DormCon General Body Meeting

Date: February 29, 2024
Location: EC stud space
Food: it was something yummy

note

If you find any issues with the meeting minutes, please email dormcon-secretary@mit.edu

TL;DR (will be created after the meeting)

• DormCon exec updates: DormCon GBM Updates 2/29/24
  • internal
    • fixing a small typo in an amendment from last semester w/o further vote (judcomm)
    • website has most of new presidents, please double check to make sure everything is correct! (tech)
    • poster in infinite displays location/date
    • retreat happened, resources will be sent soon (p/vp)
  • housing
    • ongoing discussion: next house summer housing limited kitchen space
    • housing intent form: 96% completion, please reach out to dormcon-housing-chairs@mit.edu or residence@mit.edu if students had issues
      • please ask students who know they will live off campus to cancel sooner
    • house managers sent emails clarifying policies around inspections
    • gra hiring in full swing (advisors)
    • summer housing, spring extension request apps available (advisors)
    • undergrads in grad housing: collecting information for building matching, will clarify on turnaround after offer is made and how that is communicated (advisors)
  • dining
    • ongoing: tap access to dining dorms during dining hours (uc rep)
    • vending machines (building 4): whiteboard for feedback
    • launchpad (stud 2): likely will collect student input to have one vendor leave given lack of kitchen space
    • la verdes replacement delayed, forum once announced
    • complaints about next house customer service: if any experience similar email dormcon-dining-chairs@mit.edu
  • cpw: bumped total event #, more transparency on event funding, mattress reimbursements, ec space for cpw events
  • discussing ideal house team relationship with heads of hoh
  • dormspam working group recommendations coming soon
• main agenda
  • esf event funding vote: requested $2k, passed
    • budget: ESF Budget
  • house tax: raise $5 -> $10, passed
    • was last raised in 2002, raising to account for inflation; dormcon has been financially struggling recently
    • when dorm prez are asked for next year’s house tax, amount should include the dormcon tax of $10
  • hoh/house team relationships: both positive and negative experiences were collected
    • positive: house teams present and supportive, engaging through study breaks/direct contact
    • negative: house teams not present
  • rex food policy: last year dorms had to feed early returns with dsl provided $1000; not sure if this or dining halls being available will continue. collected specific accounts of why not getting support for this would hurt dorms.
• dorm prez updates
  • simmons: first house meeting, checking with mcc/next on planning next formal for next fall
  • mccormick: started house gov, starting to talk with hrs about renovations (updates coming)
  • burton-conner: working with hrs on murals and storage, brought up continuity (knowledge transfer)
  • baker: got piano + ramp
  • east campus: formed documentation team, had social event
  • new vassar: had elections, dining seems more receptive to feedback, student had issues with housing intent form (forwarded to hrs)
  • random: handling logistics of signing caa petition, issues with top optionality policy and how it is commmunicated
  • new house: had elections, transitioning
  • next house: first house meeting, dealing with excess funds, hoh weirdly excited about pie for pi day
  • macgregor: ski trip, planning field day

Full minutes

hi everyone welcome to ec (!!)

Updates

• uc rep (hanu/guy)

  • emailed keith moser, discussing tap access to dining dorms during dining hours
    • seems to think we are just talking about maseeh and vassar, but we are thinking all (because they are lunch dorms)
    • seems receptive
    • meeting with him tmrw!
    • invited dining chairs

• housing (jordan/sruthi)

