This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about resident assistants. In order to personalize the achievement for your students you will need to prepare a spreadsheet of student data to use as placeholders throughout the achievement. Here are the placeholders used in this story:
- FIRST NAME*
- LAST NAME*
- HOMETOWN*
- ZIP CODE*
- EMAIL ADDRESS*
- MAJOR
- DORMITORY - The name of the dorm on campus where the student will reside (eg. William Peltzer Residence Hall)
*= Data required by Merit
Achievement Title & Summary
Your achievement title and summary will be used for the online version of your story and shared across social media. They will also appear on your school's Merit page.
Your summary should act as a comprehensive overview of the achievement. After your summary, readers will see a list of students who are part of the story.
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Achievement Title: Merit University Announces Spring 2026 Resident Assistants Achievement Summary: Merit University selected more than 25 students to have the honor of becoming resident assistants. The students serve as mentors and leaders at one of five residential housing options that serve Merit University students across the campus. |
Individual Story
Your Merit achievement will create personalized online stories for each of your students. Throughout this story you will insert placeholders for the data from your spreadsheet. These placeholders are in [BRACKETS] in the text below.
This version of your story can also be sent to newspapers interested in just one student. Merit will automatically turn it into an individual press release for you and add your saved boilerplate.
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Headline: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], Named Resident Assistant at Merit University Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], was selected as a resident assistant at Merit University's [DORMITORY]. As an RA, [LAST] encourages student responsibility and accountability, and works to provide a residential environment that enhances student academic progress and success. RAs serve residential students by connecting them to campus and community resources, addressing facility issues, and providing opportunities for them to meet new friends. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes a placeholder for the dormitory on campus where the student will reside (eg. William Peltzer Residence Hall).
Group Press Release
This is the version of your press release that will be sent to newspapers interested in multiple students from your spreadsheet. It's a local story that will include a list of only the students from a paper's coverage area.
Your group press release will have an opening, repeating and closing section. The opening and repeating sections will be the same for every newspaper. The repeating section will contain all of your placeholders and will be the only part of the press release that varies from paper to paper. Use the last sentence of your opening to introduce your list of students.
Please note, that we recommend skipping the media when sending a story about resident assistants. If necessary, here's a template you can use:
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Headline: Local Students Named Resident Assistants at Merit University Opening: Merit University selected more than 25 students to become resident assistants. The students serve as mentors and leaders at one of five residential housing options that serve Merit University students across the campus. The following local students were named resident assistants: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], was selected as a resident assistant at Merit University's [DORMITORY]. Closing: Resident assistants encourage student responsibility and accountability, and work to provide a residential environment that enhances student academic progress and success. They connect fellow students to their campus and community resources, address facility issues, and provide opportunities for student to meet new friends. |
Note: Merit will automatically add your saved boilerplate to the closing section of your group press release.
Add Images and Publish
Achievements are at their best with images included. If possible, include a photo with your story. Get a picture of the achievement in action or a group shot of the students involved. If you're unable to include a photo, instead consider using a school or department logo. The image(s) you choose will appear on your online stories and also go to media recipients.
Use this template as inspiration to publish your next achievement. Log into your Merit account here. If you’re looking for more details on how to build this template into the Merit achievement workflow you can follow the step by step tutorial here.