On October 18th, 2025, during Parents Weekend, the RA Union protested outside Burgess Cafe for a CBA (collective bargaining agreement) with Skidmore College, of which they have been in the process of bargaining for the past three years. They are demanding a clear and consistent contract, compensation for their training hours, and the ability to choose whether or not they pay for an unlimited meal plan. This demand is not unique to Skidmore; it is instead part of a national movement of unionization by RAs for fairer treatment. The Nation reports that RAs across the country are “demanding better pay, job security, hiring transparency, and respect from their employers, while arguing against the idea that housing costs are sufficient compensation.” Where do Skidmore’s RAs, Reslife, and the Skidmore administration stand on this increasingly national issue?
I interviewed four current RAs, and one CA (community assistant), just a sample of the student Reslife team. Kat’27, an RA, an intern for a nonprofit, treasurer for the Sonneteers, and co-president of H.I.P.S., says RAs are expected to “be a mandated reporter, an enforcer of campus policies, to mediate conflicts between residents, and be an advocate for our residents (especially when it comes to mental and physical health).” Heyna’26, an RA, Peer Mentor, student assistant for Reslife, and research assistant in the Economics department adds that, “We do floor programs, keep residents in the loop about different campus activities, ensure the safety of residents by performing daily rounds of the buildings, ready to respond at any moment to crisis big or small.” Natalie’26, a CA, former RA, notetaker for SAS, separate office worker at Reslife, and research assistant in the Social Work department describes her duties as “model behaviors, be accountable and hold the team accountable, lead without authority, engage with apartment residents, represent res life, attend IST 1 hr a week, 5 office hours (13.50/hour) , 1-1 1 hr a week w pro [professional] staff, CAAC 1 hr a week,” as well as stated in her contract, to “Comply with all additional assigned tasks and responsibilities from my supervisor including but not limited to: additional residents, tasks and requirement.” All of the RAs had passionate and detailed answers to share.
When I asked for reasons the RAs are pushing for a CBA, many RAs responded with similar grievances. A common problem the RAs explained was a lack of transparency in their contract, concerning the expectations placed on them by their ResLife supervisors. Rew states that “Our contract is incredibly vague. If someone outside Res Life read it, I don’t think they’d understand the actual workload or time commitment.” Natalie adds that “Currently it is full of mistakes, contradictions, and grey language that anyone in Reslife can interpret or enforce differently.” She says that “Every year I have worked for Reslife, a professional staff member has left, and a team is left without an AC [Area Coordinator].” This turnover negatively affects RAs and CAs, who are often given limited notice of these changes, and are also forced to do their jobs differently based on new expectations from their AC, their supervisor. Rew explains further that “One RA might have a manageable workload, while another is doing twice as much, all under the same contract, but different supervisor.” This is not special to Skidmore, as The Nation spoke with an RA at Georgetown who had an almost identical complaint about their contract: “It was extremely uneven and arbitrary in terms of how RAs were treated,” and “It was extremely dependent on who your community director or immediate supervisor was.”
Christina Montville is the Assistant Vice President for the Residential Experience at Skidmore. When I asked her about the constant changes of professional Reslife staff over the last few years, she told me “The term of the position [Area Coordinator] is intended to be 2-4 years. As such, having four folks in that role, we anticipate and onboard new folks in that role as attrition dictates.” Some RA’s believe that the onboarding process creates strenuous situations for them, as Heyna tells me, “When this happens, the position lacks formality and consistency. Whether RA’s have a competent supervisor or not, they are still living in the residence halls and trying to support students.” Ms. Montville affirms that “The RAs and CAs have been terrific contributors during the recruitment process, representing Residential Life from a student lens.”
Awsaf ’27, an RA, a research assistant for the Psychology and Education department, a student worker for OSDI, and a WSPN e-board member, notes that one of the main demands is “fair compensation.” He comments, “We actually aren’t given free meal plans, which I think is something not a lot of people are aware of. It's also pretty uncommon for an institution like Skidmore to not include meal plans for RAs, especially when we are forced to pay for the most expensive meal plan (amounting to around $8000 a year).” For example, Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, provides its RAs with a meal plan or meal check, alongside housing credit.
