Useful Phone Numbers

Here's a quick list of many useful Northeastern phone numbers. Many offices are open today, tomorrow, and even Labor Day.

Housing & Residential Life: 617.373.2814
Registrar's Office: 617.373.2300
Husky Card Office: 617.373.2270
ResMail: 617.373.5108
Information Services Service Desk: 617.373.4357

Our phone number is 617.373.8682, and if you don't think any of the above offices can help with your issue or want to find out just who to call, we encourage you to call us.

Another Bin Update

During the move to/from period, there was a major shortage of bins around campus. We have found out that the reason for this shortage was partially due to students who in the past had used the moving bins to move off-campus and then never returned the bins. There currently is no mechanism to actually bill people or charge them for not returning the bins, which results in a lack of money being available to replace bins that are not returned.

Last month I visited the Renaissance Park Garage with the President of the Student Government Association where we found tons of bins that were being unused. Knowing that these bins would be helpful, we asked if they could be transported to the residence halls for student use. We were told that those bins, unfortunately, needed to be cleaned and made available for the general move-in period coming up.

Going forward, the Resident Student Association is going to work with Campus Life to see what can be done to ensure that bin shortages aren't a huge problem in the future. This may include working to get approval from University Senior leadership to actually charge for unreturned bins, and then put the money collected into replacing the unreturned bins. Additionally, it may include allocating funding towards purchasing more bins, and looking at what options exist to acquire cheaper moving apparatuses.

New Room / Apartment Issues

Every year during move in/out/to/from time the Resident Student Association is bombarded by students who report problems in their new living space. Whether it's air conditioning not cooling to 68-degrees Fahrenheit, something that wasn't cleaned, a light that won't turn on, or a screen with holes, problems tend to pop up. When something does happen, the easiest way to get it resolved is to enter a work request with Facilities online. You can also call them at 617.373.2754. If you find that your work request is not fufilled and you don't get an explanation from Facilities, let us know by e-mailing the Resident Rapid Response Team at NortheasternRSA (at) neu.edu.

Bins

Do you need a bin to move in, move out, or move to/from? If so, bins are available at Davenport B and West Campus, Building A - North during the following times:

Aug .15th: 9am-9pm (Returned by 8pm)
Aug. 16th: 3pm-9pm (Returned by 8pm)
Aug. 17th: 3pm-9pm (Returned by 8pm)
Aug. 18th: 12pm-9pm (Returned by 8pm)
Aug. 19th - 28th: 3pm-9pm (Returned by 8pm)

The Resident Student Association is aware of the bin shortage that presently exists and is trying to find out what can be done to improve the situation for students who need to make moves. To help the situation, residents should attempt to pack everything and then make bin trips as quickly as possible and return their bin immediately.

Residence Director Listing

If you need to contact your Residence Director and aren't sure who it is or how to contact them, Residential Life has a listing online. You can find it here.

Status of 337 Huntington Avenue for Fall 2009

This week the Resident Student Association heard mixed messages about what was going to happen to 337 Huntington Avenue (also known as “The Fairwoods”) this Fall. After hearing from students, we contacted Student Affairs to figure out what the correct story was and want to share it with the community so students who are directly affected, students-at-large, and others can know what is happening.

Around August 1st, letters were issued to students with their Fall 2009 housing assignment. Students who received a letter assigning them to 337 Huntington Avenue should ignore this letter. Housing and Residential Life is re-assigning all students who were assigned to 337 Huntington Avenue to alternative locations on-campus for both the Fall 2009 and Spring 2009 term. This is due to what Housing and Residential Life calls a "more likely than not" possibility that repair to 337 Huntington Avenue will not be completed for Fall 2009 opening.

Students who were moved "up" in housing style (for example, from a double to a single or from standard to enhanced) will be billed the rate that they had in 337 Huntington Avenue. However, Housing and Residential Life has stated that this is only valid provided students “do not seek re-assignment.” One problem with this policy is that in the re-assignment process, some roommate sets were split, and if a student has the opportunity to live in a situation that they would be more comfortable with, Northeastern University is effectively charging as much as $2,000 a semester for a student to do this. The Resident Student Association will be investigating why this policy was created and see what can be done to enable students to seek re-assignment to available spaces without being charged more than their 337 Huntington Avenue rate.

