The RSR booth in the Graduate Residence Hall is empty as coverage is being phased out for graduate students. // Ahjané Forbes/The Hofstra Chronicle.

Resident safety representatives (RSRs) began fearing for the safety of the Hofstra University residential community – and their jobs, when the RSR program was shifted from being under the umbrella of Public Safety to being under Student Enrollment, Engagement and Success (SEES) in November.

With the transition to SEES, the RSR program will undergo changes. RSRs have been told that no one will lose their jobs in the upcoming spring semester due to these changes; however, an email sent to RSRs on Nov. 11, from Liliana Hinojos Madrid, the resident success manager, and Beth McGuire, the executive director of campus living, stated that there will be no RSR coverage during the winter intersession from Dec. 19 to Jan. 29.

In the email viewed by The Hofstra Chronicle, it states that they are actively working on “installing card swipe access on the RSR booth doors … installing closed circuit TV screen monitors at the entrance of residence hall buildings hoping to complete by fall 2023 [and] touring all RSR booths to ensure we have responded to the needs of our team.”

Aside from cutting RSR coverage during the winter intersession, Jessica Eads, vice president for SEES, confirmed that the only decision made yet is to remove turnstiles from all of the residential buildings. All other changes to the RSR program will be made after thorough discussions that will be held in the spring semester with RSRs, resident assistants and resident directors.

Overall, there are about 150 students working in the RSR program, 29 of which are international students, according to Hinojos Madrid. Some RSRs that are outraged over the decision to cut coverage during the winter intersession are international students.

“The F-1 student visa stipulates that international students can only be employed by the university for a maximum of 20 hours per week during the semester and 40 hours per week during break,” said Shelby Greenslade, a senior biology major from Western Australia and Resident Safety Shift Coordinator in the RSR program. The visa also does not allow international students to work off campus.

Job openings for international students for the January session have been opened in the Athletics and Admissions Departments, as well as a few on-campus offices, according to Eads.

The email sent to RSRs on Nov. 11 states that RSRs looking for on-campus job opportunities should reach out. Since the email was sent from the RSR program email, students have been sending inquiries to that email address, and the student coordinators (SC) don’t know how to respond, according to Jordan Dubroy, a senior BFA writing for the screen major and an SC.

RSRs have also expressed concern over swipe access to the booths eventually being implemented.

“We can’t shut off swipe access on a whim, like if we know [an RSR] has a shift coming up, we can’t just turn it on for them. So they would need 24/7 access all the time, which means that any information in the textbook they can just have at any time,” said Claire Helfman, a senior criminology and sociology double major and an RSSC. “We have had situations where RSRs have interacted inappropriately with supervisors, or other RSRs or residents, and they have been dismissed because of that. But if a situation like that is happening, and an RSR is stalking someone, they can just get their room number and their name out of the post book.”

Helfman also explained that swipe access has not been necessary because there is always an RSR in the booth and they switch off. The inclusion of swipe access leads her to believe that it implies that there will not be 24 hour coverage anymore.

Eads explained that the addition of swipe access is to increase the comfort of RSRs and will allow them to use the bathroom freely while giving them a way to get back into the booth on their own.

After looking into the year before the pandemic, Geraldine Hart, the associate vice president of public safety and community engagement, stated that there were less incidents in Stuyvesant Hall than in the Netherlands complex. Stuyvesant, a freshman dormitory, does not have turnstiles.

“Accounting for the reduced population… the percentage of incidents is lower in Stuyvesant than a similarly situated first year residence hall,” Hart said.

During the Hofstra town hall held on Nov. 16, Helfman shared an encounter she had while on duty. She stated that while she was working a night shift as an RSSC, an RSR working in Stuyvesant called her saying that a guy dragged in a girl who was visibly intoxicated.

“He said she could barely walk on her own, did not look okay and did not swipe her own ID at the door,” Helfman said. “He tried to stop them several times, but the guy wouldn’t stop and ignored him. He reported [the incident] to me immediately after and then to Public Safety.”

Helfman made the point that the ADA sliding doors make it difficult for an RSR to stop someone from getting into the building, especially the situation she retold.

Eads’ response to the anecdote Helfman shared rubbed some people the wrong way at the town hall.

“I want you to understand that this is what happens on college campuses across the country, and what that means is that there are other ways to make people feel and be safe,” Eads said in response.

Eads believes her message was misconstrued as she responded to Helfman’s concern over turnstiles.

“I re-answered that question a million times in my brain, and I had the opportunity to speak with that student again in our meeting on Friday,” Eads said. “I certainly want to apologize. It was a horrific experience that student went through. They are clearly upset about it and I skipped right to the second part of her question – which was the issue of turnstiles. [I] didn’t address that, and I wish I had answered that differently.”

Additionally, an SC and RSSC claimed that during a meeting with Eads and the RSR program, when they were voicing their concerns over removing turnstiles, she said “Well, nothing has blown up or burnt down yet.”

Eads denied these allegations.

Removing the turnstiles is an attempt to make a universal design for all students to enter the residence halls, according to McGuire.

“[Removing] the turnstiles from my perspective is really about allowing for a more welcoming and inclusive opening and entrance to our residence halls, so everybody feels like they are invited to come in who are obviously members of our community,” Eads said. “It is really much more about making sure students with access issues can comfortably enter the space and feel like there isn’t a barrier that’s preventing that.”