Life of an RD: The Sydney Malley Story
By Chelsie Gastright
High Point University has many resident assistants, or RA’s, throughout the on-campus housing. As with every job, someone oversees the workers. In the residential community of HPU, the ones who oversee the RA’s are called resident directors, or RD’s.
Since November 2011, Sydney Malley has served as the RD at both the University Center-2 and the women’s complex.
Malley is no stranger to HPU because she too was a student at HPU. She graduated in May 2010 and received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She has now taken on a job that she feels is perfect for her personality.
“It is fast-paced, interesting, rewarding, and fun,” said Malley. “I could never have a job that would be the exact same thing every day, so this is perfect for me.”
Malley oversees 17 RA’s throughout the UC-2 and Complex. However, Monday through Friday she is at work in the office of student life in the Slane Student Center. During her time in the office, Malley and the other RD’s work on different projects, such as maintenance issues or simply checking in with students.
During the school week, Malley is also required to work a single 24-hour shift where she and another RD, called a duty partner, must be on call to answer the “duty phone.” For Malley, this single shift falls on Wednesdays.
“The duty phone needs to be answered 24 hours a day, so no matter what time the call comes in, we need to be prepared to answer and respond to whatever may be needed from us,” said Malley.
However, on weekends there is a rotating schedule. This means that every weekend there are RD’s working, but not every RD is responsible to be in every weekend.
Malley is fully aware that while her job is extremely rewarding, there are definitely things that make it difficult to handle at times.
“Sometimes responding to several crisis situations in one night can wear on a person. All of the members of the Student Life team realize this and are very good about giving us what we need,” said Malley. “That may be a day off to get sleep and regroup, or just someone to talk with. Whatever it is we need, they are willing to help provide that for us.”
To be a RD an individual most go through an interview process. In order to be considered for the position, a bachelor’s degree is required. One other useful thing that helps boost a RD’s resume, but is not required, is past experience as an RA.
Learning about these positions is best obtained through talking with people who have also held a RD position.
“It has been a really great experience for me. If someone thinks that they will make a good RD, they should definitely look more into it,” said Malley.
Malley is enthusiastic about what she does and cannot say enough about the positive atmosphere that her team of RD’s supplies.
“I really love the team of RD’s that I work with. In this type of job, it is important to have a group of people that respect and support each other. I am really lucky to have so many people that I know I can count on in any type of situation.”
Malley and her fellow RD’s are all aware of the responsibilities that being a RD comes with. While the 24-hour shift is difficult, the reward of knowing that the position is making a difference in a student’s life is what makes this job unique and rewarding.