  • met with rich/david/et al a few days ago
  • summer housing re: kitchens in next having 6 stoves for all of summer housing (only country kitchen)
    • they will follow up on this
    • didn’t think about it it seems
  • iap kitchen problems w vassar and maseeh
    • rich said it’s up to students to figure out how to clean up
    • but they also understand they can’t just shut down the only kitchen in a building when no one is on a meal plan
  • housing intent form happened
    • not sure of final stats yet
    • defer to lusi:
      • 96% completion
      • ty for efforts to get stragglers
      • jumped 5% at the last minute
    • had a few stragglers reach out
    • if you know any point them to us (dormcon-housing-chairs@mit.edu)
    • q: how receptive is housing to accepting people after the deadline?
      • generally not very receptive because sent 6 emails on top of what students said
      • will need to fill out a waitlist form
      • if they have a medical reason they need housing they can fill out a supplemental housing request form to see whether they can get a bump on the waitlist maybe
      • at some point need to stop letting people in
      • usually are able to offer to everyone on the waitlist although it does take time
  • if you know people who really know they are going to go off campus tell them to cancel so that people can get off the waitlist quicker!
    • cancel by may 15th no fee, then fees increase
    • cancel sooner you will have less fees or no fees!
  • asked to send second verification about inspections
    • should get email from house operations manager
    • if you need more clarification reach out to your house manager

• dining (tyra/ananda)

  • vending machines
    • building 4. now also a white board (!!) where you can put feedback
      • mark and heather from dining do check it
    • subway vending machine no more :( they don’t make them anymore, issue with distributor
    • q: any plan to make vending machines support tech cash or dining dollars during iap?
      • could be possible
      • since things were so recent vending machine operators wanted to see how things went
      • other colleges around mit also requesting vending machines
      • will bring up at next meeting!
  • launchpad
    • things continue
    • big issue: taiwakal sells significantly lower. la verdes replacement will take over the kitchen so they won’t be able to make food anymore. one vendor will have to leave
      • otherwise significantly higher cost of operations because you will have to bring in food from outside
    • students will have input and dining forum and form to share opinions with mark/heather
    • q: was plan always to have one business there and then close?
      • yes idea is launchpad, so they circle through a bunch of vendors
      • taiwakal maybe has another location? but not sure
      • perhaps not how the launchpad should be working
      • technically not run by mit dining (commonwealth kitchen)
      • original idea is that they try out the business model at mit and figure out whether they want to continue
      • the purpose has shifted
    • generally if you have thoughts talk to us (dormcon-dining-chairs@mit.edu)
  • la verdes replacement
    • still haven’t figured out
    • price proposal is lower for sandwiches at least than la verdes was when it closed
    • dining forum will take place after announcement about the replacement (and after contract signed)
      • hopefully with one of the vendors in launchpad
      • to talk about future of stud dining
      • great to talk to mark/heather
    • replacement probably late fall at this point
  • questions: complaints about next dining customer service?
    • brought up to mark/heather, they want to hear more
    • if anyone has experienced that (or anywhere else) please let us know
    • amanda: directly from next house area director that saw it happen in front of them
    • geoffrey: not customer service thing but they do keep running out of food

• judcomm (sara/mateo)

  • haha so..
  • last semester passed two amendments
    • one of them made a typo in the amendment
    • good learning opportunity!
    • cited the wrong article, amendment itself is good
  • vibe check on whether we run the vote again or say oopsies and put it where it is supposed to be
    • no hands raised for we should take a vote
  • jordan: amendment to the constitution that says you are allowed to do this?? \s

• cpw/rex (farin/maddy)

  • spoke with trinidad (admissions) about cpw details
    • bumped # events to 215!
    • gave us nice breakdown of what funding requests should look like
      • maddy sent email to cpw chairs about most important takeaways so people can hopefully get a lot of funding this semester
    • for hoh events, need to have cpw chairs reach out to hoh to figure out who will submit receipts for that
    • will manage mattress reimbursements ($5000)
    • multipurpose room in w20 (stud) will be used by ec for cpw
      • on the fourth floor of stud
      • q: is ec ok with that?
        • river: assuming ec cpw chairs know this, have not heard complaints

• tech (nate)

  • put most of new presidents on the website
    • new house not updated come talk to me
  • new vassar elections?
    • mateo: just had
  • suggest looking at the website so that I didn’t spell your name wrong or anything like that

• advisors (lusi/amanda)

