RPInsider

Apparently, Monopoly houses = RPI residence halls?

You may have heard of a few changes to housing at RPI coming our way. You also might be one of the more than 1200 members in the Facebook group “Students Against RPI Housing Reform” Well, your elected student leaders hear you. The following is a response from GM Michael Zwack:

Hi Everyone,
I’ve been following the comments for most of the break and was wondering how both myself and the Student Senate could capture what everyone is trying to say to bring to Student Life.
I’m hosting a informal discussion about the housing process at 8pm on Thursday in the Student Government Suite (3rd floor of the Student Union), it would be great if anyone with comments to share would stop by!
Thanks,
The GM

There is a Facebook event here. If you’d like to talk with the people that represent you, this event might be worth your while!

Share Uncategorized CLASS, GM, housing, sophomore housing

Perhaps the imagery is a little strong, but you get the point

Were you invited to this Facebook group?  Well, so was I.  1,200 people joined the thing. 1,200 people said that they are against the somewhat vague notion of “RPI Housing Reform”.  From the first announcement of these changes, the majority of students have been opposed to the proposal (mostly on the grounds that some easy fixes would alleviate a lot of problems, e.g. Blitman is designed perfectly for sophomores), and we were glad to see that students were actually thinking about the issue, working together, and planning their response.

Today is January 15th.  Classes start the week after next.  There hasn’t been a post on the Facebook group since January 8th.  A whole week of no posting! This is incredible considering the fire and brimstone students were posting for several days after its formation.  Student interest in this issue appears to be gone.

We don’t blame the students.  They’ve simply fallen into the trap that the RPI administration has set time and time again:  they announce an unpopular policy via email at the beginning of a long break, and by the time students come back, they will have forgotten.  Look at the anger and emotion of Uprise at Five.  That continued on through the semester (for some), but after the summer, students came back willing to let it all go.

Classmates: You have an important decision to make.  Will you find a way to constructively voice your opinions about this issue or will you let it go?

I’m not being idealistic.  I know that the likelihood of changing this policy is very low.  The Vice Presidents who make these types of decisions are not usually willing to go back on them.  But this isn’t about changing the housing policy.  This is about giving students a voice.

The formal communication channel for students voices is the Student Senate.  The Senate had its last meeting before finals even started, so they weren’t able to make any sort of statement about the housing policy.  A grassroots Facebook group started, but seems to have fizzled out.  This issue needs a clear and strong leader (or group of leaders) who can make sure that the student voice is heard.

It’s not only about voicing negative concerns.  Students should be voicing the things that they do like about the plan (the most important of which is probably the timeline).  Get a sheet of paper, and start writing out what’s good and bad about the plan. Call it a List of Complaints, a Manifesto for Change, a Student Perspective on Housing — it doesn’t matter.  Make it intelligent, and make it public.  Get student input from across the spectrum.   Make it look pretty.  Publish it. Make copies.  Send it to student government.  Send it to Residence Life.  Send it to Student Life.  Send it to the President.  Heck, even send it to the Board of Trustees.  Send it to the media, and send it to us.  Get the student voice heard, and you will have accomplished something.  Explain that you attend a university, not a business operation.  Do SOMETHING before you lose your chance.

Or, just sit there and complain.  See what happens next time.

Share Uncategorized housing, residence life, sophomore housing

Here's the skinny...

The email below was just sent from Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles, VP for Student Life, and Mr. Claude Rounds, Vice President for Administration, to Rensselaer students.  This is a long-awaited email that outlines the housing selection process for the 2010-2011 year.

Here’s the skinny (in a format much easier to read than the long email…):
Read more…

Share Uncategorized CLASS, Claude Rounds, Dr. Knowles, housing, sophomore housing

Roughly speaking... Red is for freshmen, Blue is for sophomores, and Orange is for Juniors, Seniors, and Grad students

We received word from a source on the Student Senate, after a report by Vice President for Administration, Claude Rounds, at the Senate meeting today, that the housing selection process for school year ‘09-’10 has been announced (or at least the draft form of it).  Here are the basics of the plan:

• Warren, Nugent, Davison, Sharp, part of Quad, part of BARH, Colonie, Stacwyck, RAHP, as well as the apartments in Bray, Crockett, and Cary will house almost exclusively sophomores (though some spaces in these halls will be available to upperclass students depending on a variety of factors, including the Greek Life Commons Agreement).
• Upper-class students will choose from Blitman Commons, North Hall, E Complex, and Polytech Apartments.  Students currently living in these buildings will be able to squat their rooms.
• Those upper-class students who live in the sophomore-designated housing will be allowed to enter into an Inter-Commons Lottery, allowing them to take the unsquatted rooms in Blitman, North, E, and Polytech.
• Sophomores will then participate in a lottery for the designated buildings.
• Any remaining students who wish to live on campus can then enter an all-campus lottery for any remaining spaces.

The administration does not expect that many students will be forced off of campus, since this allows beds for upper-class students in an amount equal to that of the current upperclass on-campus population.

According to our source at the Senate meeting, Tom Tarantelli, the Acting Dean of Residence Life, said that the Greeks are the “wildcard” in this process.  The Greek Life Commons Agreements (which will be signed or not by each house individually) have the potential to take a very large numbers of sophomores away from residence halls.  If several houses sign, it may be possible that there will be open rooms in some of the sophomore-designated buildings for upper-class students.  However, they will not be able to squat those rooms; they will simply be opened on a case by case basis or put into the all-campus lottery.

We’ll post more information if and when we receive it.

Share Uncategorized residence life, room selection, sophomore housing, student rights