GRADUATE HOUSING ASSISTANTS

The Graduate Housing Assistant (GHA) is a graduate student staff member who enriches their graduate and professional school experience by leading supportive spaces where their residents feel welcomed, respected, connected,and ready to pursue their graduate and/or professional education goals at BU. Through collaboration with their graduate communities, GHAs will lead inclusive spaces that allows them to integrate their learning without evaluativemeasures, bolster their professional identities, and build connections that stretch across interdisciplinary lines.

GHAs serve under the direction of the Graduate Housing Area Director. Responsibilities include various administrative tasks, implementing and carrying out on-call protocol, learning and performing the soft skills necessary to connect with their graduate communities, and leading safe, inclusive spaces for community members to bond with each other and expand their professional development identities.

 

Time Commitment

This is a part-time position (20 hours a week) with a primary commitment to duties rather than hours; the actual time worked may vary from week to week. This position is expected to be the GHA’s highest nonacademic time commitment.

Responsibilities for Developing a Healthy Community

Learn and hone soft skills necessary to connect with your graduate communities, including but not limited to active and generative listening, simple reflections, open- and closed-ended questions, summaries, acknowledgments, integrative learning questions, and experiential learning cycle. Use the following tenets to create and lead spaces where community members feel safe to show up with everything most salient to them:

  • Get to know your residents
    • Specifically, their needs and wants to aid them in experiencing the best version of their time as graduate students living in graduate housing.
  • Create and lead spaces where residents get to know each other
    • Understand your social and personal identities (how you show up to spaces).
  • Assess your community
    • Through visible engagement, including garnering and receiving feedback via in- person conversations, questionnaires, surveys, etc.
  • Program for your community
    • Combining the information discovered through your assessment period and using known resources, provide and/or join community members in viewing a scheduled area of interest in the form of a presentation, game, movie, etc.
  • Self-Authorship
    • Community members actively participate and help lead in achieving the

Communicate with residents regularly. Maintain a schedule that ensures visibility, accessibilities, and availability to community members on a consistent basis. Post all flyers and keep bulletin boards updated, attractive, and up to date.

 

Responsibility for Assisting Students

Be knowledgeable about campus resources and able to make appropriate. Assist community members to overcome obstacles such as personal fears, uncertainties, and aid community members in the mediation of community. Educate and inform community members to be tolerant of student differences such as race, ethnicity, politics, gender, religion, socioeconomics, age, sexual orientation, disabilities, and etcetera.

 

Responsibilities for Working as a Team Member

  1. Attend and participate in all GHA staff training, education, and information sessions such as July training, winter training, GHA conferences, and weekly Wednesday night staff meetings from 7:00 p.m.- 11:00pm. Support departmental programs associated with GHA recruitment and selection processes, and Admission Open Houses.
  2. Maintain a positive attitude and refrain from conduct that lowers team
  3. Meet monthly with supervisor(s) to discuss performance and experiences in Residence.

 

Responsibilities for Performing Administrative Tasks

 Follow established guidelines for all office tasks (e.g., on-call, key sign-outs, etc). Monitor GHA Teams site and keep BU email in working. Participate in assigned opening, closing, and move-in shifts as directed by supervisor(s). Complete GHA weekly reports, incidents reports, event assessment forms, and other administrative tasks by all deadlines.

 

Responsibilities for Providing Control

  • While serving on-call for graduate housing, respond professionally and appropriately to incidents, crises, and
  • Educate community members on the house rules for safe and secure campus
  • Document all incidents accurately and thoroughly and submit timely
  • Serve as a Campus Security Authority (CSA).