residential life

Mount Holyoke Residential Life student workers file for unionization

Mount Holyoke Residential Life student workers file for unionization

On Sept. 28, 2022, Mount Holyoke College’s residential advisors and fellows filed for union recognition with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1459. As explained by the Mount Holyoke Collective, a campus group fighting for change for RAs and RFs, the roles of Residential Life student leaders have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as expectations fluctuate the group wants to ensure they have sufficient power to continue advocating for themselves.

College extends no-guest policy in residential halls

Mount Holyoke has decided to extend its no-guest policy in residential halls through the end of the fall semester. On Oct. 6, the Office of Residential Life sent an email to all residential students providing an update to their guest policy. In the email, a guest is defined as anyone who does not live on campus.

College enacts vaccination mandate for community members

A COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all faculty, staff and students at Mount Holyoke College as of July 8, 2021. This mandate extends to those who work with or regularly interact with the College and its campus, according to the Mount Holyoke College web page “Opening the Gates.”

Virtual Community Ambassadors Aim to Promote Remote Community

Virtual Community Ambassadors Aim to Promote Remote Community

In an effort to continue cultivating community within its remote student body, Mount Holyoke recently introduced Virtual Cohorts into the Residential Life virtual programming. Student participants applied to join one of the cohorts supervised by a virtual community ambassador. According to the job description, a VCA “is an essential member of the administrative staff of Residential Life and plays a critical role following the College’s shift to remote learning.”

Student Residential Staff Share Their Experiences in Pandemic Campus Life

Student Residential Staff Share Their Experiences in Pandemic Campus Life


Last fall, Residential Life adapted its student staff to fit the new pandemic setting of both Mount Holyoke’s remote and in-person communities. Employees, formerly senior community advisors and community advisors, are now known as resident fellows and community assistants. This change came with an adaptation in responsibility for ResLife employees. RFs and community assistants are now responsible for both cultivating community and enforcing the student compact, both integral to the success of Mount Holyoke’s COVID-19 reopening plan.

College Creates Community Compact and Dining Restrictions for COVID-19 Residential Life

College Creates Community Compact and Dining Restrictions for COVID-19 Residential Life

It has been 10 months since Mount Holyoke announced its campus shutdown. This spring, the College reopened its doors to nearly 700 students across 12 residence halls and one apartment building, which is reserved for Frances Perkins scholars.

Mount Holyoke Tentatively Prepares to Bring 60 Percent Student Capacity to Campus in the Spring

President of the College Sonya Stephens wrote a letter to the Mount Holyoke community regarding the College’s preliminary plan for the spring 2021 term on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Stephens wrote that the College is preparing to welcome up to 60 percent of the student population to campus in the spring.

“Our goal is to safely accommodate as many students wishing to return as we possibly can, and to continue to ensure that those for whom Mount Holyoke is their permanent address or who need to be on campus can remain in residence,” Stephens said in the letter.

Residential student staff living on campus have new responsibilities: Zoom events, enforcing social compact

The group of student residential staff living on the College’s campus this fall is drastically smaller than previous years and they are working in unprecedented circumstances. Abiding by the social compact, and in some cases enforcing it, the responsibilities of Community Assistants (formerly known as Community Advisors) and Residential Fellows (formerly Senior Community Advisors) have shifted in response to COVID-19’s interruption to campus life.

Residential Life Student Employees Share Their Experiences With Fall Planning: Inequitable Pay, Room and Board Fees, Increased Labor

Residential Life Student Employees Share Their Experiences With Fall Planning: Inequitable Pay, Room and Board Fees, Increased Labor

Students were asked to decide by July 8 whether they wanted to take up Residential Life positions for which they had been previously hired. These positions, previously titled Senior Community Advisor and Community Advisor have been renamed based on modifications to responsibilities under the new social compact and campus reopening plan: Residential Fellow and Community Assistant, respectively.