€¦ · Web viewDanielle Bergstrom President Residence Hall Association 2012-2013 rha e xecutive b oard Danielle Bergstrom President [email protected] (614) 338-5449 Michael Berg

an introduction to the miami university

residence hall association2012-2013

letter of introduction

Hello Professional Staff!

First off I would like to welcome everyone to the upcoming Academic Year. For those of you who are just joining us for your first year within ORL, congratulations and welcome! I look forward to interacting with all of you throughout this year and I am truly excited to build on the relationship between ORL and RHA in the coming months.

My name is Danielle Bergstrom and I am honored to be the 2012-2013 Residence Hall Association President. RHA is responsible for being the voice, as well as a resource, for the more than 7,000 on-campus residents. Throughout my campaign for this position, I made it evident that one of my goals is to strengthen the relationship between RHA and ORL as well as the communication between all levels of this organization: Executive Board, General Assembly, Community Councils, and advisors. We will not be able to achieve our goals and be a successful organization without the support of each member of ORL. Your active support in recruiting leaders within your hall for your Community Councils will not only strengthen the success of RHA for the upcoming year, but will also increase the ability of your hall’s Community Council to grow and function as an active leadership outlet.

The relationship between the RHA Executive Board and each of you is essential to both the success of RHA and of your hall’s Community Councils. This packet is and introduction to everything that RHA has to offer. It will also give you a preview of what we have planned for the upcoming year, introduce resources we provide, and explain our vision for RHA and the Community Councils. Finally, this packet will begin a dialogue between you, the Professional Staff, and the RHA Executive Board so that we can ensure a successful year within the residence halls.

RHA membership is unique because we basically start from scratch every year. Prior to fall elections, our active membership is composed of only ten members who form the Executive Board. Therefore, at the beginning of every year, we must actively recruit student leaders in a very short time frame. This is why our working relationship is extremely important. During the first few weeks of the semester, we must work as a team to promote RHA information sessions and elections, form Community Councils, prepare all of our Councils to attend fall training, and get all new members excited about the upcoming year!

Throughout the next several pages, I will hopefully be able to explain more about RHA, Community Councils, and RHA’s plans for the year. If you have any questions or would like to learn what we have in store for this year, I encourage you to contact any member of our Executive Board. Thank you once again and I look forward to working with you over the course of the next year!

Sincerely,

Danielle BergstromPresidentResidence Hall Association

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Residence Hall Association | 375 Shriver | 529-9296 | www.muohio.edu/murha

2012-2013 rha executive board

Danielle BergstromPresident

[email protected](614) 338-5449

Michael BergVice President


Surayya HasanNational Communications Coordinator


Jonathan TimmonsFinance Director


Julianna PikusCommunications Director


Kimberly ParentCampus-Wide Programming Director


Wetlyne WetteeInternal Programming Director


Alexx MitchellTechnology Director


Stormy LeugersNRHH President

[email protected]

Grant WaltersAdvisor


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about the residence hall association

Miami University’s Residence Hall Association (RHA) was founded in 1996 to unify and give representation to the entire on-campus student body. RHA is composed of on-campus residents, all of which are welcome and encouraged to join their Community Councils. In the past, RHA has represented the needs and concerns of on campus students by working to improve lighting on campus, change the Miami Metro routes, introduce new recycling initiatives, and improve the wireless internet service within the residence halls. RHA also participates in a number of community service projects such as Safe Trick-or-Treat and organizes campus-wide programs such as the annual Homecoming Bonfire in the fall and RedHawk Hunt in the spring. Most importantly, RHA is the direct link to student concerns through Community Councils, a leadership outlet that reaches almost 7,000 students each year!

