SA Community Life Committee

Minutes — April 9, 2013
Student Assembly Residence and Community Life Committee
4:30pm — 5:30pm, 146 Goldwin Smith Hall

• SA ad hoc Committee: Collegetown Student Council
• Jed Entin ‘14, Collegetown Student Council VP of Finance
  • Resolution: SA ad hoc Committee
    • Help address issues of students living off campus (off campus and Greek life)
    • Would take over responsibility of SA ResLife committee to over see off campus living (except co-ops)
    • Take effect Fall 2013
  • What they look to gain as SA committee
    • Be more connected with student body
    • Help students living off campus feel more connected with student body
    • Tough to represent students when not democratically elected
    • Access to resources
  • Things to keep in mind
    • Staff at least one SA liaison on ad hoc committee
    • SA has no jurisdiction in Collegetown
  • However, SA is connected with Off-Campus Housing Office
  • SA can only advocate
    • Name of committee should change from Collegetown Student Council since overseeing more than just Collegetown
  • Vote
    • Unanimously in favor of resolution
• Gender Inclusive Housing (GIH) Update
  • Statistics
    • 87 people initially indicated interest (mostly rising juniors)
    • 30% of 87 too advantage of GIH (1% of all those participating in housing lottery)
  • Issues
    • Not enough staff power to take on GIH program and do by hand despite timeline being established in October 2012
    • StarRez Portal has ability to integrate GIH into system, but is expected to be quite costly to integrate for every residential hall
    • Designating GIH rooms has been considered unfair
    • Falling behind in initial timeline
      • Supposed to be fully open to West Campus, program houses, and off-campus halls (continued occupancies only) fall 2013
  • Next Steps
    • Behavioral study survey
      • Measure why people didn’t choose GIH option
      • Measure why did the people who did choose GIH option and ended up using it choose it
    • Find out price of integrating GIH into system
      • Compare price to other universities that offer GIH
      • Where would money come from?
    • Access database of Ivy Council for comparisons
    • Tap into alumni support networks
• RA Staff Training
  • New Position: COmmunity & REspect (CORE) RA Position
    • Requires supplemental training 1 day before arrival of all RA’s
      • Focus on sexual violence, bias incidences, mental health
    • Each RHD will choose 1–2 RA’s to fulfill position
  • Issues/Potential Consequences
    • Assumption that a couple people with specialized training can fix such profound issues
    • Regular RA’s do not feel obligated to directly deal with issues of sexual violence, bias incidences, and mental health
    • CORE RA’s would not have the time or resources to familiarize themselves with each resident, so residents may be reluctant to approach them when faced with such personally draining issues
  • Questions
    • How many in each residential hall?
    • Will CORE RA’s be placed in West Campus? Off-Campus residential halls?
      • If not, would be overlooking upperclassmen still in residential halls
    • Why or how is this any different than the training that is already done on these issues?
  • Next Steps
    • Meet with Joe Burke for more information on CORE RA position
• Student Supreme Court Update
  • Meeting with Cat Holmes and Marybeth (in progress)
    • Figure out where to house this body
    • How fines will work
    • Where fines will be submitted
  • Next Steps
    • Collect sample/mock cases to present to SA
      • Do not place too much emphasis on SA vs. student cases
      • Hone in on student vs. student, student org vs. student, etc.
    • Tap into Ivy Council
      • Research other judicial systems and sample cases with potential outcomes/remedies from other universities
  • Proposed Timeline
    • Hammer out details (with bylaws, committees, admin)
    • Submit back to SA ResLife Committee
    • Present to new SA next school year
    • Pass in early fall
    • Hash out serious problems by end of that first semester
    • Work with admin/faculty during winter break to resolve serious problems
    • Aim for full implementation in spring
    • Awareness Campaign for student body
• New SA — Internal Elections
  • New committee chairs will be elected
    • Side Note: Ulysses will attend meetings of all committees, so new ResLife chair should not disrupt already established timelines
      • Committee updates will be incorporated into SA meetings
      • Transfer, freshman, and general SA liaison will be required to sit on every committee