Less Administrative Interference in House Life
1. RLADs serve no purpose Housemasters can't do. This is extra administration that makes bureaucracy inefficient, ineffective, and expensive. This only creates a new set of people who are given more powers and higher responsibilities while being further away and less relevant to the student body it is in charge of. How can we expect these RLADs to successfully be responsible for student life when they're so far up in ...more »
1. RLADs serve no purpose Housemasters can't do. This is extra administration that makes bureaucracy inefficient, ineffective, and expensive. This only creates a new set of people who are given more powers and higher responsibilities while being further away and less relevant to the student body it is in charge of. How can we expect these RLADs to successfully be responsible for student life when they're so far up in the dorm pyramid? How can we expect these people to resolve student problems when they're not the ones talking and interacting with the students? And even if they are, the introduction of this new class of administration only further diminishes the roles GRTs and housemasters play, which means each group would be less closely tied to students than before. We don't need quantity, we need quality of staff, and that can only happen when staff are connected, understanding, and knowledgeable about the students, which won't happen if you continue to dilute the roles with the introduction of redundant staff.
2. Speaking of staff that are connected with and understanding of the students, students should be able to choose their own GRTs and housemasters. They should be able to have GRTs and housemasters who are relevant and understanding of each dorms' cultures and facets. Some GRTs are there only because of the cheaper housing; they aren't part of the dorms' cultures and they certainly don't contribute and nurture it. Back in the day, students were in charge of choosing their own GRTs in order to obtain the most relevant help they needed. Being assigned GRT through an application process will not guarantee the GRT's success in helping and communicating with the students. Students should have more input on the GRT and housemaster selection process to ensure a thriving, helpful, connecting, and respecting community of students and staff. Otherwise, they receive GRTs who are unfamiliar with the culture of the dorms and therefore the GRTs not only do not provide adequate help to the students, there could also be (and have been) hostility between the GRTs and the students who do not relate with each other. Once again, we should be seeking to increase the quality of staff, not the quantity.
TL;DR, RLADs/RLAs are redundant and dilute the responsibilities of existing staff, and we need more student input on the staff selection process in order to ensure staff respect and understand the unique cultures of each dorm, as well as provide relevant help that caters to the needs of the students.
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