Student Assembly

January 18, 2010

President David J. Skorton
300 Day Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853

President Skorton:

As the main sponsor of the three resolutions passed by the Student Assembly on October 15, 2009 related to the room selection process, I wanted to write to you to provide some context about the process by which these proposals were formulated and our actions since you requested our reconsideration of Resolution 13, which called for the re-ordering of students within the housing lottery. Since the implementation of the North Campus Residential Initiative, and then the West Campus Residential Initiative, the upperclass room selection process has been an area of concern for many students. With the completion of the Flora Rose House, and its integration into the West Campus House System, I felt this was an opportune time to begin the process of formulating concrete proposals to address student concerns. As the Student Assembly is entrusted, within Cornell’s system of shared governance, with the responsibility to “examine any matters which involve the interests or concern the welfare of the student community” and “the legislative authority over the policies of the Department of Campus Life,” I felt this was an entirely appropriate effort for us to undertake.

The process of calling for changes to the housing lottery derived from a desire to address student concerns and was as inclusive and thorough as possible. As the Chair of the Residence and Community Life Committee for the Student Assembly, I devoted multiple meetings during the fall semester of 2008 to gathering information regarding the current room selection process and why the current policies were in place. This committee was composed of representatives of the Student Assembly, Residential Student Congress, Panhel, and Inter-fraternity Council, as well as community members appointed at-large. We examined the room selection policies at other comparable institutions, invited representatives from Campus Life, and brainstormed ways to move forward in a way that would address student concerns, reporting our progress all along the way to the Student Assembly and Cornell community. In the spring, I, along with members of the committee, introduced multiple proposals at the final Student Assembly meeting with the intention to stimulate discussion within both the SA and the Cornell community prior to formal passage.

On October 8, 2009, I introduced three resolutions for the SA’s consideration that stemmed from the proposals presented at the SA last year. The first called for specific information to be released to the student population regarding room availability and housing lottery results from the previous years, a proposal that, I am happy to say, is being implemented by Campus Life. The second called for the extension of the continuing occupancy lottery to Collegetown residences, including Cascadilla and Sheldon Court. Campus Life was extremely responsive to this proposal, as well, and implemented that proposal for the current year. Finally, Resolution 13 called for the re-ordering of classes in the lottery system to allow sophomores to go first in the system, and seniors last.

All three resolutions were discussed thoroughly (both within committee and within the SA), responsive to longstanding student concerns, and resulted from an inclusive process that included extensive involvement from the RSC, Panhel, IFC, Cornell community, and the Department of Campus Life. After an in-depth discussion at our weekly meeting, the Student Assembly passed each resolution unanimously. Student reaction was overwhelmingly positive. In his blog OneCornell, WVBR’s Andrew Brokman ‘11 called the resolutions “3 of the most important resolutions the Student Assembly has ever seen.” The Cornell Review called these resolutions a “worthwhile initiative” that was an example of “efficacious and efficient governance.”

In receiving our resolution, you asked our reconsideration of Resolution 13 to ensure that the changes to the system would not go into effect for the upcoming lottery and reiterated that request in your comments during the November 12, 2009 Student Assembly meeting. This was an understandable request to ensure that those students who had already made plans for the upcoming year are not unfairly disadvantaged. In my original resolution, in order to give Campus Life flexibility, there was no mention of a timeline. However, in the interest of clarity, the Student Assembly voted unanimously to make the requested change of specifying that the policy change will not go into effect until the Spring 2011 lottery. This change has been communicated to the Department of Campus Life as well.

The President of the Student Assembly, Rammy Salem, has forwarded the amended version of Resolution 13, which specifies when the change would be implemented. After talking with Marty Rauker and members of his team, I understand that the endorsement of the broad principle of allowing sophomores to select rooms first will require careful implementation. I have told him that the Student Assembly’s Residence and Community Life Committee, chaired by Jonathan Rau this year, looks forward to working with him to implement these policy changes in a way that ensures that the University maintains full occupancy in its residence halls.

I hope this letter provides adequate context regarding the inclusive and extensive process that produced the legislative actions and recommendations that were passed unanimously by the Student Assembly this past semester related to the room selection process. Students have responded overwhelmingly positively to these resolutions and I have been very encouraged by the receptiveness of the Department of Campus Life to our recommendations already. I look forward to assisting the Student Assembly and its Committee on Residence and Community Life over the next year in implementing the changes outlined in these resolutions. If you have any questions about our actions, please do not hesitate to contact me at njk38@cornell.edu.

Sincerely,

Nikhil J. Kumar
Student Assembly, Executive Vice President