Photo courtesy of Naomi Jiang ‘25
Some RAs have formed the RA Collective to negotiate for better conditions and higher wages.
By Ella White ’22
News Editor
Since the fall semester, Resident Advisors have been negotiating with Mount Holyoke College for higher wages and better working conditions on campus.
The RA Collective is made up of a group of RAs that have been negotiating with the College administration on behalf of many of the RAs and Residential Fellows working on the Mount Holyoke campus. Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall is mediating these negotiations.
Over the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 policies and staffing shortages have made RAs feel more strained, according to Mickey Pope ’23, who is an RA in Rockefeller Hall and a member of the RA Collective. RAs are expected to be first responders to mental health crises, alcohol poisonings, room lockouts and interpersonal conflicts at any given time.
“I’ve had to deal with alcohol poisoning and watching people throw up on themselves, and it’s scary and traumatizing,” Pope said. “But you don’t get paid for that stuff.”
The central demand of the RAs is higher pay. Mount Holyoke caps student workers at 15 hours per week but does not pay RAs at an hourly rate. Instead, they offer a yearly stipend which starts at $3500. This is less than wages for RAs at Smith College, Amherst College and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“We’re one of the few schools who don’t get any room and board, any subsidy for housing,” Pope said. “We get very little to no money and if you need to make a living off of this, you’re not.”
Students at UMass Amherst are paid by the hour, which allows them to be paid for the middle-of-the-night emergencies RAs often deal with, as well as a partial room subsidy.
At Mount Holyoke, RAs can be called to work at any time.
“You are on duty 24/7,” Pope said. “You have a duty to interact with your residents, you have a duty to fix problems that they are telling you [about]. You have a duty to be involved.”
If students hold a party in a given building, according to Pope, the RAs are responsible for ensuring the safety of anyone on their floor, even visitors from other dorms.
Negotiations are stalled as the RA Collective waits on information on the 2022-2023 budget and wages for RAs.
“If we can’t see the budget, we won’t know [if we’re] getting paid the amount we’re asking for,” Pope said. “We won’t sign the contract for next year. And we’re hoping that any future RAs or RFs applying won’t sign the contract until we see the [budget].”
The Collective has not gone on strike yet, but members of the group reached a consensus that they were willing to strike under certain conditions.
“Let’s say Mount Holyoke does try to fire somebody [for speaking out],” Pope said. “Then we’re all not working, because that’s not fair.”
The RA Collective is also organizing a safety net fund in case of a possible strike, during which student workers would risk forgoing their pay.
“You do [this work] because of the community,” Pope said. “But it makes it hard when you don’t feel like you’re being recognized for doing that hard work.”