What are the responsibilities and job description for the Summer 2025 Community Assistant position at St. Olaf College?
St. Olaf College Student Staff Position Description
This position description is for general information purposes. It is not intended to list all duties and responsibilities of the position. This position description is subject to change at any time by St. Olaf College, with or without prior notice.
PositionTitle: Summer Community Assistant
Name and Address of Employer: St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave, Northfield, MN 55057
Department Name: Office of Residence Life
Length of Position: 2025 Summer Terms and Intersession. Ends September 5, 2025. Initial Training is set to begin Saturday April 26th.
Contact: Jordan W. Tarango, Assistant Director for Residence Education
I. Compensation/Benefits:
- Housing
- Double-occupancy room with a roommate of staff member’s choosing.
- If a roommate is not chosen, this bed will be added to the vacancy list.
- Total housing cost for Summer 2025 is waived.
- Wage
Disclaimer: Work award is not capped during the summer term. Acceptance of this position will not limit the amount of hours that you may work in other forms of employment with the College. If employment ends before the agreed upon date, payment will be retroactively removed at a weekly prorated amount.
II. Description/Purpose of the Position: Summer Community Assistants are undergraduate student staff members that support on-campus living during the summer term. SCAs assist professional staff by attending to the daily needs of their residence hall related to building management, safety, and security.
III. Position Responsibilities and Time Commitments
- Expected Weekly Hours
- SCAs enrolled in Summer courses can expect to work between 12 and 20 hours per week.
- SCAs not enrolled in Summer courses can expect to work between 12 and 40 hours per week.
- The hours above will be negotiated if/when the position requires student leaders to perform their role in the Spring or Fall semester(s).
- Expected Hourly Commitments
- Up to 8 hours per week of front desk work is required as part of your employment as an SCA as part of duty. There are opportunities to pick up additional paid hours during daytime operations.
- You may be engaged in up to approximately 4 hours per week of active work while on-call.
- Special Time Commitments
- Full Participation in Staff Training. This mandatory training will tentatively take place over up to six cumulative hours in late May/early June.
- Duty Rotation
- One SCA shall be on-duty between 7pm-7am on weeknights, and 24 hours per day on weekends. The duty phone must be held at all times during these periods to respond to resident issues and concerns.
- Between 7pm and 7am each night (Active Duty), the SCA-on-duty shall:
- Operate the front desk and storage (as necessary) from 7pm-11pm
- Remain in their assigned building/room until 7am
- Take 3 rounds of their assigned building during this period
- Between 7am and 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays (Passive Duty), the SCA-on-duty shall:
- Conduct one morning walkthrough of their assigned building before noon.
- May be anywhere on-campus, as long as they are able to respond to a call within 15 minutes of receipt
- All on-duty activities shall be documented and submitted to professional supervisor
- Front Desk
- Operate the front desk as an initial point of contact and resource for residents in assigned hall
- Verify the identities of all individuals entering the residence hall according to departmental procedures and guidelines
- Greet residents as they enter and exit the building
- Offer assistance to those not recognized as residents of the hall
- Answer the phone and forward calls as appropriate
- Check front desk items out to residents and appropriately document these transactions
- Maintain a positive and professional demeanor at all times when working
- Maintain a clean, organized workspace
- Address policy violations as they occur
- Refer concerns to appropriate Residence Life staff as they arise
- Respond to and assist in emergency situations as necessary, within the scope of SCA training
- Storage Management
- Control access to residence hall storage
- Appropriate documentation of items placed in or claimed from storage
- Ensure storage guidelines are followed
- Assist in storage room maintenance as assigned
- Building Management
- SCAs shall support building management tasks as assigned, including but not limited to:
- Distribution of room keys
- Preparation of the residence halls for summer housing
- Assisting residents during housing transition periods, including summer check-in and check-out
- Health and safety inspections
- Identification, documentation, and reporting of maintenance/facilities/health and safety concerns or emergencies
- Building Assignment/Oversight:
- SCAs shall support building management tasks as assigned, including but not limited to:
- SCAs will be provided a residence hall assignment for their housing.
- SCAs may be assigned to multiple buildings for consistent oversight and support. Which may include leaving one assigned building to go to another for rounds.
- SCAs may be provided temporary housing in another building if that building has to become active during the summer and requires overnight support.
- Administrative Responsibilities
- SCAs shall support their professional supervisor through administrative tasks as assigned, including but not limited to:
- Weekly SCA staff meetings
- Bi-weekly individual meetings with professional supervisor
- Documentation of on-duty activities
- Weekly reports
- Program Evaluations
- Adherence to any blackout dates provided by professional staff to ensure adequate staffing during high-need periods
- SCAs shall support their professional supervisor through administrative tasks as assigned, including but not limited to:
- Residential Support
- Community Development and Peer Advising
- SCAs shall support programming initiatives as assigned by their professional supervisor
- SCAs shall develop positive personal relationships with the residents in their assigned hall through formal and informal engagement efforts
- SCAs shall role model appropriate behavior within the residence hall to students and colleagues, abiding by and upholding College policies on a campus-wide basis.
- SCAs shall provide assistance to residents in need within the scope of their training, including referral to various campus resources and triaging student concerns to the appropriate professional staff.
- Conduct Facilitation
- SCAs shall understand, articulate, and uphold College and Residence Life policies and procedures.
- Community Development and Peer Advising
V. Requirements of this position:
- Students on the graduation list for May 2025 are not eligible to apply for this position.
- Minimum cumulative/semester GPA of 2.5
- Good academic standing.
- No open conduct sanctions.
- Assignment of academic probation or any disciplinary sanctioning at any point during employment may result in immediate dismissal from this position.
VI. Qualities essential to this position:
- Excellent time management and prioritization skills
- Flexibility and ability to adapt to quickly evolving situations
- Demonstrated emotional maturity to cope with day-to-day challenges of employment
Physical and Environmental Factors
(Indicate frequency required in a typical shift for this position.)
N/A
Rarely
Sitting
Standing stationary
Walking/traversing
Crouching (bending at knees)
Kneeling/crawling
Stooping (bending at waist)
Twisting/pivoting
Climbing/balancing
Reaching overhead
Grasping/handling
Pushing/pulling
Lifting/carrying (< 20 lbs.)
Lifting/carrying (<50 lbs.)
Repetitive motions (constant for 15 mins; typing, etc.)
Driving
N/A
Rarely
Talking in person/on phone
Hearing in person/on phone
Vision for close work
Vision for distance or depth
Distinguishing color
Feeling by touch
Loud noise (need raised voice to be heard)
N/A
Rarely
Respiratory (dust/gas/fumes/steam/odors/ poor ventilation)
Chemicals (includes solvents and oils)
Vibrations (exposure to oscillating movements of extremities or whole body)
Wet or humid conditions (indoor)
Extreme cold (below 32 degrees)
Extreme heat (above 100 degrees)
Proximity hazards (moving mechanical
parts, moving vehicles, electrical current, etc.)
Heights or cramped quarters
Protective equipment required (mask, gloves, eyewear, ear plugs, steel toe shoes, respirator)
Travel : 0% of time Operate Hand Tools : Yes X No Operate Equipment/Machinery : Yes X No
Required Dress Attire : Business Casual Business Formal Uniform X Other:Relaxed / Informal Attire Comments :