Miami’s RHA belongs to both a regional and national association of student leaders working to enhance the residence hall experience for their constituents through the exchange of programming ideas and resources. These associations provide leadership opportunities, conference experiences, and the ability to recognize outstanding people and programs. The Miami Residence Hall Association is affiliated with the regional branch CAACURH (Central Atlantic Association for College and University Residence Halls). CAACURH hosts a leadership conference each fall which all on-campus students can apply to attend. In the past few years, Miami students have attended conferences at the University of Pittsburgh (2009), University of Maryland (2010) and Towson University (2011). This coming November, Miami’s delegation is excited to travel to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. On a national level, Miami is a part of NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls). Each summer, students have an opportunity to attend the national conference and this past May, Miami sent a delegation to the University of Colorado at Boulder! We look forward to sending another strong delegation back to the University of Pittsburgh for NACURH 2013! All on-campus residents are eligible to attend these conferences. RHA selects delegates via an application process, which will be advertised via e-mail and on our website. RHA is able to subsidize the majority of conference costs for those delegates.

RHA is overseen by an executive board consisting of ten individuals, fulfilling the roles of President, Vice President, National Communications Coordinator, Finance Director, Communications Director, Campus-Wide Programming Director, Internal Programming Director, Community Service Director, Technology Director, and NRHH President. The primary advisor for RHA is Grant Walters, who serves as Assistant Director of Residence

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Life. The secondary advisor has yet to be determined, but we are very excited to welcome whoever that may be to our team very soon!

The RHA Executive Board also oversees the General Assembly (GA), which is composed of one resident from each hall. GA Representatives are responsible for attending weekly meetings, reporting RHA business back to their Community Councils, serving on a committee within GA, writing legislation, attending RHA programs, and publicizing RHA and Community Council events. GA has one standing, permanent committee, the Funding Committee, which is a monetary resource for any on-campus resident1. Other GA committees are determined by both the Executive Board and the General Assembly on an annual basis. They typically include programming, community service, and president’s committees.

1 See Funding on pages 10 and 11 for more details.

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community councils

Purpose The purpose of hall Community Councils is to improve the quality of on-campus

living within a residence hall setting. Community Councils are responsible for helping address student concerns either on their own or through their General Assembly Representative to the RHA Exec Board. Community Councils also plan and implement social or educational programs with their residence halls or in collaboration with other residence halls on campus. By doing so, these councils work to establish a better sense of community within their hall and on campus. Lastly, the formation of Community Councils provides leadership opportunities to student leaders.

Possible Community Council Positions: General Assembly Representative: Each residence hall will elect one

representative through a hall-wide, online election through the Hub2. Once elected, this representative will be responsible for attending General Assembly meetings each Monday night from 7:30-9:30 (location TBA). Attendance at these meetings is integral to the success of RHA since this is where a very large portion of RHA business takes place. General Assembly representatives are responsible for taking the information presented to them at these meetings back to their Community Councils where it should be discussed. General Assembly meetings will also allow for any on-campus concerns to be voiced through the representatives. General Assembly Representatives are also responsible for serving on an RHA committee and will serve one office hour each week.

President: Community Council Presidents may be responsible for running Community Council meetings, ensuring effective workings of the Community Council, and coordinating with their professional staff advisor. The General Assembly Representative and the Community Council President may be the same person, yet this is up to your discretion.

Programming Director: This person would be responsible for planning hall-wide programs. Programming Director would also be the person to coordinate with other halls on any multi-hall or quad-wide programs. Further, a Programming Director might work with the Treasurer to present a funding request to the Funding Board3. After a program takes place, the Programming Director would be

2 See Elections on page 8 for details.3 See Funding on pages 10 and 11 for details

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responsible for filling out and submitting a program evaluation to submit for Hall Cup points4.

Community Service Director: Community Service Director would be responsible for any community service initiatives within the halls. This person might coordinate with the RHA Community Service Director on community service projects such as Safe Trick-or-Treat5.

Treasurer: This person would be responsible for keeping track of Community Council funds. Treasurer may also be responsible for obtaining S numbers for Community Council programs or requesting funding from RHA Funding Board.

Communications Director: Communications Director may be responsible for communicating the workings of the Community Council to the rest of the hall. This may be done through an email listserv or by creating posters to distribute throughout the hall to promote a certain program or event.

