Is Key Control Stressing Out Your RAs?

Resident assistants (RAs), have a lot of boxes to check: build relationships with residents, lead effectively, plan programming, enforce policies, and more — all while staying on top of their studies and balancing their social lives. 

While rewarding, this role is demanding. To prevent RAs from burning out and taking on unnecessary stress, it’s important to support them so they can support their residents. One practical way to help reduce the burden of RAs’ day-to-day tasks is by taking the hassle out of managing keys, fobs, and access cards. Here are three ways to start:

Digitize Routine Processes

RAs are members of Generation Z, and it’s no secret that this generation has a deep familiarity with technology. They prefer user-friendly tools that blend seamlessly into their daily workflows. For them, manual processes are needlessly time-consuming and frustrating. 

To incorporate technology into daily tasks, start by digitizing and automating your key log with an automatic key and asset management system. That’ll cut down on lost keys and help ensure you have accurate key access records. 

Then, consider what processes you can digitize with that same system. That could include: 

• Automatically authenticating users 
• Tracking available supplies inventory
• Displaying work order status
• Recording who checked out keys, cards, or fobs, as well as when and why
• Tracking resident packages from delivery to pickup
• Compiling routine reports with information such as key use and service requests 

Digitizing processes not only saves time and reduces stress, but also reduces the likelihood of human error. 

Provide Thorough Training

For RAs, managing an entire floor of their peers demands confidence, which is incredibly hard to build without proper training. In fact, 51% of employees say receiving sufficient training increases their confidence on the job. When thinking about your resident life training process, ask yourself:

• How much training do you provide?
• What kind of training is available?
• Do you go over how to apply policies?
• Do you include key control and security processes in your training?
• Is your training effective for Gen Z?

By equipping your staff with the tools and knowledge to handle the diverse situations they’ll encounter on duty as an RA, you can help reduce job-related anxiety.

Plan for Turnover

Being an RA isn't a long-term role. To account for staff turnover in your key control processes, plan to:

• Collect all keys, fobs, and access cards immediately on the RA’s last day and revoke their access privileges.
• Train new RAs on your key control policies and system.
• Make sure RAs have easy access to key management system training.

Following these steps will minimize how turnover affects your residence life department. Instead of scrambling to track down a key, card, or fob that went home with a former RA a week ago, it’ll be securely stored in your key control system. 

RAs are expected to wear lots of hats and juggle numerous responsibilities, but like everyone else, they have a breaking point. Don’t let your key control add to the pressure.

This post was originally published in 2021 and updated in 2025.