Rew’27, an RA, a student worker at the Tang Museum and Intergroup Relations Department, and a Peer Health Educator, adds that “compensation for the 40+ extra days we spend on campus for training” is also a key demand. The RA academic calendar is different from the average student, as they are required to be on campus for training two weeks before classes start, they stay on campus until December 20th to close up the dorms, they come back January 13th for more training, and then stay until the seniors graduate on May 17th. None of these training and extra labor hours are paid time. This differs from the experience of other student workers who do get paid for training hours. For example, Skidmore Writing Center tutors weren’t always paid for training, but due to a gradual shift, are now compensated for their observation hours at the center.
The RAs voted to unionize in Spring 2023 and have been bargaining with the school for a fair CBA ever since. While conditions for RAs have improved since Spring 2023, RAs ascertain that there is still more work to be done. Sarah Vero, Skidmore’s Vice President of HR, is involved in the bargaining process from that administrative side. She communicated that “Skidmore College values the important contributions of its Resident and Community Assistants and respects their right to organize. The College has been engaged in constructive discussions toward an initial contract since their vote to unionize in spring 2023.” When I reached out to other members of the bargaining team for comment, like Brittany Von Schiller (Human Resources Assistant) and Dean Bautista (Dean of Student Affairs), they pointed me back towards Ms. Vero’s comments and did not provide their own personal ones.
When I asked students about their perspective on the bargaining process, a more detailed response was made clear. Awsaf says that “I think that the clearest challenge is an unwillingness to meet with us. It is evident to all of us that the school is simply waiting us out till we graduate. As students, we are on a much shorter clock than the admin is and they are exercising this fact to their fullest extent.” The RA Union has bargained for the past two years for their CBA, and has had five meetings with the administration, as compared to the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Union, which had forty meetings in two years to successfully negotiate their CBA, which Skidmore now enforces. Rew adds that “It feels like they rely on the fact that RAs are students, already stretched thin with other jobs and responsibilities, to wear us down. I know delays and stalling are typical in negotiations with institutions, but that doesn’t make it right.”
Of the ongoing bargaining process, Ms. Vero states, “We have reached agreement on nearly all articles and look forward to continuing negotiations at our next meeting in November.” The articles not agreed on yet are compensation and job duties, core aspects of the RA’s demands. Some RAs believe that the reason they’ve had so few meetings is, “The college in turn delays negotiations greatly, offering limited bargaining opportunities and scheduling when students are often in classes.” Of the timeline of the bargaining process, Christina Montville says that “Bargaining is still on-going, but in my experience, thus far, the process is quite typical in terms of timeline and scope.” Plans are being made for the RAs and the administrators' bargaining team to meet sometime this semester.
On October 13th, ResLife sent an email with RA applications for next year to all students. When asked what they wished prospective RA’s to know about the job, Kat says, “Before applying, understand that Skidmore puts us in a unique position as they define us as the students on “the frontlines” or the “foreground” of the community as a whole but often refuse to actually put those words into action and treat us as the workers we are.” Awsaf further explains, “Your room is not just your place of rest, your floor is your place of work. With those blurred lines comes blurred boundaries from students and admin alike.” The housing credit RAs receive can be a big incentive to apply for, or stay in, a job that feels unstable, as Awsaf communicates that “Many of us are RAs because we wouldn’t be able to go to this school without our positions. It feels like we are being taken advantage of.” Kat adds, “The financial burden being an RA has lifted off of me has improved my college experience significantly, which the Skidmore administration knows and continues to take advantage of. Awsaf concludes that “I would never tell people not to apply to be RAs, especially if you need the tuition assistance (as I do). However, I would say that sometimes it becomes our job to manage our supervisors just as much as it is their job to manage us.” At Tufts University, RAs bargained for a CBA that included housing credit, a stipend per semester worked, meal swipes, and just cause to be fired. They got it. A Tufts RA says,“We’re important mentors to our students … Having the extra compensation will allow people to not have other commitments; I think that makes people be able to be more available to the residents.” As other schools successfully negotiate and uphold CBAs with their RAs, benefits to the residential experience, as this Tufts RA communicates, will soon follow.
As college tuition increases, expectations for what colleges provide to students are in turn, increasing. This expectation is not solely limited to fancy new facilities, but also to fair labor practices. RA Unions are not going away; if anything, they are spreading from school to school. Skidmore has a reputation of attracting kind, ethical, and socially conscious students. These kinds of students will want to be at schools that reflect their ethical commitments. If Skidmore wants to remain competitive in a time of low college enrollment nationwide, student workers' demands will need to be addressed.