Only 5 More Meetings This Year!
RSA GA 4/9/11
Announcements
-only 5 more meetings this year!
-cosponsorships
-yogafest April 21 11-4 Perkins
-YouDee service awards - due April 14 NOMINATE, occur May 9
-End of Year Banquet - May 11
-Student Wellness and Health Promotion - will sponsor your events at night
-Res Life Awards - due April 24, occur May 10
-RSA awards - due April 24, occur May 11
-Of the Years announced at Res Life Awards and RSA awards - Nominate people!!
Housing and Dining Discussion
-REMEMBER EVERYTHING IS CONFIDENTIAL!!!
-Rose Gaspect - Housing
-residence hall east campus project is underway - scheduled to open fall 2013
-complex consists of two five-story buildings, will house 567 students and complex lounge space
-first phase: investments of electric steam and chilled water from east campus utilities plant
-this summer Harrington will be shut down and will be renovated similar to Russell - mechanical, electical, plumbing, and life safety fixings along with renovated fitness center and a new POD - fall 2015
-building a new, larger dining facility that will seat 1,145 students and will be completed fall 2015 along with an additional 300 beds
-Rates: multiple dorm assignment is scheduled at 6,800 dollars, which is an increase of 294, freshmen rate is 6,804 and increased 306 dollars, the average dorm is 4.5% increase overall
-summer rates increased by 4.5% as well
-4.5% is the lowest increase rate since 2000 - trying to keep them down
-even if peer schools increase their rates, we will not move up on the list - we’re number three
-student room rentals account for 96.8% of resources and everything else is about 1% or less
-damage reimbursement went down -YAY!
-Debt service accounts for 36.3% of expenses, capital maintenance and repair accounts for 15.7%, utilities are 9.7%, but will go down due to a deal with the city of Newark
-there will be a 34% growth in debt service between 2015 and 2035, but rates will remain low for the next 15-20 years
-names of residence halls will be discussed this spring at the Board of Trustees meeting
-Harrington fitness center will be closed fall 2013 -2015, but the new part of the Big Bob will be opened at the exact same time
-the Pod will be in a trailer when Harrington is closed from 2013-2015 - the trailer is the same size as the store now
-Sue Bogan, Director of Dining Services
-3.5% rate increase for fall and spring, 3/4 -3.55% for winter session - trying to keep rates low
-3.5% is the lowest rate since 2001, 2002 - menu upgrades and elevate the plate will continue - increase covers extended hours of Russell (open until 8:30) and inflationary costs
-majority of funding is generated through the total board contracts at 78.8%
-expenses are costs of goods, wages, capital projects, maintenance
-Jamba Juice is opening next Tuesday in the Pod on North Campus -UDairy is gone and pints are still sold in the store
-next fall: Einstein’s Bagel opening in the new ISE Lab (science building)
-Russell Express is being continued - a lot of students like it, introducing a similar program at Rodney next year
-Upcoming Events: New England Clam Bake, Jazz Brunch (with crab eggs benedict), steak and shrimp dinner, pjs and pancakes night, culinary showcase, different activities during Earth Week
-Questions:
-is it possible to get points back for meals not used? program changed before she got there
-have you thought of rolling meals over through semesters? know how many meals you’re gonna eat and know you are going to miss a certain percentage, so you don’t actually pay for that amount - you would have to pay more if that happened
- a lot of meals don’t get used, there’s nothing you can do to lessen costs or make a smaller meal plan? no it generates revenue, we have a lot of costs to cover, can’t offer what they do without this revenue - not much money left over each year after costs
-have you considered greener containers such as plastic? you don’t want to reuse a container - it is not as clean, we already tried this and it did not seem to work well because students did not return them, but YES we can look at other options than styrofoam
- can you make a one more option on the block plan like 150 block meals, lower the meal gap and increase the points? yes
-on east campus, there will be a lot more students living there with the new residence hall will there be something to help overcrowding with Kent and the Scrounge closed? yes, we need to look at the weekends and the Scrounge may be an option and that is the reason we are extending the hours of Russell, also it is only an extra 200 students since Harrington is going down
-how much of a cost would it be with a breakfast on the weekend because it is like the dining hall supports sleeping in? yes, we could look into retail
-could you make it express? that would effect the meal plans because it would add an additional two meals a week
-what is programming? the fresh food concept that students enjoy, it is not your traditional cafeteria setting, but more a restaurant setting - reducing the plan would make us lessen the locations, staff, and programming
-Dunkin Donuts doesn’t open until 2...can we open it earlier? in the past, no one came before two
-once Harrington is open again, what will be done to encourage students to go to the new facility? people will flock to the new dining hall and Russell will be renovated in summer 2015 so that it will reopen along with the new dining hall
Kathleen Kurr - Director of Residence Life
Buildings A and B
-takes at least 2-4 years between planning and opening a new residence hall - takes housing, facilities, finance people, dining to all come together
-new residence halls open this fall, new dining hall and Harrington renovations start this fall
-keep in mind future impact, sustainability (long and short term)
-new residence hall designed to blend in with other buildings and has a lot of green space for students to hang out - the buildings will have elevators and will be air conditioned with several singles in each buildings and have also taken into account special needs
-floor plan - have group study lounges, complex lounges, building lounges, quiet study lounge, staff offices and CCC office too plus a laundry room and kitchen
-there will be 3 RAs on each floor in Building A
-building A is honor students and building B will be regular students and staff people and also offices for residence life
Harrington Renovation
-upgrade residential spaces and make the lounges combined to make a big one in the center of the Harrington Complex, which would make the access to each Harrington more convenient
NEW Dining Hall
-will open in fall 2015 with Harrington
-modeled after Dickinson since that is the most popular and it will be on top of the dining hall
-quiet lounge, group study lounge, laundry room, staff offices, CCC office, etc.
