Untitled

At 7:30 PM EDT today, I will end my tenure as RSA Executive Vice President. Elections for my replacement take place next Wednesday at the RSA General Council meeting.

Projects

Blogging has been slow the last week due to a lot of busy work at the Resident Student Association. We've been hard at work on many projects, and some of the projects that are going to be big focuses this year are:

- Electronic guest sign in
- New roommate matching for first-year students and upperclassmen
- Increasing the guest limit
- Adding new dining hall options
- Working to get move to/from information on the myNEU Portal
- Adding printing to residence hall spaces using the printq uota

There are also many smaller projects, and new ones that will pop up. Keep checking this blog and our Twitter accounts to learn more.

Piketoberfest Today!

If you've wondered why there haven't been blog posts for a couple days, it's been due to people supporting a high amount of RSA recruitment efforts and programs. Thursday we had several hall council information sessions and an activities fair table. Friday we had two programs, and today is Piketoberfest. Join RSA on the Centennial Commons at 3 PM for free food and a free concert by State Radio & Longwave. Prior to the concert, RSA is helping prepare and setup pretty much all day. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rsalive for updates.

Biggest Day of Move-In

Today is the biggest day of move-in at Northeastern University. The weather is great, the moving bins were being unloaded as early as 7 AM, and the dining halls were open at 6 AM for breakfast. The Resident Student Association is here for you during move in. Feel free to e-mail us at RSA (at) Northeastern.edu with any issues or for faster response send tweets on Twitter to @RSALive.

Looking For Bloggers

Do you want to write about issues that affect Northeastern students? Do you want to help your fellow students stay informed about national issues affecting students, changes on campus, and help gather student feedback to improve life at Northeastern? If so, writing for this blog is a great opportunity. If interested, e-mail me at soleyn.m (at) husky.neu.edu and write a short blurb about why you would like to write for the blog. Please include your contact information as well, so I can get back to you.

Help With Move-In

Move-in for the Fall of 2009 starts September 3rd, and the University is looking for students to volunteer to help out. To learn more, you can attend an information session on August 18th at 6:00 PM in 333 Curry Student Center or e-mail movein.volunteers@neu.edu.

Updates Resume Today

NACURH 2009, lots of meetings, and the Chairman of the Housing Services Committee getting the flu (luckilly not H1N1 "Swine" Flu) resulted in the last couple weeks being dry on the blog. Look for more consistent updates to kick off starting this week.

The Week in Review

This week was an interesting one in terms of my role on the RSA e-board. I didn't update the blog because so much was going on!

We opened up the week with our e-board meeting where we ran down all of the ongoing projects. There's a lot of good things coming for residents, both in advocacy and outreach and programming. The RSA website had some updates made Monday, with many more to come to bring it up to date. All the missing documents for Housing Services Committee from last year will be posted, and then we'll have information about how to get even older documents. It will basically be a request system where you e-mail RSA (at) Northeastern.edu and we send you the requested documents.

On Tuesday, I took a trip with VP Rose up to Freedom, New Hampshire where we looked at Camp Cody, a possible new site for the Association's fall retreat which will offer us a significant savings in cost over our traditional retreat to the Ashland Campus. The site was very nice, with a great lake nearby. While the drive was almost 2.5 hours each way, it was worth it because we also got to enjoy some tax-free shopping! Tuesday was also the first Housing Services Committee meeting. It's not too late to join / attend. We meet next week at 6:00 pm in 336 Curry Student Center.

Wednesday was a much calmer day. Not too much to comment on, other than a meeting with the Senior RA Representative to discuss RA Training.

Thursday was a long day. On Thursday we found that our new office furniture would be coming in. We only got two hours notice, so VP Rose, VP Gagnon and I had to do a fast pack and clear job and then set everything up again once the new furniture came. The RSA Office, at 128 Stetson Hall West, has had the same layout for years. Four desks to be used by an organization with over 80 members and more than a dozen officers, Assistant Vice Presidents, and others who frequent the office as a working space. We upgraded to a total of six desks, which now gives each Vice President their own desk. We also switched to desks that provide better cable and power access for technology and gave the Vice President for Finance a bigger desk. We moved our water cooler and installed new seating to provide a more professional look. Once we clean up, I'll post some pictures.

Of course, what began Thursday was interesting. Food Advisory Committee met Thursday. From RSA, myself, AVP for Housing Services Mallory Brown, VP for Programming Brittiny-Rae Gagnon, and Cassandra Chan attended. We discussed the food preference survey results. The full results should be released by SGA soon. There was a bit of debate over the issues with the survey's question about trayless dining and the bias of the question, however. We're still working to make sure students have a choice.

