Organizations: The Saga of University Housing

     One of the largest and most complex organizations I have been employed by is University of Illinois Housing. Last year I had worked as a Residential Adviser (RA). My experience as an RA was one of the most challenging yet, most rewarding in my college career. 

     I had worked with a very diverse staff of 10 other college students and a central Residential Director who served as a staff manager and the liaison to upper levels of University Housing Staff.  University Housing is a highly decentralized institution with multiple tiers of administration from the main director of University Housing to student paraprofessionals.  The institutional hierarchy of University Housing was incredibly extensive. University Housing was very unique in the scope of its activities, providing residents of the University not only with a residence hall, but also affiliating with dining services, technological and academic resources, facilitating student employment as well as renting out available spaces in residence and dining halls for events and meetings.  

     Residential Advisors served as the face of University Housing. As a residential advisor I was trained through the Course EOL 199 and three weeks of onsite training. Residential Advisors act as a mentor, emergency responder, and academic advisor for student residents of University Housing.  As an employee of University Housing, I gained very valuable insight into the process and daily operation of such large and important University of Illinois entities. Decentralization of Housing was crucial to effectively meet the needs of University of Illinois students. Yet information asymmetries often enhanced the difficulty of the position of an RA.  The dispersal of information from upper levels of Housing was often slow coming to RA who were the primary actors dispersing the information. I often found it challenging to enforce rules and regulations dictated by the administration University Housing due to incomplete information. As well, due to the massive structure of Housing it was often a very complicated and timely process to get into contact with and communicate with Housing Administration on any particular issue in residential life.

     Transaction costs also played a major role in the organization of University Housing and were particularly prevalent to the job description of a Residential Advisor. Beyond community-building, providing networking and social opportunities and serving as a guide to campus life at U of I, residential advisors bore the main brunt of transaction costs incurred in the market of University Housing. RAs serve to reduce transaction costs in the market exchange between students and student housing administration.  Policing and enforcing  came into play whenever Residential Advisors handled paperwork for Housing administration, such as distributing and collecting student “room condition reports” and performing  mid-semester fire inspections to ensure that students are upholding fire safety regulations specified in their housing contract. As well in building a community within a residence hall, RAs were responsible, along with residents to compile community rules to be respected throughout the year in order to provide the fullest and best living experience for all residents in the residence hall. Developing community rules incurred a good deal of bargaining costs in the process of compromising upon the personal living preferences of the more than 40 women living on my floor to establish an middle path equitable to all involved,