Building a residential community is central to the role of a dorm assistant. In order to help residents get to know each other and feel a part of the dorm community, the dorm assistant sponsors group events, such as study breaks, gatherings in the lounge, outings for ice cream or movies, etc. The dorm assistant also can make name tags for residents' doors or create identities for individual floors.
Dorm assistants should be available to answer residents' questions and help deal with residential, academic or personal issues that arise. They need to be a sympathetic ear and sounding board, but they should help residents come to their own conclusions about how to solve problems. Dorm assistants are a contact point for various services on campus, and they should refer students in crisis to the appropriate resources, both on campus and in the community at large. It is important that dorm assistants maintain confidentiality in all situations, unless a breach of confidentiality is legally mandated.
Dorm assistants are responsible for maintaining their residence areas in accordance with campus standards. If there is an emergency situation, the dorm assistant is the first responder who gets additional aid to the scene. The dorm assistant is responsible for letting campus housekeeping know about any extraordinary cleaning situations that can and do arise when young adults are living away from home for the first time. Dorm assistants are expected to remain in their residence hall most nights of the week and until all students have left for vacation, so that they are available to deal with any problems that may arise.
Dorm assistants must enforce all rules of the residence hall. They must report any serious breaches of the rules to their supervisor and relevant campus organizations. In the case of especially serious infractions of campus rules or the law, dorm assistants might be required to report to law enforcement agencies, including campus and local police.