The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 46

Katherine B. Boone * Denise L. Davidson * Mark Bauman

ment between the complainant and Ferrum
College. In this settlement, Ferrum admitted
"shared responsibility" for the suicide of Frentzel, a statement believed to be the first of its
kind (Hoover, 2003, p. 1).

mental health challenges that are also more
severe than in years past. Given that many of
these students reside in campus housing, the
likelihood that RAs will respond to these issues
is similarly increasing.

This case is highlighted not to suggest in
any way that all mental health challenges lead
to suicide or suicidal ideation. Rather, the point
is to demonstrate the serious nature of these
issues and to reinforce that RAs frequently
are the first to intervene. As Letarte (2013)
aptly observed, RAs often respond long after
administrators and other professionals have
departed campus for the day or week. Thus,
the responsibility to intervene in both immediate and emerging mental health challenges
falls largely on the RA (Letarte, 2013). Perhaps
such responses would not pose as much of a
challenge if the number of these issues was
steady or even decreasing. But both anecdotal
and empirical evidence clearly suggests the
contrary (Crandall, 2013). As Kitzrow's (2003)
review of literature demonstrates, college students are presenting with higher numbers of

Whereas Lake and Tribbensee (2002) noted
that most legal rulings in the area of college
student mental health insulate institutions of
higher education and their personnel from
legal responsibility, the Frentzel case should
serve as a harbinger of things to come. Though
legal rulings do not provide precise guidance
for professional and student staff (Letarte,
2013), colleges and universities should consider proactive efforts to train and supervise their
RA staff adequately with respect to matters of
mental health, an area that Crandall (2003)
noted was deserving of additional attention.

Increasing technology use,
including advances we cannot
begin to envision, will require
RAs to be convergent thinkers
and develop community, provide
educational programs, and
communicate with residents in
new ways.
46

THE FUTURE OF THE RESIDENT
ASSISTANT ROLE
The 10 major RA roles defined by Blimling
(2010)-student, role model, problem solver,
conflict mediator, campus resource, trained
observer, community builder, group facilitator,
counselor, and administrator (p. 33)-remain
relevant today and, we believe, will continue to
be germane to the overall purpose and functions fulfilled by these paraprofessional staff.
However, looking forward, we envision several
roles becoming more salient. In particular, we
propose that RAs will be more likely to draw
upon their skills and abilities as trained observers, problem solvers, and community builders.
In recent years, federal legislation has required institutions-and, by extension, RAs-
to pay close attention to residents and the
residential environment as demonstrated by
statutes requiring reports of missing students

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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