Alex
-laundry rooms will have laundry alert
-new dining hall is bigger than Perkins, almost the size of Morris
-new crosswalk near Smyth
-this summer: basketball, tennis, and roller-hockey courts will be closing along with the parking area near Smyth and the soccer field
-entire construction site will be fenced off against Kent, Smyth, New Castle, and Cannon along with the walkway south of the grove
-will reroute people through the walkway near Alison Hall and the walkway near Kent and Sussex
-outside of Perkins will be renovated for more student lounges
-most of this work will be done by the fall
-by winter all walks through the grove will reopen
-what will be done about all of the trees that are going to be removed? all trees are going to be removed along the new dining hall and one walkway will turn into a fire lane, but will plant more trees and there will be a green roof of the dining hall and to access the residence halls, there will be a sloped walkway
-are there going to be new recreational facilities? No, but the Harrington fitness center will be opened again
-rooms in the dining hall complex? - not Z-shaped, not suites, have a hall bathroom, with well-appointed furniture
-will you be able to open the windows? No - prevents mold and controls the humidity in buildings
-with everything going on around Kent, will Kent close? it is staying open during construction, but there is no decision about what will happen after the new dining hall opens
-regarding buildings A and B, what is the fob access going to be like? fobs will allow access to the main lounge, but not into the residential space or the elevator and same with the Harrington Commons
-since the new dining hall is underground, will there be problems with delivery or staff due to bad weather? no it is not actually underground and you can walk straight into it with a great view of the grove
-will there be more artificial turf? no
-are you expecting more honors students because the building is bigger than the old honors one? there will be some non-honors students in Building A, too and there will also be non honors students in Russell
-will there be anything like Harry Mart? there will be a trailer to provide services for the two years of Harrington’s renovation and after construction it will be in Harrington like the Pod
-will there be new basketball and tennis courts on east campus? not immediately, maybe later on
-Is Academy Street for freshmen only? it is intended for first-year students, but that can change
-will all buildings look similar to George Reed? not with Academy Street, but for the most part yes
-are the walls going to be cinderblock? no, they will be dry wall
-when is Rodney closing? Rodney is closing 2015 after the Harrington renovation and Dickinson is staying open until 2017, 2018
-there are rumors of toxins in the Dickinson walls, is that true? no, but Rodney is questionable
-is there any decision about what to do with Rodney? Rodney will be demolished, but Dickinson will be refurbished
-will Dickinson be alone? no, we will figure out something
-would you create some type of townhouse for upperclassmen where Rodney is? we don’t think people would actually live there
-on the Academy Street building, will there be a sound issue with the rooms above the dining hall? no we have figured that out already
-in terms of closing courts and lots, will there be issues for parking since there are permits that are valid? those are for staff only
The Meeting
-Delaware Speaks was yesterday - thanks to those who went!
-UDance info is the same
-Points System is the same
-Elections: apply by the 16th, campaigns close the 24th, elections are the 24th
-Danielle
-thank you for your respect and your questions
-no answer for the water fountains in the dining halls yet, but there is one in the Commons, so maybe they are working on it
-parking near Health Services has a pay-as-you-go app for your phone
-exec board has to discuss coin machines
-advertise Employee of the Month
-submit OTMs!
-submit an OTY - Of the Year for a person or a program that was awesome all year long and this is just for our campus that is unique to our university
-RSA Relay for Life team? it’s the same day as Lairdapalooza, so North Campus may not be on it
-Elizabeth
-new baby blues designed
-theme of conference is evolution revolution
-NAACURH will have a table at Resapalooza - come make coloring books!
-meetings every Friday at 5 if you want to make some baby blues!
-Matt Hermanow is the new NCC in Training and will be NCC next year!!! WOOO!!
CHRISTINA- WOW WHAT A SLACKER.
-RAINDATE FRIDAY APRIL 26, 1-5 PM, STILL KINGSFOIL, STILL INFLATABLES AND FOOOOOOD.
-WILL MOST LIKELY BE POSTPONED AND WILL NOT BE FRIDAY
-70% CHANCE OF RAIN
-WORD
-the call will be made wednesday at noon
-facebook event will be changed by wednesday at noon
-what if it rains the 26th? WE HAVE ALMOST THE ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR OF PERKINS RESERVED-> EVERYTHING WILL STILL BE HAPPENING, JUST INSIDE!
-VOLUNTEER SPREADSHEET UPDATED! CHECK IT TO SEE WHAT JOB YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED
-ISSA, SHARC, CRAB, GRCCC. SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER, YA BUNCH OF SLACKERS!
-LAYOUT OF GREEN AND TABLES WILL BE SHARED NEXT WEEK
-SCROLLS AND STICKERS FOR RAFFLE TICKET- INCENTIVE FOR STUDENTS TO VISIT EVERY TABLE
GRCC -GOOD
THOLARU -GOOD
DCC-GOOD
ROCC- GOOD
SHARC- GOOD
ISSA- GOOD
CRAB - movie thing is still happening and we found a cheaper screen
C4 -yoga was a success and they’re doing another and the 5k has a good turnout so far and they’re working on the mocktail
RSAC - March Madness last night had 78 people and 2 puppies come!
CCC Finance - CRAB will present next week, the big three will be the following week
-keep your budget papers safe!!