Resident Advisor for Living Arts:  Community for Creative Work and Learning

Introduction

Living Arts is a new living-learning community, to open with 80 students in Bursley Hall on U-M’s North Campus in Fall 2010.  The intent of Living Arts is to thoroughly integrate interdisciplinary creative work and joyful learning into the lives of students in the arts, engineering, and other disciplines at U-M.  Residents will live and learn in an arts-infused environment without “knowledge silos” – an experience that will provide unparalleled support for creative work and second-nature skills for working across traditional disciplines.  In its integration of engineering and the arts in residential education, Living Arts will be the only collegiate living-learning community of its kind in the U-S.  Living Arts is a program of Arts on Earth (www.artsonearth.umich.edu), an integrative initiative in creative work and learning, directed by the deans of the North Campus units (Architecture + Urban Planning; Art & Design; Engineering; and Music, Theatre & Dance).

Living Arts students begin their residency by taking “Creative Process” (UARTS 250), the course developed by Arts on Earth to acquaint students with creative work in multiple modalities and help them get their creative “sea legs.”  Additional programming – to be developed in large part by students working in partnership with faculty, the program director, and residential staff – will include book groups, project working groups and competitions, exhibitions and performances of original creative work, visitors’ talks and demonstrations, study groups, an alumni organization, and other activities designed to maximize students’ success in interdisciplinary creative work.

Time Commitment
25 hours per week, 17 of which would be for the general RA role and 8 hours per week for Living Arts activities. 

Responsibilities

In addition to fulfilling their hall-wide responsibilities as outlined in the UM Housing’s Resident Advisor job description and contract, each Living Arts RA is expected to be actively involved in interdisciplinary creative work, enthusiastic about helping younger students understand how to pursue such work successfully within U-M, and excited about the personal benefits to be derived from participating in Living Arts as a resident advisor and mentor.  NB:  Living Arts RAs enjoy a higher RA-student ratio than most, with 1 RA for every 18 – 20 students (instead of the more typical 1:30-35).  This higher ratio enables Living Arts RAs to devote more high-quality personal attention to students in their charge.
Specifically, Living Arts RAs are expected to

• Collaborate with students, faculty, the Program Director, and housing staff to develop and implement high-octane programming of all kinds for Living Arts residents.
• Contribute ideas for “spreading the wealth” – helping Living Arts programming benefit students throughout Bursley Hall and the rest of North Campus.
• Collaborate as part of a leadership team to ensure the success and ongoing development of Living Arts.
• Participate actively in all aspects of Living Arts programming.
• Help recruit the following year’s students.
• Participate in providing mentorship training for sophomore Living Arts residents.

Compensation
100% room and board, basic cable, a cash stipend of $1,000 for the academic year, and participation in Living Arts programming.

Contact Information
Theresa Reid, Executive Director
Arts on Earth
tareid@umich.edu
734-615-4861