Two JBKO Hall Community Facilitators quit last month, leaving the hall with only one active CF until the Community Living and Learning Center can fill the positions, said Mark Levine, assistant Dean of Students. Jermaine Williams, the community director who oversees JBKO, said one CF position has been filled. The CF will start Thursday.

Levine said the CFs left because the job was too demanding.

They had a hard time balancing school work and being a student leader, Levine said. Once they were in the position, the commitment to students was tough for them.

He said CLLC finished interviewing applicants two weeks ago.

The two CFs who quit, junior Christina Mulligan and law student Phillip Metcalf, could not be reached for comment, but Mulligan sent her residents an e-mail explaining her resignation last month.

The CF position required more time than I had originally anticipated, she wrote in the e-mail. With being an athlete and a science major I didn’t have as much time as I needed to study and get the grades that I want.

When the two CFs quit, Nicole Andrews was the only CF remaining in JBKO.

CFs are responsible for holding office hours and staff meetings, performing health and safety inspections, conducting floor meetings and designing in-hall programs. CFs also handle room and resident conflicts and are responsible for developing stronger communities in residence halls.

CLLC usually has a reservoir of stand-by applicants to fill any CF vacancies during the year, but the alternate pool was exhausted during the summer, Williams said.

CLLC needed extra CFs because of increased enrollment this year, Williams said. The reserve pool was exhausted because more CFs than expected deferred their position until a later date or withdrew their interest, Williams said.

In her e-mail Mulligan encouraged others interested in CF positions not to be discouraged by her choice to quit.

For those of you that asked me about the position and have possibly started the application process, I would still recommend it – it’s a great experience, she wrote. I just personally could not do it with the classes I am taking.

Metcalf, who quit more than three weeks ago, left a message on his door in JBKO directing residents to contact other CFs for assistance.

Levine said the building’s residents know to go to the remaining CF if they need help. He said he has not heard of any problems so far from the hall.

But JBKO residents say that they were not immediately aware of the change in hall staff.

(For about two weeks,) there was no e-mail, nothing in our mailboxes, nothing under our door, said sophomore Alexandra Pardo, whose floor was supervised by Mulligan. That’s the thing that concerns me – we weren’t told.

Pardo said she was unable to find a CF to assist her when she wanted to pick up a package from the hall office.

They should have let us know, she said. Who (was) I supposed to address this with?

Other residents said they agree.

The notification should be better, junior Jason Blank said.

Junior JBKO resident Carissa DiMargo said she was locked out of her room last week and could not find a CF to let her in. DiMargo said she spent the night in her boyfriend’s room, and could not return to her room until the next morning.

DiMargo said CFs still need to be accessible to all residents, even though upperclassmen typically need less assistance than freshmen.

It’s the little things, like being locked out of your room (that you need a CF for), DiMargo said.

Williams said JBKO is a quiet and well-maintained building, but the workload for the entire building can cause a certain level of anxiety for just one CF.

Levine said staff members from other residence halls within JBKO’s group of residence halls have helped fill with office hours.

We’re going to support (Andrews) as much as we can, Williams said.