The Residence Hall Association is a student governing board that oversees the Southern Methodist University Residence Halls and Apartment Communities: Boaz, Cockrell-McIntosh, Hawk, Martin, Mary Hay, McElvaney, Moore, Morrison-McGinnis, Perkins, Peyton, Service House, Shuttles, Smith, and Virginia-Snider.

RHA reviews and makes recommendation on university housing procedure and policies for the betterment of the Residence Hall System.  They make recommendations by changing the Community Standards in Residence Halls, upon which residents must abide.  Community Standards address issues such as alcohol, drugs, disruptive behavior, guests, visitation, and weapons, etc.

RHA promotes and presents programming for all students living in the Residential Communities, and strives to foster personal and social development of its members.  RHA presents programming that ranges from community service to having good, clean fun on the Boulevard.

RHA is a nonprofit organization and is funded through Residence Life and Student Housing (RLSH) and student fees.  For every student that lives in a Residence Hall, RHA receives a percentage of their student fees.  RHA also does fundraising with On-Campus Marketing (OCM), an organization that provides the welcome and finals packages that parents can purchase on behalf of their student.

When RHA was first formed, there were only four members. Now there are more than thirty voting members.