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Appalachian policy prohibits student-teaching for resident assistants |
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
 | Doyle
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by JULIA HARR
Lifestyles Reporter
Due to a new policy approved in December 2007, student teachers are no longer eligible for a resident assistant position.
“The students that have done [student teaching] in the past have barely survived as an RA,” Director of Residence Life Jeff Doyle said. “This was in the best interest of the residents and student teachers.”
Doyle said student teachers wake as early as 6 a.m. and are at school until 3 or 4 p.m., giving them only around 7 hours before they go to bed to eat, socialize, plan for the next day and fulfill RA requirements.
The
department feared the student teachers would be making sacrifices
either in their student teaching jobs, or in the RA position.
“We estimate the RA job takes 17 hours a week, student teaching is 40
hours and that’s already 57 hours of weekly requirements,” Doyle said.
“We know that RAs that student taught in the past brought them down a
notch in how they could do their jobs; they were gone all day long.”
Since the decision, Housing and Residence Life professional staff members have spoken with RAs directly affected by this policy.
“I was looking forward to being a senior RA,” said Jake B. Orange,
junior secondary education major. “I lived in Eggers my freshman year
and was an RA there my sophomore and junior years; I was excited about
finishing out there.”
Orange said the situation is unfortunate because he is not only out of a job, but out of housing, too.
Because this decision was made in December, Housing and Residence Life
promised on- campus housing to those RAs planning to return and student
teach.
Orange found out about the decision in mid-January, and wasn’t made
aware of the housing guarantee until a week or two later, he said.
“I’m still waiting to hear back from the Village of Meadowview,” Orange
said. “It was just kind of a pain because most people had already been
looking for housing by the time I found out.”
“This wasn’t an easy decision and it’s one that was made with a good
amount of discussion,” Doyle said. “We made [a decision] that was best
for residents and RAs. Losing someone like Jake is a casualty to this
decision.”
Doyle said while this rule currently only applies to those student
teaching, the department is not trying to single out education majors,
and will most likely further the decision to other academic areas where
students are participating in full time internships.
“I respect their decision but it upsets me that they made the call...I
would have liked them to talk to us one on one and get input into
whether or not we thought we could do it. I never got to put my two
cents in,” Orange said.
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