  • gra hiring processes in full swing
    • some buildings have more to hire than others
    • 60 candidates
    • will see how the matching process goes, trying new process
  • housing intent happened (see updates above)
  • summer housing application and spring housing extension apps are available
  • residents that indicated on housing intent that they were interested in grad housing
    • specifically for undergrads in grad housing
    • should have gotten emails today collecting info
      • roommates and apartment type
      • indicate whether going as a group
    • q: what is turnaround this year for committing to grad housing?
      • lusi: will get back to you
      • jordan: paul said 2 business days
      • mitali: this is once they get the offer, not after getting interest
      • lusi: this is to get information to better inform matching
      • mitali: were people informed that they would get 2 day turnaround?
        • lusi: will check
    • jordan: timeline on when offers will go out?
      • lusi: should go around same time so you get your building assignment
      • jordan: last year ended up being spread out over a couple weeks because if people declined

• secretary (sunmee)

  • poster in infinite has location/date of next gbm!
  • q: has website been updated with gbms [yes]

• p/vp (mitali/rebecca)

  • hoh convener meeting tmrw
    • one hoh on grad, undergrad sides. student gov equivalent of hoh
    • in fall talked about issues with house team and relationships. suzy suggested putting positive spin
    • what does the ideal house team relationship look like and how can we get them to be better
    • going to talk about the main points that were discussed and how we will bring to hohs
    • then will probably go to hoh meeting and try to get them to do better
  • dormspam working group
    • hoping to have formal recommendations from that by the end of march
    • context: analyze every detail of dormspam and make recommendations. optimistic that they will not be terrible. will keep you updated
  • retreat
    • happened! thank you to all that came
    • will send out an email with all materials (still compiling) so that you can reference
      • esp facebook and dormcon exec roles that you can refer to if issue

Agenda

• esf event funding vote

  • Budget: ESF Budget
  • east side festival is traditional event that ec hosts every year
    • a lot of alumni come back
    • also open to other people
    • nice to network and talk to alumni about what mit used to be like
    • grills for lunch, big feast at dinner time
    • run events with alum storytelling, mud pit wrestling, might do some sort of art event as well
    • most of costs are food, security, table, and chairs
    • cost is a bit higher this year since cannot do in ec courtyard this year → catering
  • questions
    • q: where will it be
      • reserved saxon lawn, subject to change
    • q: requesting $2000 from dormcon, overall budget $8k?
      • yes
    • q: how advertising?
      • posters and dormspam
    • q: is this budget in line with past years?
      • higher because of catering but rest are similar
    • q: how many expected to show up?
      • last year we had 400, 300 at any given time
      • not sure of undergrad vs. alumni breakdown
      • event is open to entire undergrad population
  • vote in random order -> passed!
  • melissa (treasurer) will send more details!

• house tax vote

  • the last time dorm tax was raised was in 2002, when it went from $1 to $5
    • not touched since
    • been $5 for 22 years, probably older than everyone in this room?? [except a few old people]
  • proposing a raise to dorm tax because as you have seen, difficult to get food for gbms and fund all the events with inflation
  • proposing to raise to $8/person
  • not changing much for the dorms. when you charge house tax to residents, will add $8 instead of $5
  • at some point in the semester you get a transfer that includes dormcon portion of tax, then you transfer
    • just letting you know to not budget all of the tax you get because some of it will come to us
  • questions
    • q: in a couple of months all dorm presidents will get email asking how much house tax you want
      • if ec says $85, will ec get $77?
      • mitali: need to double check but students should get charged $93
    • q: does finaid change to cover this?
      • probably, will double check
      • how does this work if different across buildings
      • maybe lumped into personal
      • maybe included but you get less refund
    • checked email and think it is the amount you say minus $8
    • mitali: will send email to you all to add $8 to whatever you plan to do
    • q: how was $8 decided?
      • looked at how we were operating, because we were basically breaking even. trying to get to have comfortable amount
      • past year, dormcon had a few financial issues
      • $5 accounting for inflation is just over $8
    • q: why not go a little more?
      • we proposed $7.50 at exec and everyone was like make it an even number
      • we will vote and if people feel strongly you can say no and we will revisit
    • q: do you guys feel like you need more?
      • more than $5 for sure
      • more than $8? need is hard question. rn not financially stable and $8 is what we think would allow us to become financially stable in the next couple of years
    • q: any reserves?
      • yes but a lot lower than in past years where we are uncomfortable dipping into it
      • in that case maybe go higher than $8 maybe $10
    • q: how much of budget gives back to dorms in event funding
      • significant portion
      • much of this will go back into house accounts
      • we get around $15-17k depending on how many in dorms. last semester spent all of it. all not events were food for gbms/exec.
      • another thing is cpw/rex funding which we give to all dorms
      • if we have more money gives you guys more for these events
  • going to vote for $10, then if that doesn’t pass we will vote for $8
  • vote for $10 passed
  • if people want to talk more about it please come talk to p/vp and let us know

