Anyone who has served any time, as an on-campus student here at Kutztown knows that living in the dorms is not anything like you had expected. As kids, we have seen countless movies showing big colleges with students running rampant and the only thing to worry about was whether or not you had a cool “RA”.
Well that doesn’t exist here. There are so many rules that I have been asked by freshmen like “what time they had to be back by” because they thought there was a curfew. I’ve even had a parent laugh as they read our rules and call the dorms a prison.
In Kutztown, there is a Housing hierarchy which is a force to be reckoned with. The Desk Receptionists, or “DR’s” as we call them, are the little guys on the Housing food chain. They have the ability to throw a wrench in your night’s plans and here’s why.
The Desk Receptionist works at the front desk of the entrance of every dorm. The desk is 24/7 so there is literally ALWAYS someone there. This is actually kind of comforting if you have trouble sleeping and find yourself needing to see a sign of life at 4am on a Monday morning. However, they are the ones who dictate who is allowed in the building during and after “visiting hours”.
If your DR sticks to their guns and follows the rules like most first-time DR’s, then your friend who forgot their ID back in New Jersey isn’t getting in and has to sit in the lobby until the rest of your ID carrying friends illegally pregame in your room. If they’re really lax with the rules and don’t give a crap about who comes in the building, everyone and anyone is getting in. This may seem super great for you but it begs the question: what crazy people with no identification are getting in?
In college, it’s usually just that people want to have massive hangouts in their dorm or drink (which as mentioned before, is unacceptable here in dry-campus Kutztown). Housing only allows 3 guests to be assigned to one resident at a time. The way around that is to ask another resident to sign in 3 of your other friends, but that isn’t always the greatest plan since that other resident is held responsible for the guests they sign in. IF those guests get in trouble, so do you. If they lose their pass, it’s YOUR fault and you’re the one getting the write up.
Kutztown justifies the strict guest rules with the idea that it makes the dorm safer for the residents. In some ways, that makes perfect sense. If the DR does their job as Housing demands, then there is a record of everyone who comes into that building and if something happens, it’s easier to find that person and there is always someone to call public safety if need-be. However, the students do not see it this way. That, and I sure as hell will not die for minimum wage if some crazy person gets in.
I have worked in housing for two years and I hated it. At first, I did everything I could to do my job well because I have always cared deeply about the jobs I have had and I stay true to my work ethic. Unfortunately, this was beaten out of me as time went on.
Some of my residents were great! They were understanding of the rules and rarely, if ever, violated them. Even when people did things wrong, I would acknowledge it but I never wrote anyone up because I wasn’t there to ruin anyone’s time if it wasn’t anything serious. College is supposed to be a time of exploration of friendships, relationships, fun and one’s self. How am I supposed to disrupt that if the resident isn’t actually doing anything seriously wrong?
Regardless, I would still do my best with my conflict of interests, but apparently that still wasn’t enough. I have had residents swear at me, scream in my face and blatantly ignore me for the sake of not letting their loud and clearly wasted friend at 3am (past sign-in hours) on the Tuesday of finals week. I may have been more inclined to do so if they hadn’t been incredibly rude to me right off the bat. A DR is much more likely to do their job 100% if you’re a jerk to them so maybe just be a decent person and think about the fact that they don’t want to sit at a desk at 3 in the morning and deal with people like you. Just be more considerate.
To be fair, I was a resident once and I hated the rules too. I was thwarted many times by the Housing rules and for simple things like having a guy spend the night my first semester. Which, if you think about it, gay and lesbian couples could have their significant others over, but straight couples could not. I have no problems with gay couples, I just think the rules meant to control significant others staying over is missing a huge demographic.
Next are the CA’s. These poor souls are the ones DR’s call for backup when the residents just throw the rules out the window. EVERYONE KNOWS that there are parties and drinking and who knows what else going on behind closed doors in the dorm. Yet, they don’t go sniffing for it. They HAVE to do rounds of the building as part of their job. So, if you’re blasting your music and yelling at everyone to take a shot or peeing in the stairwell and wonder why Public Safety has appeared at your door, then you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed. And if you’re going to break the rules, do it the smart way that won’t force the CA’s hand. They don’t want to live in a dorm where they are hated, but they have to do their job when you’re so loud and someone complains.
After that, we have our Student Staff Coordinator or “SSC”. These guys are the ones who come in after the CA on duty deals with you. They are just like a regular CA, but they have a few more jobs to do and hold a bit more power within the Housing Hierarchy. They actually have to perform their job because they work in tandem with their higher-up. They’re essentially a live-in mini Building Director.
Finally, we have the Building Director. They don’t ruin anything; they just handle whatever you did to piss off the CA or a DR. If your case makes it to the Building Director, it’s your own fault and tears will not help you. Just take the reprimand like an adult and move on. Holding a grudge against the entire staff isn’t going to help you either.
And here for honorable mention, we have Mentors. They also fall under the Housing Hierarchy, but they barely count. These guys are literally paid to be your friend. They live in the dorm, go to Housing meetings and make programs, but at the end of the day, many are still getting drunk with you on Main Street. They don’t enforce Housing rules (some do but that is very rare) and they will occasionally have to talk to the residents about how school is going.
Working in Housing, at least for me, didn’t have ANY perks other than a flexible schedule, which still wasn’t that great because everyone had to have a “shit shift”. Mine were usually 2am to 4am on Wednesdays and that was horrible. The weekend shifts got you more money for that next paycheck, but at the expense of going anywhere even remotely far away because you had to be back again later for another shift. In addition to the crappy schedule, you aren’t even paid well. You are paid a quarter above minimum wage to deal with people who are angry with you for doing your job. If you DON’T do your job, you get in trouble and maybe even fired. But if you do, everyone that you have to LIVE with will hate you and that makes your job harder. You don’t even get reduced or free housing. You pay just as much as everyone else to live and be hated where you work. That’s right…anyone you piss off knows where you live, pee and shower. Not that anyone will do anything other than ripping stuff off your door, but it definitely makes for a very uncomfortable living situation for a YEAR. If Housing wants a staff of people who do their jobs and do it as it should be, they need to offer more than they are, which clearly isn’t much. They hire anyone with a nice demeanor that can answer simple interview questions and rarely fire anyone because they are always struggling to find people to do the job in the first place.
Housing may seem like the worst idea in the world but I’ll be honest. It was an easy paycheck and I met a lot of people. For many, that’s the entire appeal. Housing is actually one giant constantly singing family. A lot of people thoroughly love it and work hard despite the various downsides. I swear a lot of people are genuinely happy working in Housing, but I wasn’t one of them.
It wasn’t so horrible the first year so that’s why I did it again after that, but my last year as a DR was the worst and I thought about quitting every single day. Even when you did these kids a favor, they were still jerks about it. You couldn’t win and you would get in trouble and have to be at the desk at 2 am. For me, it wasn’t worth it and I’ll never do it again.