Hard work and benefits await new S. A. si
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter
Interested in joining the ranks
of those students who have the
ability to make UNL's residence
halls feel like home, sweet home?
Candidate screening has begun
for student assistants m the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln's resi
dence halls.
Lyn Jakobsen, assistant direc
tor of housing for residential edu
cation, said any student, sopho
more or older, with a 2.5 grade
point average can apply for the
student assistant program.
Jakobsen said the process of
becoming an S. A. is detailed, and
students proceed through a series
of interviews including standard
ized questions about subjects such
as disciplinary actions.
Open positions in each dorm
are determined, she said, and the
resident directors select the ap
proved applicants in whom they
are interested.
Each candidate's personality
should match the personality of
the residence hall tnat the poten
tial S.A. will be serving, Jakobsen
said.
"You need a different person in
Selleck than in Abel," jakobsen
explained.
Students not chosen for posi
tions are placed on "alternate
status" in tne event selected stu
dents decide to turn down the offer
over the summer, she said.
S.A. sare expected to move into
the residence halls in mid-August.
Jakobsen said she prefers a
student to stay in a position for at
least two years because this al
lows continuity on their floor, but
students can remain an S.A. until
they graduate.
Once the S.A. s are settled in,
they are encouraged to follow and _
emphasize the four sections of the
UNL Residential Education Mis
sion Statement, she said.
The document states that resi
dential officials should encourage
students to develop a sense of be
longing, acquire knowledge, choose
attituaes and assume responsibil
ity.
Jakobsen said the students
should strive to follow the mis
sion statement in all aspects of
their career as a student assistant.
The S.A. should help the resi
dents set up a floor government
and to mate community agree
ments on quiet hours, tne noise
level in the hall and cleaning du
ties.
besides monitoring students'
emotional well-being, S.A. s also
handle a variety of physical du ties
— checking for vandalism, unlock
ing room ooors and handling other
emergencie^^he^trise^hesaid.
S.A. s also handle alcohol and
visitation violations and encour
age activities in intramural sports.
And while the S.A. s keep tabs
on students from their floor, there's
always someone checking up on
the student assistants.
Each S.A. must meet one-on
one with a residence hall director
every other week. They also must
attend a staff meeting weekly.
In the meetings, the S.A. s
"discuss the state of the floor," she
said. The residence hall director
will ask the S.A. s how well they
know students on their floor.
Student assistants are respon
sible for the individual needs of
each resident of their hall.
"They have people coming to
them for advice (on topics) from
how to read a syllabus to extreme
depression," Jakobsen said.
"They're exposed to every aspect
oh^judenrsHfe/^^^^^^^^
S.A. s must get Deyona tne
superficial level with each resi
dent, she said, and develop a sense
of trust.
Student assistants also must
attend a three-credit course deal
ing with the developmental the
ory of student growth processes.
The class d;scusses special prob
lem areas ranging from incest vic
tims, substance abuse and homo
phobia to confrontation and lis
tening skills.
Each student assistant also is
responsible for conducting at least
three programs a semester on their
floor.
Jakobsen said S.A. s can hold
discussion topics on subjects like
stress management or call in ex
perts to speak on more compli
cated subjects such as AIDS
Overall, life as an S.A. isn't easy,
See PROGRAM on 12
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