Please note that the full expectations for Duty are listed in the Manual you received during training. You may also find the digital manual under the resources page of this website. 

General Overview of Duty in Colonia de la Paz

• • Colonia de la Paz is a large building with a complex layout. Every dorm on campus handles Resident Assistant on Duty slightly differently based on building needs. Given our needs here we have the following structure for our Resident Assistant on Duty.

  • Each night when a dorm is open and on weekends, 1 to 3 Resident Assistants serve “on-duty” for that specific dorm to provide a quick departmental response to any emergencies or other issues that require staff assistance or reporting. Part of this duty has traditionally involved rounds of the building.

  • Resident Assistant rounds and how staff discuss them can easily become more about power and authority rather than their role in building community. When this happens, the Resident Assistant on Duty can unintentionally become “police” rather than “staff support,” which gets in the way of connections for both students and staff who experience policing and surveillance as unsafe.

  • When on a round in Colonia de la Paz, you are required to engage with residents about their overall well-being, this includes simply saying “hi” when passing. You must engage with residents regarding policy violations, identify and report facilities issues, respond if residents are in crisis, and check-in with the Desk Assistant to see if they need any support or help during their shift.

  • As noted, Colonia de la Paz has a large staff; therefore, the duty looks very different from other staff. Please do not compare our duty structure to other buildings.

  • For simplicity, we split our days of the week into two areas: Weekday Duty and Weekend Duty. Weekday duty is Sunday through Wednesday, and Weekend duty is Thursday through Sunday. Each duty shift will have a minimum of two Resident Assistants on Duty and a Maximum of four Resident Assistants on Duty.

  • Resident Assistants will serve on duty rotation, roughly being on duty for one weekday duty for two weeks and off for three weeks. Weekend duty usually is about 2-4 weekends a semester.

  • Duty starts at 7:00 PM and ends at 7:00 AM during the weekdays and Thursday. Duty starts at 7:00 PM on Friday and ends at 7:00 PM on Sunday for weekends.

  • You can review the specific information for Duty below regarding rounds and incident report writing.

  • 7:00 PM rounds require a duty photo being sent in the GroupMe chat with all duty partners in the photo.

  • Duty Teams will work as Desk Assistants 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM daily at the desk for the year 2025 - 2026.
    
    

Duty Rounds in Colonia de la Paz

• A round is a walk through the entire building including bathrooms, common areas, and externally. Each duty shift will have a variety of rounds depending on the day. Weekday duty will have three sets of rounds starting at 7:00 PM, 10:00 PM, and 12:00 AM. Weekend rounds are: 7:00 PM, 10:00 PM, 12:00 AM, 2:00 AM, and 11:00 AM.

• All rounds start in the lobby for the duty photo and then head to the Sol Courtyard to check common areas. From there, head into the D100s and make your way through D-A100s. After that, head back to the elevator in the D100s and go straight up to D300s. Walk through D-A300s, and go down the stairs to complete A-D200s. After A-D is completed, make your way across to the S200s study bridge and loop around to the L200s. Complete all of the L200s and loop back to the S200s to catch the stairs. Complete all of the S300s and loop to the L300s. That way you can take the stairs down to the Luna Courtyard, check common areas, and end up in the lobby.

• You are required to take a duty photo with your duty partner and send it to our GroupMe chat. This is a fun way to engage with staff and let them know that you have begun rounds. Duty photos are required within the first 5 minutes of duty and at 7:00 PM and 11:00 AM rounds (on weekends)

• Rounds can happen 15 minutes +/- the scheduled top of the hour. You are not permitted to “split” rounds in any area of the building.

• You must always have the duty bag with you on rounds to have supplies should you need to respond to something.
  
  

Rounds/Duty in Colonia de la Paz

7:00 PM + 11:00 AM

• Focus: Common Area and/or Event Engagement (Resident Connection)

• Locations: Common areas in the building (lobby, lounges, recreation rooms, courtyards, etc.)

