Residence Life

How Residence Life can help you

Every student living in campus accommodation is allocated to a specific Residents’ Assistant (RA), every off-campus student will also have the opportunity to meet with a RA for support. The RA is a full-time student and a part-time Residence Life staff member who resides in on-campus accommodation. They’ll be welcoming you to your new community and answer any questions you may have. They will organise a number of events to help you settle in, make new friends, experience new things, and feel part of your new community. They’ll help you create a Flat Agreement and share lots of information to help you adjust to University life. The RAs have experience of living on-campus and receive training to make them a great person to go to for advice or support.

Your RA can help you with:

• Welfare support
• Noise complaints
• Interpersonal conflict
• Advice and signposting

As well as being able to help with various problems or concerns, the Residents' Assistants (RAs) also have information about other sources of help and support available on and off-campus. Your RA will usually be able to assist you however, on some occasions they may need to refer the matter to a Senior Residents’ Assistant, Residence Life Coordinator, or Security depending on the situation.

Further support:

All general enquiries that do not require an urgent solution should be directed to the Student Services Hub.

For support with your health and wellbeing during office hours, please contact the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Team.

For support out of hours with an urgent issue, students should contact Security.

A Residents’ Assistant or Senior Residents’ Assistant will be working for a period each evening in both Colchester and Southend. Depending on the needs on any particular evening this may involve; hosting flat meetings, checking in on residents, hosting a drop-in to answer any questions, and provide support or dealing with any other Residence Life matters. Please see the poster in your flat kitchen for more information and contact details.