The Residential Peer Leader program, which provides counselors for all undergraduate dorms, will change its structure to replace its nine Community Directors - formerly all graduate students - with two full-time employees and staff of four assistant CDs.
The new full-time CDs will be required to have completed a graduate degree and to have experience working on college campuses with students, according to Natalie Basil, associate director of residential life, who came to the office last October. The CDs' responsibilities - holding frequent meetings with their RPLs and acting as sources of support and creativity for them - will remain the same under the new system, Basil said.
When asked how the change would affect the student body, Basil said, "It won't be an earthquake. There will be more of a ripple effect." She added that the change will create more creative and confident RPLs, who can then better serve their residents.
Not everyone is excited about the restructuring.
"I think having a grad student be the CD is so much better. ... They understand what its like to be a student," said Sonia Russo '09, who has been an RPL for the last two years. Russo said she was concerned that the structural changes were driven by the desire to enforce University policies more strictly, specifically citing the policy prohibiting underage drinking in the residence halls.
Russo said she felt that compared to graduate student CDs, full-time employees would not be as understanding of undergraduate social life and would be less approachable regarding instances of student drinking.
"Brown has a very special environment," Russo said. "Natalie (Basil) is a lot more unfamiliar (than her predecessor) with the way that Brown does things."
Basil said that policy enforcement was not a factor in the decision.
"I haven't changed anything about enforcement policies," she said. She also added that cost played no role in the decision because the cost of the new system will be the same as in previous years.
She said the change was motivated by recommendations from the Committee on the Residential Experience, formed in October 2007 to review students' experiences beyond the classroom. The committee conducted student focus groups that indicated a need for professional staff in the RPL program, Basil said.
Regarding the question of the new CDs' approachability, Basil said the new employees would likely be young adults who have experience working with college students.
"They will be very in touch with students," she said.
John Dahdah '09, who has been with the RPL program for two years and is part of the interviewing process for the two new employees, said he sees the change as positive. It has the potential to "take the program to the next level," he added.
Dahdah said he thinks the new full-time employees will be available much more than graduate students with busy class schedules have been in the past.
He said the two full-time employees and four assistant CDs will be spread evenly around campus and will continue to give sufficient support and face time to the RPLs.
Kirsten Rutkowski MPP'08, a former CD who graduated in May, said she agreed with Dahdah and Basil that this change will be beneficial despite the fact that it will limit the employment opportunities for graduate students.
"It might take a little bit of an adjustment" for current RPLs, Rutkowski said. But "it won't take long for the RPLs to see the benefits," she added.
Basil also said she hoped that RPLs will give the new system a chance before casting judgment.
"Brown students are pretty open to trying new things," she said.
