Disentangling the Acronyms: What the New SR Changes Mean For You

Written by Finn Slattery-O’Brien

Now that the Senior Resident’s (SRs) duty shifts have been replaced and the new system is in full swing, it’s a good time to make sure you know what these changes are and how they are impacting you and your hall.

Community Support Officers (CSOs) commenced their employment on 1 July 2024, replacing the role of SRs on-duty shifts. These changes are purportedly to promote standardisation across all on-campus residences at ANU. 

Until now, many halls had differing after-hours support systems, including variations on the SR system, where an appointed senior student and hall resident would be on duty to offer necessary support to residents.

Observer spoke to several former SRs who described the system. A SR would be rostered to each hall between the hours of 5pm (or when a hall’s reception shut) and 8am (or when reception opened), and in return, they received a discount on weekly rent ranging anywhere from 50% to 100%, depending on the hall. 

Under the new system, each residential hall is paired with another. A CSO is present in each hall in reception from 4pm-10pm, and is then replaced by another CSO who monitors both paired halls. This CSO is then relieved by a third CSO who also monitors both halls. It is notable, however, that because Burgmann and John’s are private colleges, they are exempt from these pairings. 

The other pairings are:

• Bruce Hall and Wright Hall
• Burton and Garran Hall and Wamburun Hall
• Yukeembruk Village and Ursula Hall
• Fenner Hall and Toad Hall
• Davey Lodge and Warrumbul Lodge
• Lena Karmel Lodge and Kinloch Lodge

With these changes in effect, the SR scholarship (according to a resident-wide email from ANU’s residential experiences division) will be decreased in 2025 to a standard of 50%. This percentage will be determined not on the basis of each hall’s specific rent but rather from the average weekly rent of all halls, which is $342.11.

Therefore, no matter a given SR’s weekly rent, under the new policy guidelines, that person would be entitled to a $171.06 discount per week. It is also important to note that SRs were often given larger rooms with a higher rent. 

As an example, SRs working under this new scheme at Bruce Hall, which as of 2024 has a weekly rent of $539, would still be paying $368 per week.

These scholarship changes do not apply to the residential contracts of any current recipients but will come into effect on 1 January 2025.

The SR scholarship has taken a hit in many halls, particularly those that had an existing scholarship higher than 50%. It has been stated that this general scholarship decrease has occurred given the scope of the SR role has been narrowed to that of the newly renamed Residential Mentor (RM) role in 2025, which is purely for pastoral administration and community facilitation, and are given “extensive training to build their capacity as leaders”, according to an ANU spokesperson.

The number of RMs next year will also change, with the guiding tenet of standardisation aiming to ensure the RM-to-resident ratio remains as close to 1:25 as possible. Thus, depending on existing ratios, many halls will see an increase or decrease in SR numbers.

Taking over from the roles of current Community Coordinators (CCs), there will be the Senior Residential Mentor (SRM) role from 2025 as a point of contact and further mentoring to students and the RMs themselves. They will also be implemented in numbers as close to a 1:4 ratio to RMs as possible.

SRMs will receive 100% (i.e. now 100% of the average rent price taken off their rent), and take over some of the facilitation, coordination and wellbeing roles previously held by CCs. Many CCs have however been given the opportunity to apply for work as CSOs.

The other new scholarship percentages are below:

• Senior Residential Mentor: 100%
• Residential Mentor: 50%
• Senior Academic Scholar: 100%
• Academic Scholar: 50%
• Canteen Coordinator: 100%
• Canteen Assistant: 50%
• Transport Assistant: 50%

There have been concerns from some who have made this transition that the level of training the new CSOs receive is less thorough than that of the SRs. This allegedly includes training at halls different to the hall at which they would be working, causing difficulties in properly carrying out their duties.

When questioned on this training process, an ANU spokesperson maintained that all ANU or UniLodge employees go through a “rigorous recruitment process” and participate in “four weeks of training and onboarding.”

According to the ANU spokesperson, the CSO role training included “responding to first aid, mental health awareness, pastoral care, maintenance, admin support, incident escalation and event management.” All new CSOs also engaged in a trial period wherein they trailed current SRs and staff of the residential halls.

With the shuffling of roles, there have been concerns that the reduction in scholarship amounts may put unnecessary financial stress on some students. The ANU has responded by emphasising the existence of ANU’s various equity scholarships.

According to an ANU spokesperson, a large part of these changes is ensuring that SR scholarships “are equitable across all residences and appropriately aligned with other scholarships at ANU.”

Furthermore, the role of the CSO differs in several ways from that of the SR. 

According to the ANU spokesperson, unlike the SRs, who were often woken by phone calls from residents, “CSOs are rostered on for a shift and are expected to be awake for the full shift,” and they will also have additional “administrative duties.”

Like the SRs, CSOs also engage in “regular building walks” and will “look for any maintenance or Work Health and Safety (WHS) issues,” according to the ANU spokesperson. 

Further community concerns arose around the idea that most CSOs are not students, and thus would be strangers to many residents. At the very least, students would be less comfortable in many situations that would require the CSO’s assistance while on the night shift. This is eased by the fact that some students in leadership positions like the CCs have taken up CSO roles.

Anyone seeking financial assistance can apply for an ANU equity scholarship or the Student Urgent Relief Bursary.

Graphics by Annisa Zatalini

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