are on rounds, or if you are away from your
room, you will need to put a note on your door letting everyone know where
you are and change you voice mail message indicating where you are.
TIPS
(from www.ResidentAssistant.com):
- You are not a cop! - While part of the RA job is
enforcing policy, you should not have an "I'm out to getcha"
attitude. This shows through and will not help with the relationship
you have with your residents.
- Have respect - Mutual respect is the key here. If
you treat the residents like kids or act disrespectful toward them, it is
not likely that you will be respected in return.
- Be consistent - Inconsistency will find it's way back to
you. Enforce policies with everyone. If you show
favoritism to someone and let them off for the same thing you documented
someone else for, you have probably just severed your relationship with the
other person, and have put a big dent into your own credibility and respect.
- Be resident motivated - As a Resident
"Assistant," you are in place for the sake of the residents.
Keep this in mind as you do your job, even as you enforce policy. You
probably don't want to say "I'm just doing this for you" as
someone pours out their full bottle of Captain Morgan, but remember that in
the big picture, you are making a difference and hopefully, you will have a
positive impact.
- Stay positive! - As you do your rounds through the hall,
remember that not just the confrontational contacts matter. You can
make a difference just by smiling and saying hi.
Sara Hays
Contact: shays@ups.edu
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