HA Application and Position FAQ

You may still apply to be an HA if you have received an AOD violation, but you should be prepared to talk about your violation. When speaking to an interviewer, you should be able to explain what you learned, how you've changed your behavior, and how the experience might help you in the future.

One of the qualifications for being a House Advisor is to, "be in good disciplinary standing in accordance with Reed College policies and the Honor Principle. Applicants may not be eligible for the HA position if they have received two or more AOD violations at Reed."

If you have received multiple violations or a serious AOD violation, your application may not be considered.

The role of the House Advisor is to assist in enhancing the residential housing experience for students at Reed College. As such, there are a number of reasons why we give preference to candidates who can commit to the position for the entire academic year.

• We believe that residents are best served when their HA is a consistent presence in their hall throughout the year. When the HA changes in the middle of the year, it is harder for residents to build and maintain trust with their HA.
• Training a new staff member and integrating them into an Area Group in the middle of the year is difficult and time consuming for many people.
• Finding two people who will be at Reed on opposite semesters requires coordination, and takes a spot away from a candidate who may be willing and able to commit to the full year.

HAs are hired to support specific types of communities (i.e., First Year Community, Upper Division Community, Language House, Apartments, etc.). In order to best meet the needs of the students in the respective community, HAs must posses specific skill sets relevant to their residents' needs. In addition, an essential component of the HA position is living within the community in question. Candidates must meet the essential position requirements, with or without accommodations.

Having an on-campus position can affect your financial aid in different ways. To be sure of how this will affect your aid, please contact financial aid at financial.aid@reed.edu and discuss your situation.

Yes!  However, we ask that students consider the challenges with maintaining multiple positions before choosing to do so, and recommend that HAs work no more than 10 hours in other positions unless they discuss it with their supervisor. More information about student worker positions can be found here.

We estimate that the HA position typically takes up about 10 hours per week, but this can vary quite significantly depending on the time of year, and how you choose to schedule your work.

If you have questions about your ability to commit to the House Advisor position for the full year, please talk with your Area Coordinator for more information.

Compensation is expected to be the gross amount of room and board plan B for the 2021-2022 academic year, split equally over student payroll dates during fall and spring semesters. House Advisers develop skills in leadership, community building, conflict resolution, event planning, administrative tasks, teamwork, and professionalism. 

Federal, state, State transit tax and workers compensation taxes are deducted from these payments, and these deductions are determined by your W4. These dates are determined by the Business Office and are during the academic semester when students are exempt from paying FICA and FIM taxes. If there are changes, they will attempt to communicate these to the House Advisers in advance.

If you have more questions, please reach out to the following:

Questions regarding financial aid Sandy Sundstrom sundstrom@reed.edu

Questions regarding payroll Dawn Derry derryd@reed.edu

Questions regarding promissory notes Sara Rosenberger sara.rosenberger@reed.edu