• Engagement: RAs on Duty should go to the common areas in the building and engage residents in conversations about current events (both on and beyond campus), timely topics (e.g., CatChat topics), and upcoming events. Through all conversations, RAs should mention they are the RA on Duty that night and that residents can reach out if they need anything from a Housing staff member.

• If an engagement/highlight is occurring in the building at that time, the RAs' primary goal can shift to encouraging residents to come join in, discussing that topic, or even bringing the engagement mobile with them

• During midterms, finals, registration times, etc., RAs could bring slips of paper with academic success tips; this could expand to other goals related to wellness, identity development resources, etc.

• Finally, if a campus partner is willing and has resources to share, the RAs on Duty could facilitate their engaging with residents throughout the dorm

• During the rounds, RAs should keep track of roughly how many students were using common areas, note a summary/theme of the conversations they had, and record any issues they addressed. These should go in a duty log.

• The exact number of students is less important than getting an idea of how often a space is used

• CDs will create a duty log that achieves these goals and any others that will best inform curriculum development for their dorms

• RAs should also file any incident reports and record any CatChats completed at the conclusion of these rounds.

10:00 PM

• Focus: Building Facilities & Safety

• Locations: areas throughout the building that have potential or known facilities concerns (which could shift throughout the year), such as:

  • Laundry Rooms & Common Bathrooms - water/cleanliness issues

  • Stairwells - potential safety concerns if blockages or spills present

  • Elevators - malfunction concerns

  • Internal access points - security concern if not functioning correctly

  • Exterior doors - security concern if not functioning correctly

  • Lights throughout these spaces - safety concern if not functioning properly

• Engagement: If RAs see and interact with residents on these rounds, they should engage them in what the RAs are doing - asking if the residents have noticed issues with the facility, noting where they have seen doors propped or lights not working, reminding them to not leave items in the laundry rooms/bathrooms/courtyards, etc. Through all conversations, RAs should mention they are the RA on Duty that night and that residents can reach out if they need anything from a Housing staff member.

•  During the rounds, RAs should keep track of roughly how many students they interacted with, note a summary/theme of the conversations they had, and record any issues they noticed and/or addressed. These should go in a duty log.

12:00 AM + 2:00 AM

• Focus: Resident Well-Being

• Locations: RAs on Duty should go where the following might (be known to) occur, such as common bathrooms, study rooms, and stairwells:

  • Residents who have consumed too much alcohol may be sick and/or passing out

  • Residents stressed with academics may be "pulling all-nighters"

  • Residents experiencing a difficult time may go to be alone

• Engagement: Beyond any need to implement crisis protocols or the desire for residents to engage or speak further, these interactions should be short but observant check-ins, focused solely on:

  • Ensuring residents are safe, encouraging behaviors that support well-being

  • Reminding them how to reach out if they want assistance or to speak further

  • Through all conversations, RAs should mention they are the RA on Duty that night and that residents can reach out if they need anything from a Housing staff member.

• During the rounds, RAs should keep track of roughly how many students they interacted with, note a summary/theme of the conversations they had, and record any issues they noticed and/or addressed. These should go in a duty log.

Duty Phone Use

You are expected to handle the phone with care. You must return the phone to the staff office, turn it off, and charge it at the end of your shift. You are responsible for any damage, lost chargers, etc. Note that our duty phone number is public, and parents can call; however, you are not permitted to talk to parents on duty phone about residents. If they have general questions related to housing, that is fine, but the primary use of the phone is for residents to call for help. See the Important Numbers section for more information on phone numbers.

• The RA Duty Schedule is posted via Shifts App in Microsoft Teams.

• All RA Duty Switches must be submitted via Requests in the Shifts App within the provided timeline in staff expectations. This means that all requests must be made at least 48 hours in advanced through the Shift App. Requests made outside of the Shifts App, will be denied. 

• You may only switch duty shifts for equal shifts, this means that weekday for weekday and weekend for weekend.

• All Night Away Requests must be submitted via Approvals in the Teams App within the provided timeline in staff expectations.