This year, hearing the title of resident advisor will no longer be commonplace in the halls of Brandeis dormitories. With the term community advisor serving as a replacement, former resident advisors and students will have to consider the significance of the change.The subject came to the forefront of the Department of Residence Life's agenda last year, after fears of students' false perceptions of resident advisor duties arose. Residence Life held numerous open forums to discuss potential change and to "reflect" on the title and its implications, according to Michael LaFarr, Associate Director of Residence Life.

"We were worried about people's preconceived notions of resident advisors because of the way they are portrayed in media and the title's negative connotations," LaFarr said. "But we're not interested in being policemen or women ... we are different than other universities."

Before the community adviser title was coined, "community advocate" was a potential new title. The arguments of several students, however, proved that the term didn't show much potential.

"There were some concerns voiced by returning RAs -- myself included - that the initial choice -- community advocate - was not an appropriate one, and I'm glad to say that the Department was admirably responsive to these concerns and went with the much better choice," said Kevin Grinberg '04, a community adviser.

"Community advocate makes it sound more like they're there to argue on our behalf," Yoni Samlan '05 said.

The winning title is favored by former resident adviser and current community adviser Melissa Gersin '04, who called the change "positive."

"A lot of people view resident advisers as always on the prowl to get people in trouble ... Unfortunately, that belief couldn't be further from the truth," Gersin said.

Grinberg agreed that the change is constructive.

"The word 'community' is a more inclusive term that better highlights the true role of the position: to build community," Grinberg said.

"I feel that the name 'community adviser' better reflects the nature of our position than community advocate or resident adviser since we do much more than just advocate and we should be building communities, rather than just working with residents," former resident adviser and current community adviser Adam Batkin '04 said.

Former resident adviser Alison Warren '04 said that the title change "marks a paradigm shift for Residence Life at Brandeis."

"Hopefully the switch to community adviser signals a broader shift for how the University treats students," Warren added.

Not everyone supported the change.

"It seems kind of pointless to call them community advisers since they really are resident advisers. Everyone in a dorm gets a specific resident adviser," Samlan said.

Josh Levine '06 finds the change to be "appalling."

"They've searched for a title that fits something that can very easily stay the same and not hurt anyone. Why change something that's a standard in every single university in the world?" Levine said.

But, LaFarr insisted that the change isn't "simply cosmetic."

"We want the change to reflect what we're doing," LaFarr said.