RSIT Minutes: December 6, 2000

Minutes: Residence System Implementation Meeting — 12/6/2000

Present: Kate Baxter, Larry Benedict, Phil Bernard, Laura Capone, Vikash Gilja,

Rick Gresh, Becca Grochow, Steve Immerman, Grace Kessenich,

Kirk Kolenbrander, Tim Mosehaur, Karen Nilsson, Jeff Roberts,

Andres Sawicki, and Andrea Lathrop

This committee will be the "umbrella group" for overseeing the Residence System Implementation. We should:

Unite the subcommittees

Ensure correct membership on subcommittees

Bring the pieces together to avoid reinventing the wheel/duplicated efforts, etc.

SUBCOMMITTEES/SUBTASKS:

Orientation:

Tim M. and Liz Y. to take the lead, currently awaiting Liz’s return
Pre-orientation activities/programs?
Scheduling conflicts (UG Orientation, Grad Orientation, Summer Selection, FSILG Recruitment, Athletics orientation, GSC input into the whole orientation process has been lacking in past years — make special effort to involve grad students this year)
ROTC? 7 to 10 other major groups or departments with conflicts during Orientation week(s) - Grey area with academics vs. student life… need to keep advanced standing exams accounted for in timing of events, etc.

FSILG Transition:

Redesigning the IFC recruitment system
IFC recruitment committee meetings are open to all IFC members — meetings are usually attended by an average of 40 to 50 people per meeting.
Have released a draft of report
Advisory Group consists of 7 people:

2 Fraternity Reps
1 Sorority Rep
1 ILG Rep
1 DormCon Rep
2 IFC Exec
(our link to this committee is Andres Sawicki)

Panhel Committee

(our link is Becca Grochow)
to meet over IAP to decide what is best for Panhelenic recruitment and how best to fit into IFC plans

May want to consider merging IFC Advisory and Panhel committees. (May not be necessary but keep as an option.)
ILGs in a different position that Fraternities/Sororities due to implications of residential vs. non-residential
Financial transition

IFC working independently, work between our committee and the IFC currently at a standstill
Larger issues - staff and IFC to work to collectively understand the financial landscape and viability.
Need Data, Policy, Circumstances, Incentives

Joint committee (Staff/IFC/Panhel/House Treasurers/Steve Immerman)

to gather baseline information
may be some preliminary info from last year… Chris Rezek? SAC Report?

Need a January meeting to set agenda for FSLIG Finance Committee/Financial Transition groundwork:

IFC Treasurer, 2 or 3 house treasurers…
Kate B., Rick G., and Steve I. to pull together the appropriate team

If we do transition right, there won’t be a need for financial support. Financial piece can be thought of as a contingency plan to avoid a situation where MIT Administration would/could be blamed for houses failing.
Rick and Kate will continue to meet with IFC and Panhel committees, and brief Larry re: anything that may concern the DSL or Chancellor’s office.
To create a staff & alumni advisory group for Alumni input (Steve, Rick)
Need to correct the view that MIT is doing this to get rid of FSILGs. This is not the case. In fact, exactly the opposite, MIT is absolutely committed to make sure the FSILGs thrive, not just survive. Work together to make that happen.

Residence Hall/Summer Preferencing/Restructuring:

i-campus, dormcon, etc.
McCormick (differences due to Freshman Seminar, pre-assignments, etc)
Orientation events for those already placed (not rushing — what else to do?)
Lottery/Assignments
Phil Bernard and Katie O’Dair (co-point-persons)
Summer 2001 will be a test of the implementation process. Phil to meet with IS people regarding lottery improvements.
Lottery on the web for temporary housing — run it identical to summer lottery/mirror the regular process
MIT Certificates required/Kerberos password required
May need to work with Admissions Office to arrange for admitted students to get user id’s and therefore certificates before arrival at MIT.
Server space — getting a dedicated machine in W91 (terms of payment TBD)
DSL/Housing, IS, or joint? (Larry says if we need to buy it ourself we’ll buy it ourself)
Phil Bernard to get explicit comment from IS regarding anticipated maintenance charges in addition to initial cost.
Temporary assignments will include questionnair re: noise preferences, study preferences, smoking vs. non, etc.
Working with DormCon to identify specific factors that make the most difference to MIT students re: roommate relations. Jeff Roberts to convene a conference of Dorm Rooming Chairs. House Presidents have been informed, but need more involvement and cooperation from rooming chairs. Phil Bernard and Katie O’Dair to also attend.
I-Campus interactive introduction to MIT — a way to distribute housing information to incoming freshmen (via the web, or in packet with residential guides?) 96% of incoming Freshmen have access to web from home or nearby (library, web café, etc.) Less than 1% have no access whatsoever.
Have office space and equipment. Awaiting phones and net drops during IAP.
Have 6 out of 10 dorms currently represented — awaiting representation from the other four.
Formal presentation re: I-campus was made to FSILG reps on Dec 6^th. Hopefully will encourage a lot of support & involvement from FSILGs.
Steve Immerman requests future re-examination of policies impacting I-campus information and its distribution.
How to bring freshmen into the system after assigned a room: Orientation, DormCon, Rooming Chairs, Process, Telephone and Room #s in advance, chances to change assignments with second lottery, etc.)

Spin-Offs (now stand-alone entities that no longer require this committee’s focus):

Weekends@MIT
Committee on Student Affairs

This committee should meet monthly beginning in February. This effort is a top priority institute-wide.