4 See Hall Cup on page 12 for more details.5 See Tentative Calendar of Events for Safe Trick-or-Treat date.

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elections

There are several important dates to recognize concerning elections for General Assembly Representatives and Community Council positions. First, any student who wishes to run for General Assembly Representative of their residence hall must have their name and a brief bio submitted to RHA President, Danielle Bergstrom, by Friday, August 31st at 5:00 p.m. These names and their bios will then be posted on the Hub for voting, which will take place Thursday, September 6th. Voting will be customized for each residence hall so that students will only be able to vote for the candidates within their respective hall. Once voting is completed, the winning candidates will be notified via email and professional staff will receive the name of their Representative by email as well.

Other Community Council positions like the ones mentioned above might be elected using any method you wish, as long as elections are held the same day as GA Rep elections, September 6th. We ask that once your elections are completed that those names and emails for those individuals be emailed to both RHA President, Danielle Bergstrom, as well as RHA Vice President, Michael Berg, so that the RHA Executive Board may communicate directly with these individuals throughout the year. Please have these names submitted by 5:00 p.m. the day following elections, September 7th.

More information will be available to you as these dates approach. As always, we welcome any questions or feedback from professional staff leading up to and following the election process so that we can work to make it as effective as possible.

election information sessions

Information sessions are held to inform students about the workings of RHA and how they may get involved. This year, only two large information sessions will be held. Those dates are as follows; we ask that you encourage all of your residents to attend.

Monday, August 27th

7:30 p.m.Location TBA

Tuesday, August 28th

7:30 p.m.Location TBA

Along with these information sessions, the RHA Executive Board will be available to answer questions and offer information to students at several high-traffic areas on campus. These locations may include dining halls, King Library, and the Shriver Center at times that have not yet been set.

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community council training

Following elections, it is mandatory for all elected officials and advisors of their respective Community Councils to attend Community Council Training. Although it is only required for elected Community Council members to attend, other members are welcomed and highly encouraged to attend for the benefit of themselves and their halls. The time and date for this event has not been officially set yet, however the tentative date for now will be on the morning of September 22 from 9:00 am to 12:00pm. The training will serve as a chance for community councils to be introduced to RHA as well as their Exec Board Liaisons, and other Community Councils. The day will consist of several training sessions that will inform councils how to make the most of their community experience. Training sessions will likely include information on leadership development, teambuilding, recognition, funding, and how to program and advertise within the halls. The day will conclude with an introduction to the Hall Cup and a free lunch!

A schedule of events will be communicated to both advisors and GA Reps once all the details of Community Council Training are finalized.

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resources

Executive Board Liaisons This year, the RHA Executive Board is trying to offer themselves as a resource to all

Community Councils, RAs, and Professional Staff. Each Exec member has been designated three or four halls to aid. These members will attend at least one Community Council meeting a month for each of their halls and will also do their best to attend any hall programs that their halls might be putting on. By attending Community Council meetings, your Exec Liaison will be available to answer any questions that your General Assembly Representative may not know the answer to. Exec Liaisons may also be able to give more insight into RHA programs or give more information on Exec elections in the spring than your General Assembly Representative. We hope that having these liaisons will put a face to the RHA Exec Board in each hall and improve interactions with RHA in the future.

Another purpose of the Exec Liaisons is providing a direct contact for Professional Staff to RHA. Your Exec Board Liaison should be in contact with you relatively soon so that you may get acquainted and so you may begin using them as a resource before the school year even begins. Exec Liaisons are available to help with funding requests, take student concerns, and help trouble shoot any issues that may arise with Community Councils or General Assembly Representatives. Please never hesitate to contact your Exec Liaison or any member of the RHA Executive Board with any questions.

Funding Any group of residents and/or individuals living within the residence halls may

apply to receive funding from the RHA Funding Board, the General Assembly’s only standing committee. Below are the Funding Board guidelines as listed in the RHA Constitution. If you have any questions about funding requests, please contact our Finance Director, Jonathan Timmons.

