North Halls resident assistant Jab Tannous is the only RA in charge of two floors in Leete Hall.

But with construction consuming North Halls, the number of RAs and residents there could soon decrease, which some RAs worry will change the amount of interaction among their residents.

Tannous (senior-international politics) said the new suite-style environment in Leete Hall has challenged him to build communities among his residents, who no longer share a common bathroom and are prone to stay in their rooms.

"I have my reservations that having less RAs will actually leave North better," Tannous said. "In my opinion, we do need more RAs in North."

Karen Donoghue, North Halls coordinator and co-adviser of North's Special Living Options (SLO), said the current ratio of RAs to residents is about 1 to 77 for the 540 residents currently living in the area. However, she said that next year, the ratio will be about 1 to 67, and in three years, the ratio of RAs to residents will be about 1 to 100.

Next year, the number of residents in North Halls will decrease by 150 students and one RA because of space availability. With Runkle Hall closed and Leete and Holmes halls being designed as suites, the available amount of space is lost, Donoghue said. After the hall renovations are complete, Donoghue said North Halls will potentially house 600 residents.

North Halls has SLOs for students in the Smeal College of Business, the College of Arts and Architecture and the College of Agricultural Sciences in its AA (Arts and Architecture), BASH (Business and Society) and Earth houses.

Tannous said that with these SLOs, more freshmen will be drawn into the area. With fewer RAs, however, he said freshmen with questions and concerns may not receive enough attention.

Residence Life Director Diane Andrews said that in addition to two RAs per building, residents will have faculty associates and SLO executive councils because the area in North will be reserved for students in those colleges.

"They'll actually get a lot of staff and faculty contact because they're closely involved with their academic colleges," Andrews said. "We're not giving the students less support."

Andrews added that several spaces in the three North Halls buildings including conference and study areas will allow for the student interaction that some RAs are concerned will be lost.

Sammy Biswas (junior-computer science and sculpture), who is an RA in Runkle Hall, said that because there are only seven RAs in North, each RA is on duty twice as often as those in other areas.

Donoghue said she will help prepare RAs for the suite-style living environment and the changes that will occur in their jobs.

"I'll make sure that the RAs' expectations are adapted to fit their jobs when it comes to suite-style living," Donoghue said. "I'm working with them to make sure their job is not unreasonable."