Undergraduate Residential
Life

Who’s Who in the Houses?

The residential houses at MIT are vibrant communities that play a large role in your life at MIT. Faculty, professional staff, graduate students, and house government collaborate to enhance the sense of community and help students make the most of their MIT experience.

• Heads of House

  • Who: Faculty and their spouses or partners

    Where: All undergraduate and most graduate residence halls

    What: A Head of House is the leader of a House Team who lives in a residence hall, supervises the GRAs, and takes a lead role in building community and supporting and advocating for students.

• Associate Heads of House

  • Who: Faculty and their spouses or partners

    Where: Currently, Ashdown House, East Campus, MacGregor House, Maseeh Hall, Sidney-Pacific and Simmons Hall.

    What: Some of the larger residence halls have Associate Heads of House to assist the Heads of House in leading the House Team.

• Associate Director/Area Directors (ADs)

  • Who: Professional staff

    Where: Baker House, Burton Conner, East Campus, MacGregor House, McCormick Hall, Maseeh Hall, New House, Next House, Random Hall and Simmons Hall

    What: An Area Director (AD) is a full-time professional employee of the Undergraduate Residential Life office. As a live-in member of the House Team, the AD provides individual assistance to students through personal advising, counseling and crisis intervention.
    To contact the entire Area Director team, email url-ad@mit.edu.

• House Managers

  • Who: Professional Staff

    Where: All undergraduate and graduate residence halls

    What: A House Manager is a full-time employee of the Housing office who is responsible for the operations and facilities of a residence. They supervise the front desk, cleaning, and maintenance staff.

• Graduate Resident Advisors

  • Who: Graduate student staff

    Where: All undergraduate houses and Ashdown, Sidney-Pacific, and Tang

    What: Graduate Resident Advisors (GRAs) are MIT graduate students who serve as live-in mentors to the undergraduate community. Typically, a GRA is assigned to a particular area within a residence hall, such as a floor or entry, and provides study breaks, community-building, and issues-oriented programs.

• Resident Peer Mentors

  • Who: Upper-level undergraduate students

    Where: Maseeh, Baker, McCormick, Burton-Connor, MacGregor, Next, New, Simmons, Random

    What: Resident Peer Mentors are student leaders on the floors of their building who work specifically with first-year students to help them adjust to life at MIT and connect to the community and resouces on campus.

• Summer Resident Assistants 

  • Who: Undergraduate students

    Where: Designated Summer Houses

    What: Summer Resident Assistants (RAs) help create a community within a residence hall that is open for the summer by planning events and serving as liason to various MIT departments.