Resident Assistants (RAs) are a critical member of the Residence Life team. They are undergraduate students specially selected for their maturity, leadership skills, academic achievement, and commitment to student development who undergo rigorous training prior to the start of each term. RAs are an important resource for students to foster personal and professional growth while helping them to become a thriving member of the campus community. RAs also provides social and enrichment programming to meet the needs of the students in their specific area.
Why Become an RA?
Serving as an RA is not only a rewarding opportunity, but it provides you with the skills and experience that are in high demand by employers and graduate schools. While all students graduate with knowledge and experience, RAs graduate with proven success in key areas including:
- Leadership
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Communication
- Conflict Management, and
- Program development.
Former Pitt-Johnstown RAs have gone on to enjoy highly successful careers in several areas including medicine, law, education, business, technology, and media (to name just a few).
Qualifications
A good RA is conscientious, dedicated, personable, and able to interact with a wide variety of students in a positive manner. The RA role is time-intensive. Good RAs are also able to balance conflicting commitments with academic, social, and job responsibilities. RAs are required to maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA (cumulative) and participate in professional development opportunities during their time in the role.
RA Application Process
Fall 2024
The Fall 2024 RA application is now open and will close on October 20, 2024. Students applying in this application cycle will begin work in January 2025. To apply for an RA position, visit the Johnstown Campus Housing & Dining Services task center on the Pitt portal (my.pitt.edu). Select the Resident Assistant application link. Once you apply, you will be notified if you were accepted into the RA selection process on a rolling basis. All candidates who are accepted into the process can expect to shadow both a first-year and upper-level housing area and participate in an interview. More information regarding this will be shared after applications are submitted.
Spring 2025
Students will receive an email when applications are open. Typically, we do a hiring process in February, with the start date falling on the semester after the application process. Once the applications are open, to apply for an RA position, visit the Johnstown Campus Housing & Dining Services task center on the portal (my.pitt.edu). Select the Resident Assistant application link. Once you apply, you will be notified if you were accepted into the RA selection process on a rolling basis. All candidates who are accepted into the process can expect to shadow both a first-year and upper-level housing area and participate in events during a hiring weekend, including an interview on February 21-23, 2025. More details will be provided via email once you are accepted into the process.