University of Virginia Library

Residential Council Questions Need
For Upperclass Resident Advisors

By ELIZABETH JOHNSON

The Association of
Residential Councils (ARC) is
challenging the "need" for an
Upperclass Resident Staff
program.

A survey, geared to
examine the effectiveness of
the current Upperclass
program, will be distributed
this week to all upperclass
dormitory residents by the
ARC. The survey is being
distributed "to decide whether
you, the students, want the
Resident Staff Program to
allow for more interested
students to get involved in
self-government, and to make
more rooms available for
Upperclass students."

Other purposes of the
survey listed on the
questionnaire are "to allow
you to decide the validity of
the program" and "to
eliminate what may be
unnecessary bureaucracy."

Complaints About Program

ARC is made up of
representatives from each of
the 11 upperclass dorms and
forms the upperclass dormitory
government.

Gail Hughes, ARC
President, said the
questionnaire was being
distributed because there had
been complaints about the
Upperclass Resident Staff.

"We are distributing the
questionnaire to see how the
residents themselves feel about
it. As the student government,
we put out the questionnaire
to see how we can improve it,"
she said.

Miss Hughes said that if
results of the survey indicated
less of a need for upperclass

resident staff a proposal would
probably be presented to the
ARC and then the Office of
Student Affairs.

ARC Members To Collect Surveys

She stressed that when the
surveys are distributed this
week the results will be
collected by ARC members
and not resident advisors.

Fourth-year man Shelly
Zablow, Chairman of the
Upperclass Resident Staff
Program, said that he hadn't
been told anything about the
survey and had not seen a copy
of it. He added that Assoc.
Dean of Student Chester R.
Titus had not seen a copy
either although "Gail had
mentioned it to him."

Need For Counseling

Mr. Zablow said he saw "a
definite need for resident staff
in upperclass dorms,"
especially with the increase in
coeducation.

Presently there is one
resident staff member on each
floor. "If someone has a
problem or needs someone to
talk to, he can't come to a
person he looks on as an
administrator."

Staff Spread Out

"There were two counselors
to a building last year who were
each in charge of a floor and a
hall. Resident staff were so
spread out that there just was
not enough contact between
them and the dormitory
residents," he said.

"It would be fantastic if
these people could be elected,"
he added, "but this is just not
being realistic."