Whether you’re a parent dropping your child off at college or the student ready to be away from home for the first time, there is no way to be 100 percent  prepared for the obstacles ahead.  Secluded from the daily activities of the rest of the world, campus life can be a bit disorienting and at times very difficult.  That is where a resident assistant (RA) can help to ease the transition.

RAs live in the college dorms and serve as resources for the students.  Helping students with university policies and academics and working to provide different types of programs that build a positive atmosphere for everyone living in the dorms is the role of the RA.  In addition, they are the first point of contact for residents to come to with problems.  While some problems may only involve a case of homesickness others can be as serious as suicidal tendencies. 

Dan Oltersdorf, a resident assistant at Colorado State University, noticed that while most universities provided resources for their RAs there wasn’t much available on the web.  Knowing the value an online resource would provide to RAs nationwide, Dan decided to build a Web site in December of 1998. 

Starting small, as a site for RAs to share information and post announcements, ResidentAssistant.com has grown significantly.  With over 160,000 page views a month as of January 2000, people from all over the US and Canada are starting to access the site. 

“What the site has turned into is pretty exciting.  There are about 500 pages with different programming ideas, opportunities for networking and sharing ideas and help finding other resources available to RAs online.” - Dan Oltersdorf, creator, ResidentAssistant.com

Just added to the site is a section with ready made bulletin boards where RAs can download them, print them out and put them up in the dorms.  “Educational and informational bulletins are posted for dorm residents to help with frequently asked questions and to provide constructive ideas for time fillers,” said Dan.  “Another feature on ResidentAssistant.com is ‘Ask the Experts,’ where we have professionals from all over the country who have offered to answer your questions.”

Despite all the great ideas and helpful resources on the site Dan needed to go out and get viewers to come in.  “I knew that one of the keys to getting people to come to the site was going to be informing them,” said Dan.  “I built my initial audience by spreading the word on my campus.  Then I added the bCentral ListBot form to my site.  I already have 300 people signed up for the discussion list and over 2,000 people signed up for the monthly newsletter/announcement and that number is growing really fast.” 

The ResidentAssistant.com newsletter usually includes announcements on new features or changes to the Web site.  It also contains an article written by either a professional or Dan and general tips, like programming needs for that particular time of year. 

“It’s working really well because people usually forward the newsletter to their fellow staff members,” said Dan.  “With the ability for that person to then join the mailing list by simply submitting their email address through the ListBot button at the bottom, I am gaining a lot of subscribers.” 

Managing the ResidentAssistant.com mailing list through ListBot is quick and simple for Dan.  Still shouldering a full load of classes, he doesn’t have extra time to spend on tedious Web site management.  “ListBot is not hard at all to manage,” said Dan “The option for people to subscribe and unsubscribe themselves really makes it very simple.” 

Dan is working with a publisher to finish up his first book.  When the book is finished Dan said ListBot will be one of the avenues he uses to get the word out. 

If you have any questions or comments, please email me via the contact page!