Department:Housing and Residence

Supervisor: Cole Taylor

Office Location: Chase Hall, 001B

Email: ctaylor3@bates.edu

Pay Grade:

Hours: 5

Workers: 40

***Residential Community Building*** • Support a first-year center (FYC) of 10 to 18 residents as a community advisor, helping roommates to complete cohabitation agreements and establishing community norms and values. • Act as a peer mentor and role model to help first-year students navigate complex social and academic situations, competing priorities, and diverse College policies. • Connect with first-year students via email introduction prior to arrival and prepare the physical environment of the first-year center (FYC) by hanging posters, door tags, and informational signs. • Foster relationships between first-year students and other members of the Bates community to help celebrate difference, to ensure first-year students are supported, and to encourage a sense of belonging. • Build socially just and inclusive residential communities by facilitating meaningful conversations around roommate agreements, residential norms, community expectations, and mediation strategies. • Help first-year students to explore co-curricular and extracurricular activities and groups on campus, and facilitate introductions between first-year and upperclass students where possible. • Live within a first-year center, ensuring regular visibility within common residential spaces and being prepared to support residents as their needs and your availability dictate during non-business hours. • Maintain personal boundaries appropriate for a paraprofessional worker and an agent of the College. ***Community Intervention & Support*** • Approach residential concerns and interactions with humility, empathy, and an active desire to learn from different perspectives, experiences, and from mistakes. • Manage conflicts and mediations with an inclusive and empathetic approach, helping both sides feel heard and guiding residents through the process of generating realistic strategies and solutions. • Collaborate with the Coordinators/Directors/Deans in the Office of Residence Life and Health Education to resolve persistent or escalating residential issues. • Issue informal warnings, including simple explanations of policies, to residents and guests where violations of Code of Student Conduct or Residential Regulations have occurred. • Refer individuals and/or groups to the Office of Residence Life and Health Education or other student-facing offices where higher-level support or more formal conduct processes are needed. • Work with other members of the Residence Life Staff in investigating and resolving documented dorm damage, significant or persistent mess, and/or instances of community disruption. ***Residential Programming*** • Facilitate the required numbers and types of extracurricular and educational engagement opportunities (programs) to foster relationship building, community connection, and meaningful dialogue around relevant student issues. • Collaborate with other student members of the Residence Life staff to facilitate multi-community and/or crossover engagement opportunities. • Consult with the Coordinators/Directors/Deans of the Office of Residence Life and Health Education to develop ideas and content for engagement opportunities. • Manage a semesterly programming budget as determined by specific residential placements and community size. • Meet with first-year center residents at least twice per semester for Cat Chats (formal or informal one-on-one opportunities to build authentic relationships with first-year students). • Complete monthly reflections to assess facilitated programs, to report progress toward Cat Chat requirements, and to provide feedback regarding Residence Life staff experiences. ***Personal / Professional Development*** • Participate fully in mandatory staff trainings, including pre-arrival training sessions in August/January and in-semester trainings during the fall and winter terms. • Attend weekly Residence Life staff meetings (Tuesdays from 12:00 – 1:00pm) to discuss ongoing and/or emergent residential issues, encourage team bonding, and foster meaningful interpersonal connections. • Attend one (1) leadership-focused event or complete one (1) leadership-focused course outside of Residence Life training sessions during the academic year. • Attend one (1) bystander intervention, anti-racism, or equity-focused event or training session outside of Residence Life training sessions and Green Dot training sessions during the academic year. • Meet with a professional staff member (Area Director) in the Office of Residence Life and Health Education at least once per semester to attend to personal and professional development needs. ***Collaboration*** • Establish positive and mutually respectful relationships with custodial workers to effectively and collaboratively address safety hazards, cleaning needs, and/or relevant community behaviors. • Assist with First-Year Orientation and arrival programs and events, including hosting regular meals and intentional community meetings during Orientation week. • Support, promote, and attend college-sponsored programming for first-year students with first-year center residents when possible. • Maintain regular communication with designated Area Director. Attend mandatory meetings with designated Area Director throughout the semester. • Participate in team projects that enhance the quality and efficiency of the Office of Residence Life and Health Education.

• There are no experience-based requirements to be a Junior Advisor. • Applications must be submitted online via the Residence Life website. (https://www.bates.edu/housing/reslife-apply/) • Applications must include two (2) references, including one (1) reference from a current professional staff or faculty member and one (1) reference from a current or former Residence Life staff member. • Applications must include a simple resume and cover letter formatted as a PDF and uploaded to the application.

Junior Advisors receive three layers of supervisory support from a Junior Advisor Team Leader, an Area Director, and the Assistant Director of Residence Life. • Junior Advisors are also part of a residential team typically comprised of a single building and are expected to collaborate closely with other JAs in those residences. • Junior Advisors work closely with other offices in Student Affairs, particularly as a liaison to help connect students with relevant resources. • Junior Advisors are also expected to maintain collegial and collaborative working relationships with Residence Life Coordinators, Custodians, and other professionals at the College who work to support students in residences.