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Hall advisors act as resources and coordinate services for students with problems or concerns. You will receive training on how to deal with typical student issues and crisis situations. The area manager and assistant manager for your housing area are experienced in dealing with student problems and are your primary resource. You also refer students to ecclesiastical leaders, Academic Advisement, the Counseling and Career Center, International Student Services, University Police, and the Honor Code Office.


BYU, like other colleges and universities, has a Residence Hall Association made up of on-campus student leaders that plan student activities. At the hall level, there is a hall council made up of student leaders who live in that hall and plan activities for hall residents. The councils include a hall president, floor presidents, and other positions such as recognition specialist and publicity chair. The hall advisor advises the hall council and trains council members in their responsibilities.


The Hall Advisor position is 40 hours per week. However, the nature of this job tends to make the hours fluctuate a bit from week to week. During cleaning inspections or a week involving crisis with students, you may end up working more than 40 hours. But another week (usually only in the second half of the semester) you may only work 30 hours.


On-duty hours (3-5 p.m. and 7-10 or 11 p.m. on weekdays; 7-10 or 11 p.m. on weekends) are spent actively working with residents and resident assistants, attending meetings, completing paperwork, conducting cleaning inspections, etc. Hall advisors must remain in the housing area during on-duty time.

On-call hours (10 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. on weekdays; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on weekends) mean that if you are at home, you respond to the needs of the residents as they occur. What is this really like? Usually, it is residents with questions, so you can be talking on the phone with a resident while doing the dishes in the morning or folding the laundry. Most needs that arise during on-call hours are quickly and easily taken care of. Meetings may also be scheduled during on-call hours.

Emergency on-call seems to mean in the middle of the night, or on your day or weekend off. These are usually serious incidents that occur with residents and can take several hours to resolve. Emergency incidents also require that the hall advisor write an incident report and follow-up with area management the next day. Such incidents include medical emergencies, members of the opposite sex being found in the bedroom of a resident, broken windows, suicide attempts, etc.

Hall advisors get one day a week and every other weekend off. The weekend off begins Friday at 5 p.m. and ends with on-duty time on Sunday night. Hall advisors work every Sunday.

Time off is administered according to university policy. With approval from the area manager, vacation and sick time may be used as accrued. Both vacation and sick hours begin accumulating as soon as you are officially hired (3.7 hours of each per pay period). Sick leave may only be used for health reasons. There is no maternity leave. You use your accrued sick and vacation leave during this time.

An important thing to remember in considering time off is that hall advisors live at their workplace. So, unlike an 8 a.m.-5 p.m. office job, a hall advisor is still at work even on a day off. Residents will approach you with problems or concerns as you are getting the groceries out of the car or sitting outside with your spouse. You will soon realize that privacy is not one of the benefits of the position.


In most situations, Hall Advisors can use accrued vacation days during the following periods: (1) after all students have checked out at the Christmas break (Hall Advisors must return prior to winter semester orientation); and, (2) the first through the third week of May. (Some exceptions may occur due to program needs.) Overnight absences from the hall are permitted on the Hall Advisor’s regularly scheduled weekend off duty. Approval from area management must be received before any other overnight absences are taken.

Many people have the impression that hall advisors have lots of free time. In reality, hall advisor's responsibilities are spread throughout the day, so you need to plan free time for yourself and your family.


Hall advisors get one day a week and every other weekend off. The weekend off begins Friday at 5 p.m. and ends with on-duty time on Sunday night. Hall advisors work every Sunday.

Time off is administered according to university policy. With approval from the area manager, vacation and sick time may be used as accrued. Both vacation and sick hours begin accumulating as soon as you are officially hired (3.7 hours of each per pay period). Sick leave may only be used for health reasons. There is no maternity leave. You use your accrued sick and vacation leave during this time.

An important thing to remember in considering time off is that hall advisors live at their workplace. So, unlike an 8 a.m.-5 p.m. office job, a hall advisor is still at work even on a day off. Residents will approach you with problems or concerns as you are getting the groceries out of the car or sitting outside with your spouse. You will soon realize that privacy is not one of the benefits of the position.


Family time can be anytime during on-call hours or time off. However, when you need exclusive family time, you may need to plan to go somewhere else (like the park) or you will still be interacting with residents as their needs arise.

Many people have the impression that hall advisors have lots of free time. In reality, hall advisor's responsibilities are spread throughout the day, so you need to plan free time for yourself and your family.


This really depends on the age, personality, and needs of your child/children. An infant who is not yet crawling may be content to sit beside you and play with toys while you meet with residents, conduct cleaning inspections, or do paperwork. An older child may be less content to sit still and may demand your attention while you need to focus on work. Residents need your attention, and when you are on duty they are your first priority.

While most residents enjoy the presence of a child, a hall advisor also must be careful not to impose the child on residents or R.A.s since they have other responsibilities.


You will always need childcare for meetings and interviews. Often, you will only have a few hours to find a baby-sitter for a meeting that has come up unexpectedly, so it is helpful to have a number of people you can call on with short notice.

You will also need childcare on short notice for emergency situations when you need both hands and all your faculties around you. This may include dealing with a prank, accident, or fire alarm, or counseling with students.

During heavy work periods, such as the beginning and end of semesters when students check in and out, and during resident assistant and conference assistant training, you may need to arrange full-time childcare. Depending on the age, personality, and needs of your children, you may also need childcare during on-duty time.


If your spouse and children enjoy the residents, having your family at work can be a fun aspect of the job. However, you also don't have a lot of privacy. In some halls, the walls are very thin and normal conversations in your living room can be heard in the hall lobby. Couple and family time is frequently interrupted by phone calls or student emergencies.

The impact of this position on your relationship with your spouse often depends on how supportive your spouse is of you working. For many couples, the most difficult adjustment is an adjustment to the interruptions and lack of privacy that come with having the hall advisor working out of the home.

Your spouse will be more supportive if he or she realizes from the beginning that being a hall advisor is a full-time job, and that you won't have time to do things that you would normally do at home if you weren't working-like cooking, cleaning, and childcare. This position can make many couples rethink their family roles. Responsibilities such as childcare, house cleaning, errands, etc., may have to be rethought and perhaps reassigned.


Because the hall advisor position is full-time, you are only allowed to take a maximum of six credit hours during both fall and winter semesters, and three credit hours during both spring and summer terms. Classes may not be taken during on-duty hours. All classes need to be approved in advance by area management. To complete a degree, you need to apply and be accepted through the admissions office as a student.

Even though you may take six credits per semester, you may not be able to fulfill all your school and job responsibilities with six credits. You need to make sure your class workload does not overburden you. Taking three credits may be plenty, especially with a family.