The Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC), the organization that represents Georgetown University resident assistants (RAs) in collective bargaining negotiations, completed their fifth round of negotiations with university officials Nov. 21.

During this bargaining session, RAs and the university continued talks on placement — the process by which RAs are assigned to work in specific university buildings — and rehiring; they also began discussing RA training. The two sides could not come to any tentative agreements during this session. 

This round of negotiations represented the fifth meeting between GRAC and the university since the RAs formally voted to unionize April 16, accepting representation from Local 153 of the Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).

Izzy Wagener (SFS ’26), an RA in Kennedy Hall and the interim vice chairperson for GRAC, said placement is a particular issue for the union. 

“Our position is that we think RAs should have more control over where they themselves want to work, especially for people who have been doing this role for multiple years,” Wagener told The Hoya. “We think that RAs should have some control over where they live and work, especially because RAs basically miss out on a lot of typical living opportunities.”

The current hiring process allows RAs to rank where they would prefer to live — but even if an RA ranks a specific housing option as their top choice, there is no guarantee they will receive that placement. 

Sam Lovell (CAS ’25), an RA in Copley Hall and the interim chairperson of GRAC, said the university and GRAC made headway in formalizing a more transparent placement process for RAs.

“They understood the desire to indicate to RAs, by the process and by the language of the contract, that it’s not an arbitrary process and so I think that is very much a win,” Lovell told The Hoya. “The university expressed willingness and eagerness — although also uncertainty about how exactly to do it — but a willingness to engage in discussions about how we could create a process that makes clear to RAs how that’s happening and to assuage those concerns.”

A university spokesperson said the university is committed to working with OPEIU, who is aiding GRAC in negotiations.

“The University values the contributions of Resident Assistants and continues to work in good faith with OPEIU to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. 

“Any changes in the RA placement process will depend on the outcome of the bargaining process,” the spokesperson added. 

GRAC and the university have tentatively agreed to nine articles, over a third of the total contract in its past four bargaining sessions. The two sides have yet to discuss RAs’ potential pay. 

Ulises Olea Tapia (SFS ’25), an RA in Village A and GRAC’s interim bargaining lead, said GRAC wants to see increased equity in the placement process. 

“We do believe that there is still some space to be worked on,” Olea Tapia told The Hoya. “We truly are trying to envision a more equitable process of placement. That doesn’t mean everyone going to the same community, but it does mean that RAs would have a larger say rather than just giving the preferences for placement.”

The university and RAs also discussed hiring and training sessions. 

Regarding the hiring process, Wagener said RAs hope for greater job security. 

“In terms of employment, RAs are hired on a year-by-year basis and they have no guarantee that they’re going to be rehired,” Wagener said. “We’d like to see more of a guarantee that unless an RA has done a poor job, that they will be rehired.”

The RAs also hope to win reforms to their training system; RA training occurs during August before students arrive on campus. 

According to Wagener, RAs worked 12-hour days at the beginning of the semester during training sessions. During this round of negotiations on training, GRAC proposed capping training at 20 hours a week, but ultimately agreed with the university to cap RA training at 40 hours a week, although the two sides did not formalize any tentative agreements. 

In addition, the university will allow RAs to serve on a training committee and help oversee training. 

GRAC and the university will resume negotiations in December, and Olea Tapia said the union is prepared to discuss all of their contractual proposals but hopes to wrap up negotiations on articles not related to pay soon. 

“Our ideal would be to finish all non-economic articles,” Olea Tapia said. “We’re basically halfway through the contract, we have a few more articles to get through. We believe that the proposals that we sent before the beginning of the semester are all extremely sensible, and very much doable.”

Olea Tapia said the process has remained positive, and GRAC remains motivated in negotiations.

“That’s truly the beauty of bargaining and of negotiations with the university,” Olea Tapia said. “It’s not to say that we are expecting to have complete say over everything, but rather that we work in conjunction to find terms that are not only agreeable to both sides, but that are beneficial to the continued development of RAs and the RA position.”