With school officially back in session, most of Wichita State’s on-campus residents are moved in for the fall semester. Inside the halls of on-campus housing, residents may notice a decorative nature tailored to their given floor. Colorful flyers for upcoming events, eye-catching boards that welcome the arrival of students and a properly themed name tag attached to each door are all done by Resident Assistants or RAs.
Katie Austin, director of WSU’s Housing and Residence Life, said RAs focus their mentorship on four service standards: “providing a safe home (for students), being courteous, providing connection, and being efficient in their jobs,” she said.
RA bulletin boards can help achieve some of these goals.
“They can use their bulletin boards and wall decorations to create a sense of belonging for those students,” Austin said.
At the start of each month, every RA must create a different bulletin board following the nine-month school calendar. These bulletin boards are curated to inform students regarding many relevant issues.
Truong Duong, who prefers to go by Max, is a fourth-year RA who has experience in educating students through bulletin boards. Duong said every RA is provided this information through a resource library, however, he felt this information was too dense for the residents he was trying to reach.
“You have to think about the perspective of the resident as well, like … do people actually want to read this?” he said.
Duong decided to create a new library that abridged content while maintaining its educational purpose.
“The content is the most important part for me. It has to be concise but informative and credible,” he said.
For Duong, ensuring that his residents are properly informed is his priority. These range from social issues to mental and physical health practices.
“The star of that library is systemic racism, Women’s History Month, LGBTQ Alliance … and safe sex,” he said.
Austin also thinks certain health and wellness bulletin boards can catch the attention of students, and may be effective for those who may feel “embarrassed” to ask for resources.
“We’ve seen some great ones with suicide prevention … those are ones that have been impactful,” she said. “And when … it’s put out there on a bulletin board in a public space for people to see … it kind of takes that stigma away.”
Although the content is the primary purpose of RA bulletin boards, Katie Austin said that for many RAs, creating these boards can serve as a “creative outlet.”
“There are RAs that this is really a passion project for them — and so they invest a super high level into each of their residents,” Austin said. ”Some of them really do get into it and take it further, which is cool.”
This creativity is channeled into bulletin board competitions, where RAs can compete for prizes that benefit their residents. These competitions are hosted on a regional level, through an annual Midwest RA conference in Iowa, and by Housing & Residence Life at WSU.
“Everyone tries very, very, hard,” Duong said. “There are different prizes … like, more dining dollars, or … you can design a shirt for all your residents.”
Although RA bulletin board competitions can provide an opportunity for creativity and compensation, ultimately, an RA’s mission lies in the student.
“It feeds my passion when I see people (who are) happy with the resources I give them,” Duong said. “It’s just so rewarding to me.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to accurately name Truong Duong by his last name.
