Apply to Become a Community Assistant (CA)
Applications for 2026-2027
Applications open on February 23, 2026, and will close at 8 a.m. (PST) on March 30, 2026.
The Community Assistant (CA) position is a live-in position within Residential Life that serves the graduate and professional student community at Mercer Court Apartments. Under the direct supervision of professional staff, CAs are responsible for referring residents to campus and community resources, facilitating opportunities for social and professional connections, and supporting a safe and inclusive community for residents to pursue their academic and professional goals.
What Does a Community Assistant Do?
The Graduate CA position is a student leader role that can be used to enhance your graduate experience and develop transferable skills to support your career goals. Previous CAs have gone on to work in prosthetics, law, library sciences, museology, public health, student affairs, social work, human centered design, computer science, sociology, medical school, and K-12 education among many other career paths. Put simply-lots of different folks can and have been successful in the CA role and have been able to find elements to take with them as they pursue their overall graduate programs and careers. To see where some of our former CAs are now, click here!
To learn more about what a CA does, you can click here to view a copy of the 2025-2026 CA Position Agreement. You can also see what past CAs have shared about their weekly time commitments here. This document has a range of experiences and contains the perspectives of 8 former CAs.
Resident and Community Safety & Wellbeing
Community Development
CAs serve an important role in connecting with the residents in our Graduate Housing. CAs focus on creating 1:1 relationship with their residents as well as creating opportunities for residents to connect with one another through various initiatives and programs.
Serving On-Call
CAs serve on call overnight and throughout the weekend to support safety in their community. CAs complete rounds and hold an on-call phone for residents to reach out if they have concerns after business hours.
Responding to Violations of the Housing Agreement
CAs learn about the housing agreement and the policies therein to educate residents on the policies. CAs also confront policy violations and provide educational conversations to residents and document behaviors that they notice within their community.
Navigating Roommate Conflict
CAs support the residents living in their community. CAs can help residents who are experiencing conflict with their roommates with mediations and revising apartment agreements.
Addressing Facility Concerns
CAs are trained to identify facilities concerns within their community and trained to support the triage of those concerns. CAs alert our facilities and custodial teams when conditions within the hall change.
Supporting Students in Crisis
CAs are trained to support students experiencing crisis. Resident Advisers are one of multiple layers of support for students, and they report when students are experiencing crisis to their supervisors. CAs can be asked to follow up with residents and provide additional resources.
Administrative Responsibilities
CAs are responsible for completing a variety of administrative tasks that require a level of skill in time management, prioritization and multitasking. Administrative responsibilities include completing on-call reports during each on-call shift, completing weekly reports for supervisors, meeting in person with their supervisor once a week, documenting and logging conversations with residents, managing and responding to emails in a timely manner, and other tasks that support department logistics.
Compensation
CAs are given in-kind compensation in the form of room, laundry, and a dining plan in exchange for completing the roles and responsibilities stated in the agreement. This role is not considered an employed position by the University.
Contact Us
For more information about the CA position, the selection process or application, please contact the Area Director for Mercer Court (Linds Whittaker) at lmwhitta@uw.edu. Use the subject line “Mercer D/E CA Position Question”. Please make sure your question isn’t answered in the FAQ below before reaching out.
Frequently Asked Questions
We value applicants from many backgrounds. Preference is given to candidates in related fields or with transferable experience in building and maintaining community.
There is currently one expected opening, with a possible additional opening in Winter Quarter 2027 due to graduation timelines.
Nearly all CAs are Graduate/Professional students. Undergraduates may apply but are only considered if there are not enough qualified Graduate/Professional candidates. In the past four cycles, undergrad applicants have not been selected.
Probably not. CAs must attend a weekly Monday staff meeting (7–9 PM) and serve overnight on-call shifts (5 PM–8 AM on weekdays; 5 PM–10 AM on weekends). If you have night classes most nights or must be at work early in the morning, the role will not fit your schedule.
No. Prior RA or leadership experience is helpful but not required. Transferable skills are also valued, and many successful CAs have not held student leadership roles before.
Typical week:
Monday team meeting (7–9 PM)
Weekly 1:1 supervision meeting
Weekly report
On call 2–3 times per week
Connect with residents and log interactions
Post and remove community posters
Work on collateral assignments (team development, recognition, advisory council, on call resources, etc.)
Other duties as assigned
Typical quarter:
Create doordecs
Build a new informational bulletin board
Complete apartment mate agreements
Host active and passive events, including planning, proposals, and marketing
Send biweekly resident emails
Connect with each resident at least once
Support move out inspections
Support recruitment and other initiatives
Typical year:
Attend Student Leader Training in September and other trainings
Set up community listservs
Create “meet your CA” bulletin board
Support CA recruitment
Support the Annual Residential Survey in Mercer D/E
The role is listed as 19.5 hours per week, though actual workload varies. CAs support residents, host events, and assist with building operations. They must be available for Student Leader Training (Sept 2–19, 2025), 12-month move in (Sept 8), and 9-month move in (Sept 23–26). Orientation conflicts cannot excuse staff from these major commitments.
CAs rotate on-call duties within a team of four. They must be present in the community from 5 PM until 8 AM (10 AM on weekends). Duties include responding to facilities issues, lockouts, policy violations, noise concerns, and completing nightly rounds.
In a typical quarter, CAs cover roughly 55 weeknights and 22 weekend nights shared among a four person rotation—about 20 total nights per CA each quarter.
Some. The CA team serves graduate/professional residents but works within a larger Residential Life structure that includes undergraduates. Training includes both RAs and CAs. Mercer Court has five buildings, two designated for graduate students; occasionally, undergraduates may live in building E.
Mercer Court D and E house 285 graduate and professional students from diverse programs, ages, and backgrounds, with a high international student population. Some undergraduates may live in E depending on occupancy needs.
No. UW campus housing is pet free except for fish.
No. Student Leader spaces are for the CA only and cannot accommodate partners or roommates.
Graduate CAs receive room and board: a partially furnished single studio apartment and a Level 4 dining plan. Parking is available through Transportation Services. Additional compensation is provided for 24-hour on call shifts during break periods.
It is a 12-month commitment from the week of Labor Day through the end of August.
Possibly. Early start options depend on staffing transitions. Note interest in your application if you’d like to begin earlier.