Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 18:39:18 EDT To: advise@MIT.EDU From: John S Hollywood Subject: Hello, Orientation and Residence Selection... Hi, everyone, As you know, Jake and I are taking a pass on the O/RS subcommittee. Nonetheless, I can't resist throwing in a few ideas. %-) Feel free to take them are leave them -- at this point, I have been out of the residential system for a while. Also: I will be on campus tomorrow, writing up the draft management and governance section. If you do want my help on something, just zephyr me. Here are my thoughts: 1. I recommend that y'all organize your discussion to prevent from bouncing all over the place. Here are some questions you might want to use to structure the discussion. A. How will dormitory selection for incoming students work? Will there be a dorm rush, and if so, how will it work? B. Should dorms be allowed to influence room selection within in-house Rush, and if so, how? C. Should groups of freshmen be able to request being assigned to the same room (i.e. should "stapling" be allowed)? D. How will ILG Rush work? What will be the schedule? What sorts of activities will be allowed? How will referrals (flushing) work when freshmen may be visiting houses informally all year long? E. Should theme houses exist? If so, what policies should apply to them? How would freshmen choose theme houses? F. Can sections of a dormitory become a theme house or an ILG? If so, how? G. What should happen during orientation? (I'm putting this last since much of this is programming and should appear in Section 4). 2. I believe that the RSSC was driven to its positions because they felt that there was no flexibility in the system. Remember that we will have more flexibility in the system, as we're going to insist that MIT buy it (through another UG dorm, money to buy / rent ILG's, and money to renovate ILG's to make them more attractive). 3. Along the same flexibility lines: One undercurrent I notice over and over again in the housing debate is that rising sophomores (or whomever) is going to be called upon to _CHOOSE_ their housing. Permanently -- I think culturally we have this idea that's once a student gets in a house, they stay there permanently unless a disaster occurs. I think this needs to change. I think there's a lot to be said for experiencing different places while one is at MIT. (Don't panic -- this would all be voluntary, as described below.) Benefits would include: -- We might actually start to break down the profound insularities between the different living groups. -- People would actually be exposed to new things -- new colleagues, new ways of doing things, new traditions, and new ideas. Personally I think experiencing new things is a Good Thing. (TM) -- It would alleviate a great deal of the current stress of Residence Selection, in which people believe that once they make The Decision, they are stuck for life. -- It would provide many more opportunities for people to visit and decide to live in other living groups, especially ILG's. Of course, all moves should be voluntary -- any benefits of moving are going to be more than eliminated by forcing people out of somewhere where they are happy. Nonetheless, I know of many people who discovered (ahoy!) that there are other living groups out there that seemed cool, and would like to have spent some time experiencing them. If y'all like this idea, it might suggest something like the following: -- Getting across the idea that housing assignments don't have to be permanent, starting with what's presented to freshmen during orientation. Indeed, I have the idea that houses might set up 1-2 term exchange programs. -- Running housing lotteries (sorry, "exchanges") for those who want to participate, every semester. We might also have ongoing housing exchange programs, too. -- Providing the capital necessary to build the system flexibility needed to support exchanges, which relates to the Capital Expenses section. 4. More flexibility: Most of the proposals I've seen insist on having a single Rush period. Why? I propose giving the FSILG's multiple cuts at students. -- The first period would be two days or so during orientation, which would begin with a Residence Midway, much as it does now. It would allow those who are really psyched to pledge, and would introduce all students to the FSILG's and the activities they plan on holding. -- The second period would be the end of IAP and the very beginning of Spring Term. This would be peak recruiting and pledging time. -- The third period would be some mild activities designed to correspond with the housing lottery for the following year, giving the ILG's one last crack at new members for the year, and an additional chance to hopefully avoid doing anything RSSC-style. That's about it. Best of luck tomorrow. --John Hollywood