Dartmouth undergraduate advisors may be paid less than those holding comparable positions at several other institutions, but that hasn't stopped a record number of students from applying for the position.
The 168 current UGAs are expected to work 15 to 20 hours a week, according to their job contracts. In their first two terms as UGAs, students receive $1,000 per term, after which they receive $1,100 per term, a rate that amounts to approximately $6.66 per hour. UGAs are expected to pay full room and board expenses.
At Princeton, undergraduate college advisors work roughly ten hours per week, and, in lieu of a paycheck, each receives a single in the dormitory where he works and 10 meals per week in the dining hall. The monetary value of this compensation is approximately $6,000 a year, according to undergraduate college advisor Meghan Gallagher, a student at Princeton. It is a salary approximately twice of what a full-year UGA at Dartmouth earns.
The Office of Residential Life has been working to increase the compensation that UGAs receive, according to Jeffrey DeWitt, associate director of residential education.
"We would love to be able to pay more if we could, but whenever we tried to work it out budget-wise, the amount of money that we would be requesting [is] prohibitive," DeWitt said.
A request to increase the UGAs' salary was denied when planning the current budget cycle, DeWitt said.
UGAs' responsibilities include overseeing the health and safety of their residents and planning activities to build a sense of community on each floor. They must attend weekly staff meetings and meet regularly with their community director. The 59 UGAs who work with freshmen must also facilitate weekly floor meetings. These UGAs receive the same compensation as those who work only with upperclassmen.
DeWitt said that upperclassmen UGAs do not have less of a time commitment than those that work primarily with freshmen, although their job is not as structured.
"A key difference in the approach that an upperclass UGA takes is that they really focus on the one-to-one connections with their residents," DeWitt said. According to DeWitt, it is a much more difficult task to form a sense of community on an upperclass floor than on a floor of first year students.
While UGAs at Dartmouth may be paid less than their counterparts at other schools, they may serve a different function, according to current UGA Vivian Chung '07.
"I think if you compare the undergraduate advisor program to say RA programs across the country, you find out we do less disciplinary follow up," she said.
RAs at the New School in New York City receive free room and board and a stipend of $1,400 a year, but they do have a disciplinary role, according to Alex Yellen, a junior at the university who works as an RA.
Head residents -- the Colby University equivalent of UGAs -- are paid $3,100 a year, an amount comparable to what Dartmouth UGAs receive. Like Dartmouth UGAs, head residents at Colby do not have a disciplinary role, but are only expected to work five hours per week, one third of the time UGAs work, according to head resident Brooke Barron, a sophomore at Colby.
Still, the UGA position appears to be a highly sought-after job at the College; a record 316 students applied for the position last year, 100 of whom had previously been UGAs. Winter applications for 2007-08 UGA positions are due Feb. 20.
Chung stressed the non-monetary rewards of being a UGA and stated that she originally applied for the position because she wanted to foster a sense of community at Dartmouth.
"Being a UGA is probably one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had at Dartmouth," Chung said. Chung descirbed an experience when she discovered half of her first year residents in one room discussing race and class issues.
"It was halfway through their freshman fall and they were able to have that really honest and intense discussion," she said. "I think that moment really highlighted for me why I continue to be a UGA."
DeWitt cited the opportunity to impact the experiences of Dartmouth students and to build skills pertinent to life beyond Dartmouth as additional incentives.
"Having the opportunity to work directly with a community director who's a full-time administrator, that's not an experience that you often get through other venues at Dartmouth," DeWitt said. "Similar to that [is] the experience of being part of a staff team and just getting to know and having relationships with the other UGAs."
