The day’s classes have ended and the college student role is traded for security officer at the Richardson Court Residence Halls.

Craig Smith and Rianna Tousignant are the eyes and ears for about 3,000 Iowa State students during the late night hours.

After slipping into black coats, attaching key clips, flashlights and 1-800 trunk radios to their belts, they begin their Thursday evening at 10 by reporting in to the ISU Department of Public Safety, sending four elevator operators to their assigned towers and collecting the chunk of security keys from the hall director on duty.

Their keys jingle as they tiptoe through the crow droppings on the sidewalk. The first task on their rounds is to check the exteriors and lock the doors of the new and old RCA.

Smith, a junior in psychology, and Tousignant, a freshman in early childhood education, are part of the 14 member RCA Student Security Staff. The duties of these officers are far from small.

“Locking and unlocking the doors are an important part, but they are also responsible for confronting situations, facilities and maintenance checks. They maintain the community noise level and behavior is at a respectful level. Resident Assistants are the first round for quiet hours and they are second round,” said student security supervisor and Willow Hall director, Mary Korte.

The security officers said they do not look for ways to get people in trouble.

“I’m not here to bust people and get them in trouble. I’m here to make sure people don’t hurt themselves,” Smith said.

“They are not a type of police force. They work in conjunction with DPS; they are hired and responsible to the Department of Residence,” said Korte. “Most of what they do ends up warning people,” she added.

The R.A. job is 24 hours a day. The security officers are there so R.A.s can sleep and study, Korte said.

“If there’s a specific incident that warrants extra assistance, we often utilize our friendly student security officers,” said Larch Hall Resident Assistant Cliff Denson.

“The job is fun in its own way. People slam the door in your face. Other times they’re nice. That’s where I like my job,” Tousignant said.

“People don’t realize that we walk on every floor. When they see us they think we are on the floor because something is wrong,” Smith said.

The security officers are trained to confront certain situations. “The hardest thing to deal with is huge parties,” Korte said.

Some officers feel the new alcohol policy will make their job easier.

“I see a lot of alcohol. I don’t know if it’s a problem. It only becomes a problem with a keg. If I see people in the halls with alcohol I just tell them to dump it out. From a confrontational stand point the alcohol policy is great,” Smith said.

During the week, two security officers are on patrol from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. The late hours are split into two shifts. On the weekends a third officer is added to the patrol.

“Usually guards walk separately. It can get kind of lonely. The sidewalk cracks get you all night. When you haven’t talked to anyone all night you start to bounce off the walls,” Tousignant said.

In the early morning hours “you can scare yourself,” Smith said. “We tell each other ghost stories and the stuff just raises the hair on your head.”

At 2:30 a.m. Stephen Junker, a junior in political science, takes over Smith’s position.

“Usually it’s really quiet and lonely. Once in awhile you bump into an R.A. This shift is really important. It’s the time when people come back from parties, and if they are sick we usually find them. If they need help we assist them,” Junker said. Also, “if somebody wanted to hurt a resident or damage university property, that would be the prime time because nobody is out in the hallways,” he added.

“The job is flexible. People have a good attitude,”Smith said.

“If you don’t plan your schedule right it can hurt your classes,” Junker said.

The student security officer is a paid position. “The pay is pretty great. It comes in every two weeks and it helps so I can go out,” Junker said.