Students who are currently living in Davenport B (displaced due to the "337 Huntington Incident") will conduct move to/from/in/out similar to how any other resident student does so. Students should e-mail their current Residence Director and the Residence Director of the building they are assigned to move into if they will be on-campus in the Fall 2009 term. If moving off-campus, students need to just e-mail their current Residence Director. A list of Residence Directors and contact information can be found here.

Contrary to any previous statements by Northeastern employees or rumors that existed, students in Davenport B will not have to move into consolidation housing during intersession, nor will these students be charged extra to remain on-campus during intersession.

Housing and Residential Life has noted that housing assignments may change if circumstances change. They have stated that they will contact students who are affected to make them aware of these changes, if they happen.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let the Resident Student Association know by connecting with us on Twitter (@RSABlog and @NortheasternRSA), e-mailing the Resident Rapid Response Team at NortheasternRSA (at) neu.edu, or posting a comment on this blog.

Committee Notes

A few quick notes & questions from committee last night:

• If you have had any issues with move in/out or move to/from, please e-mail them to RSA@Northeastern.edu or comment here. If you want to be anonymous, just post a comment on this blog as an anonymous user. The blog system does not provide us with your IP Address or any other identifying information, so rest assured that you'll be anonymous.
• Do you think International Village should have a display of flags from around the world? If so, how should it be arranged? Send your thoughts to RSA@Northeastern.edu or post them here.
• On an average cross-campus walk, count the number of outdoor recycling bins you see on the way. Odds are, you'll see zero or one if you go by Snell Library. Trash cans are plentiful, however. If you had just as easy an opportunity to recycle a bottle or can versus trashing it, would you?
• Your residence hall probably will lose power on July 4th, for some part of the day, due to electrical inspections and testing.
• Audits are being done to see if people actually moved in. We still don't understand why Residential Life & Housing Services use a better method for this process, but will be working to see if it can be improved.

How Can We Reach You?

On Wednesday, with President Naegeli, I attended a meeting about how we market events and other items to the student body. We're going to be working through the summer on this, and it includes the Residence Hall flyer posting policy and process. If you have any ideas about how we can best reach out to you and about flyering in the Residence Halls, let us know.

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.

Countering Vandalism

Have ideas on countering vandalism in the residence halls? If so, send them to RSA (at) Northeastern.edu. We're currently looking to help cut down on repair costs for vandalism campus-wide.

Finals & Bad Weather, Part II

To followup on yesterday's blog post, if you need to stay in the residence halls an extra day due to the bad weather, you can contact your Resident Director (RD) to make arrangements. Additionally, Stetson Hall East dining hall will be open until 7:00 PM tonight as will the Curry Student Center Food Court per the NU Alert that went out this morning.

Finals & Bad Weather

What happens if Final Exams get cancelled tomorrow due to bad weather? With a major snowstorm coming into town and the worst weather expected from 1 PM onward, there is a chance that afternoon exams might be cancelled. The NUAlert system will help notify students, faculty, and staff of a closing as will the Northeastern website and local media. Should exams be cancelled, they would be held on Monday.

But what happens to students who have to leave their residence hall because it's closing? Or students who had planned to leave town and can't because the inclement weather causes massive cancellations and delays at the airports, delays and cancellations with Amtrak, and delays and cancelations at the bus terminal? That's up in the air, but RSA is working to find answers.