General Assembly Representatives are very important when it comes to funding. Residence halls are only eligible to receive funding if a representative of their hall is regularly attending General Assembly meetings, their designated committee meetings, and serving their office hours. Three absences from these duties will result in the ineligibility for their hall (Community Council, RAs, etc.) to receive funding for the remainder of that semester and five absences will result in a funding freeze for the hall for the duration of the year. Please note that alternates from your hall may sit in on a meeting if the General Assembly Representative is unable to attend. General Assembly meetings are vital to the operation of RHA, which is why we require attendance and administer these penalties if attendance is not met.

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Article III: CommitteesSec. 1 RHA Funding Board:

A. Shall consist of nine appointed members of the General Assembly. B. Shall be chaired by the RHA Finance Director who will serve as a non-voting member unless circumstances present a tie. C. The RHA Advisor(s) shall also serve as a non-voting member(s) of the committee.D. The Funding Board shall be responsible for the allocation of funds from the RHA university account to subsidize programs administered by the Community Councils or student groups programming within the Residence Halls.E. The Funding Board shall use the following criteria when considering programs submitted for funding by Community Councils or student groups within the Residence Halls:

i. Any Community Council, Office of Residence Life Student Staff Member,or Advisor may apply for funding.ii. Funding requests must be submitted seven calendar days before the activityfor which funding is being sought and no later than noon on Wednesday of the desired funding board hearing. Submission of requests by noon on Wednesday does not guarantee a hearing on the submission date.iii. Receipt(s), invoice(s), other proof of payment, and programming evaluation(s) must be submitted to the Chair of the Funding Board no later than fourteen days after the date of the program. Failure to do so will result in loss of funding until all required documentation is submitted.iv. Funding requests must be completed in its entirety before being considered for funds.v. Funding Board appointments may only be missed once with prior notification. If a person seeking funding fails to notify the Chair of the Funding Board prior to their missed appointment, funding will not be given without a new request.vi. Funding Board will pay for food and beverage related costs associated with a program or event, but only considered by the board on a case-by-case basis.vii. Funding Board shall encourage programs with an educational component, but this does not mean that all programs with an educational aspect will or must be funded.viii. The RHA President shall serve as a non-voting member of the committee as needed.

MUvie Channel

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Miami’s cable TV channel lineup features an on-campus movie network (The MUvie channel), sponsored by Miami University and moderated by RHA. Every month, RHA selects a number of movies to run periodically on the MUvie network ranging in a variety of topics and genres. This year, a new On Demand feature will be added to the MUvie channel, allowing on-campus students to pick which movies they would like to see instead of waiting for them to loop through the system. We are very excited about this feature and would encourage you to keep a look out for more information coming soon!

If any students, RAs, or even yourself would like to request movies to show in their community as a programming tool or just for fun, RHA takes movie requests at all times. Requests can be made on the RHA website under the MUvie channel section and each request counts for Hall Cup points6! Please make your movie channel request by the end of the month, two months prior to the desired airtime. For example, if you want to show a movie in November, it must be requested by the end of September. Swank ResLife Cinema offers us a great list of movies every month, so contact us if you’re looking for something specific and we’ll check it out for you. If you have any questions about the MUvie channel, its features, or movie requests, please contact our Technology Director, Alexx Mitchell.

Hall Cup This year marks the fifth annual Hall Cup Competition! Each year, the Hall Cup is

awarded to an outstanding Community Council who has shown strong dedication and exceptional leadership within their residence hall. In the past, many Hall Cup points were awarded based on the performance of the General Assembly Representatives; however, this year we would like to make a change to that system. Instead of rewarding GAs for their attendance and performance, points will be taken away for poor attendance and performance. This will allow the focus of the Hall Cup to be moved away from the individuals and back to the halls where it belongs. Points will be awarded to halls that put on exceptional programs, submit MUvie channel requests and OTMs, and participate in RHA programs. Certain actions will result in more points than others; for example, a hall-wide social program will be awarded less points than a quad-wide educational program. These programs will be evaluated based off of program evaluations that Community Councils must submit to the Internal Programming Director, Wetlynne Wette, after the respective program has taken place. Hall Cup points are totaled at the end of each month and standings will be announced at General Assembly meetings, on the RHA Niihka page, and the RHA website. If you have any questions about the Hall Cup, please contact our Internal Programming Director, Wetlynne Wettee, or RHA’s Vice President, Michael Berg.

