As the spring semester comes to a close, many students and administrators are well into preparations for the 2025-2026 school year. The housing lottery has finished, students have completed pre-registration for classes, and many open campus jobs, including Resident Peer Leaders (RPLs), have been filled. For many students, this year’s hiring procedures were frustrating, leaving many who applied feeling as if they had been snubbed from a job they were qualified for.
Swarthmore’s RPLs consist of any campus job in which students live alongside their peers in campus housing. They include resident assistants (RAs), student academic mentors (SAMs), and green advisors (GAs). These jobs are highly sought after, offering students consistent pay throughout the semester or the entire school year, depending on their role.
Both the GA and SAM positions are paid hourly at pay level 3: $16.50/hour. RAs receive a stipend covering 100% of their housing cost and 20% of the student food charge. Senior year RAs, serving more than two semesters, are also given a bonus stipend of $250. Depending on seniority, the RA stipend has been raised 21-23.5%, an increase resulting from a newly won contract after RAs unionized with the Office and Professional Employees International Union in the fall. All RPLs are also given the option for single dorm rooms, a major perk for many.
RAs work to foster community in their respective halls, organizing events and aiding residents with any conflicts. According to the RA webpage, they also “play a crucial role in maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of their communities, and serve as liaisons to college administration.”
SAMs act as a resource for any student with questions related to academics at Swarthmore. They may help a student plan their course schedule for next semester, organize events to destress from classes, or help residents draft an email to professors asking for an extension.
The GA position, as described by supervisor Claire Hyre, has three main elements: “residential peer leadership (RPL) work, composting duties, and Sustainability Advocate projects.” GAs work with students to encourage sustainable living on campus, from the classroom to the dining hall to the dorms.
The Phoenix was denied access to official, final hiring rates for all three positions but was given information about this year’s applicant pool. According to Rachel Head, Associate Dean & Director of Student Engagement, Swarthmore received over 120 applications for 58 total RA positions. Head said that a large number of those applications were current RAs who chose to reapply. This means that the overall hiring rate was around 48%, but likely much lower for new RA applicants than returners.
Head notes that because the RA position was extended to sophomore applicants in 2022, its competitiveness increased and then “remain[ed] pretty consistent,” but did not mention if this year’s hiring rates were distinctly different.
Students not hired as RAs expressed frustration with the hiring process. Many were left unsure of what supervisors were looking for in a successful candidate and felt as though the interviewing process was unjust. An unnamed student mentioned they heard that “a lot of who got [the position] depended on your interviewer,” implying that an applicant’s success was based more on the student interviewing them than their own merits.
Melissa Mandos, Director of the Student Academic Mentor program, stated that there was “an uptick in applications from last year.” Compared to 38 applicants in last year’s hiring cycle, there were 51 applicants this year. Mandos did not have an explanation for this rise in applicant numbers, explaining that “The SAM job description and qualifications we are looking for have remained consistent over time.” Mandos also noted that this year, there was a larger number of returning SAMs, leaving fewer than 15 spots available for incoming applicants, creating an even more competitive candidate pool.
Hyre revealed that 21 new Green Advisors were hired in the 25-26 cycle. While she did acknowledge that the GA position has always had “a strong pool of applicants,” Hyre did not mention if this year’s pool was particularly large.
Rohan Mandayam ’27, a current GA, and Evelyn Cooper ’28 both observed difficulty in students being hired. This year, Mandayam explained, many students were wait-listed for the position, but he “wasn’t aware of people getting wait-listed in the past. I’m pretty sure we were all accepted or rejected outright.”
Mandayam also stated that, after speaking with some people involved in the hiring process, it was his impression that “there were a lot of applicants this year, and they had a lot of interviews that they conducted.” While Mandayam could not explain the larger applicant pool, he expressed that he encouraged many of the players on the college’s club frisbee teams to apply.
Cooper noted, “Many of my friends who applied to work as RPLs for their sophomore year were not accepted and were instead placed on the waitlist, after being told the process was particularly competitive for the fall of 2025.” Further, Cooper could think of only one sophomore student who was accepted off the waitlist, noting a distinct preference for rising juniors and seniors over rising sophomores. Hyre explained that “Our criteria for evaluating students has not changed significantly over time.”
Shana Saint-Phard ’27 was hired to be a SAM next year. She expressed her enthusiasm and gratitude for the position: “Being a SAM is a new challenge that I look forward to tackling. As someone who has struggled with learning disabilities, I wanted to become a SAM to support other people who have challenges with school, navigating the accommodations office, and adjusting to college. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with students seeking the ever elusive work-life balance.”