Thursday wrapped up with Hall Council training. Anyone who is on a hall council and has feedback, please send it to RSA (at) Northeastern.edu and it'll help us revise for the fall.

Finally, Friday was a much calmer day for RSA, with not much activity for me.

Blog Revamped

New session, new blog layout. We've made it a little different. Feel free to post your thoughts and comments about the new look.

Blog Downtime & Revamp

The blog has been dead the last couple weeks or so, but when Summer I semester starts up next week expect it to be more active and have plenty of updates! There also might be a better layout.

Survey Up!

Please take our survey about issues affecting on-campus students. We hope to use the results to better advocate for the students living in the residence halls.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Housing Services Committee wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Testing

Lately we've been doing some testing on the Housing Services Blog. Sorry if you saw test posts that were left up too long.

Vote for MOHA; King & Queen

In the Resident Student Association, we encourage students to vote. Whether it's voting for the President of the United States of America, voting for the President of the Student Body, or voting for Homecoming King & Queen and the Mayor of Huntington Avenue, voting is a great way to have your voice heard. That said, the Resident Student Association has endorsed Savannah Rose for Homecoming Queen, Topher Nelson for Homecoming King, and Matthew D. Soleyn for Mayor of Huntington Avenue. You can vote for them on myNEU. Additionally, there are a few events this week that are free to attend. The first is Meet the Court, which is tonight at 8:00 PM in the Curry Student Center ballroom. Second is The Mayor's Debate at 6:30 PM tomorrow in the Curry Student Center ballroom. Third, Thursday at 6:30 PM there is a Homecoming Pep Rally on the North Campus Quad between Speare and Stetson East. All three events are free to students.

Patriot Day

Seven years ago today, hundreds of innocent Americans and dozens of other innocent men, women, and children were killed by al-Qaeda terrorists in the hijacking and crashing of planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Patriot Day is designated in memory of these people whose lives were taken too soon.

Move-In Weekend 2008

Move-In Weekend 2008 has come and gone, and all-in-all it seems to have gone smoothly. Here's a few points about the weekend:

• We were told by one administrator that this was "the best they've seen in years" with regards to the smoothness of move-in.
• We noticed great work from the Facilities Division helping with move-in and responding to work orders quickly. New students and parents were surprised at their great work, and on behalf of the residents I passed a thank you e-mail onto the head of the department.
• If you just moved in and are having issues with anything, you can reach Facilities at (617) 373-2754, or put a work order in at www.workreq.neu.edu.
• Students are excited about Laundry Bucks! It's a great program and I thank the hard working folks in Student Government who helped bring this to campus. If you haven't heard, Laundry Bucks gives you 15 free loads of laundry a semester, a $45.00 value.

A couple other things:

• We've heard rumors of Northeastern University police on the prowl trying to catch people handing off alcohol or drinking underage -- so be smart and don't break the law otherwise you may wind up before OSCCR or the Roxbury District Court!
• All the Welcome Week events can be found at the Welcome Week website.
• If you're interested in joining or learning about RSA, our first meeting is in 335 Shillman Hall at 7:30 PM on Wednesday

Where Have All The Blog Posts Gone?

We've been pretty busy the last couple weeks in the Resident Student Association. While it is intersession, we were occupied with move to-from, advocating for the residents, and training the Resident Assistants. So the blog didn't get updated for almost two weeks. This update isn't much, but check back later today for a big piece of news!

New Colors

We've mixed up the colors on the Housing Blog for readability. Let us know what you think!

Freshmen: Get Involved

Today's incoming Freshmen are able to access a wealth of information about the campus they will arrive at in September due to the wide availability of the internet. Blogs written by students about campus issues, such as this one are a great way for students to find out about issues on-campus and learn. Thus, it did not surprise me one bit to meet an incoming freshmen last night at orientation who was a reader of the Housing Services Blog.

That said, I want to encourage all incoming freshmen readers to follow the advice given by Northeastern's Associate Dean and Director of Residential Life, Robert Jose in a Boston Herald Article by Rochelle Stewart: Make the most out of your four years of college and get involved. At Northeastern, you may very well have the chance to make the most out of five or six years of college, so do it. Join student groups, take on leadership, and be involved. The Resident Student Association and the Housing Services Committee is a great way to get involved and have an impact on campus, and we will welcome anyone who is interested.

Lack of Posts & Writing for the Blog

Blog updates have been slow lately.

However, there is good reason. I, and the rest of the Housing Services Committee have been busy working on initiatives like the Fraternity and Sorority Life Leadership Living Learning Community, RSA Cinema, and making sure student voices are heard with regards to the GrandMarc. Blog updates should be more regular soon, and if you're interested in helping by writing on the blog send me an e-mail!