Present: James Reed (Chair), Greg Anderson (Policy Chair), Mark Fuller (Program House Chair), Ben Lowell (Lottery Chair), Jillian Robbins (Secretary), Sophie Asher, Jerry Cedrone, EJ Chung, Paige Hicks, Mannan Jalan, Chaz Kelsh, Adam Lewin, Mike Sokolovsky, Jane Zhang

Tardy: Al Carter

Absent: Mannan Jalan (excused), Christine Sunu (excused)

Guests: Dean Tom Forsberg

Overview:

1. Committee chairs report on this past weeks meetings
2. Discuss changes in IPTV and cable tv system
3. Discuss potential changes in off-campus housing permission system
4. Discuss transfer students and squatting

Committee Chair Reports on Past Week's Meetings:

Policy Committee:

• IPTV changes
• rejection of Dean Bova's proposal to have a lottery system for off-campus permission process
• all 5 people will work on individual projects:
• Jillian - continue work on website with Natalie and Brendan
• Al - windows in Wriston lounges and soap dispensers in Grad Center (both issues have has resolutions passed by ResCouncil in past years)
• Paige - card access issues
• Jane - suite fees
• Greg - use of the Bears Lair and how to make that space more useable and accessible

Lottery Committee:

• creation of a new website for the lottery - consolidate information, make things clearer and more accessible
• calendar for the lottery - dates need to be determined by the end of this semester; Ben will meet with Natalie tomorrow (September 24, 2008) to discuss lottery dates
• rejection of lottery plan for off-campus housing
• increasing viability for squatting policy - should transfers be able to squat? what about people who received housing off the waitlist?

Program House Committee:

• discussion of the content of the forms for program house review - requesting similar information from the houses that was asked for in the past: adherence to bylaws, campus wide events, community service events, number of residents, faculty relations, any issues with the university
• get rid of the pass/fail option; we will just give recommendations with no assigned pass or fail
• this allows us to share our opinion about the houses' performances and give feedback to ResLife without passing or failing the house

IPTV/Cable situation:

• this coming February - nationwide conversion to digital cable
• most televisions will need a digital receiver to work - therefore, in February, most of the televisions on campus will not work any more
• ResLife wants to have people rely on IPTV and not have cable boxes - he wants to get rid of cable after this school year
• should ResLife acquire IPTV boxes and rent them to students? how should these boxes be distributed? should ResLife charge money?
• should these boxes come with a suite? should each student living in the suite pay a little more to cover the cost of the IPTV box?
• is it worth it for ResLife to invest in these boxes?
• does university want to get rid of cable and only rely on IPTV? if so, should channels, like HBO, that many people want, be added to IPTV?
• if cable television is removed, then in every lounge, there will be a box to convert IPTV to a television screen
• IPTV boxes - cost 200 to 300 dollars per box, but ResLife doesn't want to pay for these boxes for all students - should these come standard with each room, like a cable jack does now?
• should students have to pay for television access?

Transfer Students, Waitlist Students and Squatting:

• ResLife wants to decrease the number of people who go into lottery - squatting is underused. Transfers, as of now, are not allowed to squat, because they did not get their rooms through lottery.

• should they be allowed to squat? they did not go through lottery, so they may have an unfairly good room
• should students who receive housing off of the waitlist be allowed to squat? they may have unfairly good rooms because their housing was not assigned through the lottery
• currently, transfers and waitlist students who are in converted lounges are not allowed to squat - this policy would remain the same
• should everyone who is going to be a senior be allowed to squat (even if they were waitlist or transfer students)?
• do we recommend that ResLife allow transfers and waitlist students be allowed to squat, given that they are not in freshman only housing, sophomore only housing, or special housing (for example, in a converted lounge)?
• motion proposed and passed: Transfer students will be allowed to squat given if they are not living in freshman only housing, sophomore only housing, or in a converted lounge.

End of Meeting

Submitted by Jillian Robbins, Residential Council Secretary 2008-2009