A To Do List for The Winter Break

The Housing Services Committee wants to give you a quick "To Do" list before you head off for vacation, the Holidays, or just a break:

• Secure Valuables: Thieves love the Holiday season because people are away and it ends up being easier for them to commit theft. Take valuables with you, lock them up, or otherwise secure them.
• Close & Lock Windows: Not only does securing your windows help deter theft, but it also ensures that if we have a cold snap you won't end up with a frozen pipe bursting and soaking your room.
• Turn Down The Thermostat: Set your thermostat as low as it can go. No one will be around, so no one will be there to feel cold. You'll also save Northeastern money, which means there won't be as big a need to raise housing or tuition next year.
• Throw out the Trash: Throw your trash out before you go to help avoid pests and foul odors.
• Clean out the Fridge: Get rid of anything that will expire over break. Also, if you clear out your entire fridge you may be able to unplug it saving more energy.
• Turn Off / Unplug Electronics: Since you won't be around to use it, there's no need to leave it on or running. You'll save energy, save money, and help your fellow students avoid higher costs.

IT Upload Speed Project

The IT Subcommittee is working on getting the upload speeds on campus increased, mainly in residence halls. We want to get a general sense of the speeds people are getting in their residence halls now so we're asking for people to take just one moment and run a simple test online by doing the following:

1. Go to www.speakeasy.net/speedtest
2. Under "Choose Server", click "New York City"
3. Wait for the test to run (about a minute)
4. Email the upload speed displayed at the end, along with the time you took the test, and what residence hall you were in to nuspeedtest@gmail.com

Legislation Passes!

With a vote count of 65-0-0, the General Council passed SC FA-08-2 last night to support Gender Neutral Housing! You can read a bit more in the Huntington News. You can read the legislation here.

Gender Neutral Housing Legislation Passes Senate; Will Go to General Council

The Student Senate today passed a piece of joint legislation [pdf] supporting the creation of a Gender Neutral Housing program at Northeastern University. The legislation passed with a vote of 35 in favor, 3 against, and some abstaining. On Wednesday, in 335 Shillman Hall at 7:30 PM, the General Council of the Resident Student Association will hear, and hopefully, in accordance with the recommendation of the Housing Services Committee, pass, the legislation allowing it to be sent onto the administration along with the proposal [pdf] for Gender Neutral Housing.

Registered Parties

Hello Everyone! This is my first post so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself. My name is Mallory Brown and I am the new Assistant Vice President of the Housing Services committee. A major project I am working on right now is bringing registered parties to Northeastern. This would mean that students who are of age could have save parties with alcohol with the responsibility falling on the host. This project is still in the research stage but so far I have found a ton of schools who are starting to offer registered parties. I will keep you up to date with any future information. Let me know what you think. Have a great day!

Roommate Matching In the News

Over at The Daily Free Press, Northeastern University is an example of how an institution can match incoming students up for housing in an effort to put compatible roommates together. They write:

At Northeastern University, students have been matched to their soon-to-be roommates based on an electronic compatibility questionnaire since 2004. The relatively new program has found big success, Northeastern Student Affairs Director Anne-Marie Regan said.

"We did a survey of how many did a room change, and less than 2 percent did [since the program came out], not necessarily because of roommate problems, but because they wanted a different type of room," she said. "We don't get a lot of complaints."

The Daily Free Press is the independent student newspaper at Boston University (similar to our Huntington News but published daily instead of twice a week), and at Boston University they lack such roommate matching. Boston University's Director of Housing cites that students often do not tell the truth on questionnaires, change behavior between high school and college, and also says that "assigning students who are similar in likes and dislikes does not challenge students to learn and grow."

Presentation on the Proposal for a Fraternity and Sorority Life Leadership Living Learning Community

Last night at the General Council meeting, there was a presentation on the Fraternity and Sorority Life Leadership Living Learning Community that is being proposed. If you missed it, you can see it here in PDF format.

Feel free to post questions and comments.

There Is No Freshman Housing Shortage

In the Resident Student Association we frequently hear rumors about potential problems on-campus. The latest big rumor was a shortage of 300 beds of freshman housing, caused by more students deciding to attend Northeastern and live on-campus than expected. However, after investigation we found this rumor is totally false and without merit. So don't worry freshmen -- you'll have a bed on-campus come September. And RA's need not worry about their single rooms being converted into doubles to house freshmen either.