6 See Hall Cup on Page 6 for more details.

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Niihka Page This year, RHA will be adding a Niihka page to better organize information. This

page will largely be geared towards the General Assembly Representatives and will include their attendance records, General Assembly meeting minutes, Hall Cup standings, and a calendar of events. It will also be available to all Professional Staff so that you may check on the performance of your General Assembly Representative and stay up to date on any upcoming RHA events. If you have any questions, please contact our Communications Director, Julianna Pikus.

Website The RHA website can be found at www.muohio.edu/murha. Information such as

funding applications, program evaluations, MUvie channel schedule, the RHA constitution, and much more can be found on this site. Contact information for all RHA exec members can also be found here. We encourage you to check it out and hope that it serves as a great resource for you and your hall.

Hall Blogs Each residence hall has a space where they can blog about the programs and events

occurring in their hall. These blogs are available to be seen by all Miami students so they can read about what’s happening around campus. We believe that this network creates an environment for sharing ideas and creating a sense of community between halls, so it would be a great idea to keep it updated. One way to keep on top of your hall blog might be to designate a part of your Community Council meetings to posting what’s been going on in your hall that week. Then everyone can stay informed about programs and updates from your residence hall!

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2012-2013 tentative calendar of events

August13 – Executive Board Early Move-In14 – RHA @ Campus Resource Fair, 9:30-11:30 a.m.16 – RHA @ Shriver Office Open House, 8:00-11:00 p.m.20 – Classes Begin25 – RHA @ Megafair, 1:00-4:00 p.m.27 – Election Info Session, 7:30 p.m. (location TBA)28 – Election Info Session, 7:30 p.m. (location TBA)31 – Names of those running for GA Rep due via email, 5:00 p.m.

September3 – Labor Day, No classes6 – GA Rep Elections via the Hub7 – Community Council Election Results due via email, 5:00 p.m.10 – First GA meeting, 7:30 p.m. (location TBA)19 – Annual Homecoming Bonfire22 – Community Council Training 9:00-12:00 (location TBA)

October12-14 – Fall Midterm Break20 – General Assembly Murder Mystery Dinner30 – Safe Trick-or-Treat

Residence Halls are opened to the kids of Oxford to come in and trick-or-treat in a safe and friendly environment. More information coming soon…

November9-11 – CAACURH 2012 @ Rutgers University

The regional conference RHA members annually attend in the fall. Look for applications on our website and at Community Council Training and encourage all student leaders to apply!

16 – NCC Applications due to RHA office by 8:00 p.m.21-25 – Thanksgiving Holiday

December1 – RHA Formal3 – Last GA of the semester7 – Classes End

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14 – Final Exams End, Winter Break Begins? – Hall Auction

Help us raise money for a good cause by bidding on fabulous items to add to your residence hall! More information coming soon…

January14 – Classes and GA resume21 – Martin Luther King Day, No classes

February4 – 2013-2014 RHA Executive Board election information released8-10 – No Frills 2013 Conference @ University of Charleston? – Election Meet & Greet with current Exec in the RHA office

March4 – Executive Board Applications due to RHA office by 8:00 p.m.10-17 – Spring Break18 – Elections for 2013-2014 Executive Board25 – Elections for 2013-2014 Executive Board

April? – Sixth Annual 24-hour RedHawk Hunt!

RHA’s 24-hour photo scavenger hunt through Miami’s history and its campus. Look for more information in the spring semester!

29 – Final GA Meeting of the year

May3 – Classes End10 – Final Exams End31- June 3 – NACURH Conference 2013 @ University of Pittsburgh

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Documents

€¦ · Web viewDanielle Bergstrom President Residence Hall Association 2012-2013 rha e xecutive b oard Danielle Bergstrom President [email protected] (614) 338-5449 Michael Berg