• hoh stuff

  • house team relationships
  • anonymized examples of positive/negative examples
    • don’t have too many positive instances, if you have any please share
      • hoh does good job of keeping tabs on exec
        • if things were stressful said hey can I provide you dinner or support you in any way
      • hoh very helpful during spicer thing
        • talked to them at study break and listened to all complaints and was very nice and made me feel heard
        • provided a different perspective that maybe you should take a break and think about other things
      • hoh try to come to exec meetings pretty regularly. even with the war trying to check with students
        • good with coordinating study breaks with exec
        • very accessible to students
      • house team does good job of making time
        • if email asking to meet up, they are good at saying they can find time to meet later today or tmrw morning, very beneficial
      • house team good with study breaks
        • do large number of brunches
        • time around student events very well (ex. after dtyd)
        • plan outings (ski trip, ballet) that people can sign up to get tickets to go. nice things you might not do by yourself
      • very supportive of student body, very respectful of students involved in their own dorm
        • reiterate that any decisions that exec makes is to support students’ own community
        • door is always open
      • good at getting to know students in the dorm
        • learn lots of peoples’ names
        • have lots of study breaks
      • hoh arranges study breaks for each section
        • usually a dinner thing
        • to meet each small community in smaller setting
    • also want to hear things to be improved
      • did not really see hoh or assoc hoh. area director was pretty chill
        • hoh lived <30 ft away from my section and never saw him
        • only saw when yelling at people to mask
        • didn’t really even host study breaks, area director did host study breaks
        • didn’t make an effort to meet anyone
        • doesn’t seem to have changed
  • meeting tmrw is just initial convo, if there is anything to highlight, please email or message us (p/vp)

• rex food policy

  • another thing we are talking to suzy nelson et al
  • context: dorms had to feed early returns they had. this year able to access dining halls after the 26th when most people came in. dsl gave dorms $1000 in funding for that
  • talking about what will happen with this next year
    • based on last year under the impression that they will not give $1000 funding
    • not sure about dining halls either
  • want more specific examples to bring to them
    • how removing $1000 funding would affect you, etc.
    • bc: cannot afford that at all. super super tight on budget. have not raised house tax. cut food at gov meetings
      • q: last time bc raised? not sure, no records
      • food support money is funky because we are cook for yourself dorm and most people cook for themselves
      • q: bc exec would give mac and cheese and no one would eat?
        • this year might distribute to floors and let them handle
        • weird with dietary restrictions, same food doesn’t work across entire dorm
    • simmons: (q) people with early return earlier than dining hall?
      • for both, because dining hall situation is not 100% confirmed
        • in their heads this was auxiliary because first year they were mandating the providing of food
      • people had early returns for fpops and orientation and they got food from that so there would be food people wouldn’t eat?
        • dorms are responsible for everyone they were sponsoring early return for
        • last year rex/cpw chairs looked over food plans
          • had to submit excel sheet of what you would serve for each meal
          • for bc kosher suite, would have ready meals. for allergies had asterisks
    • ananda: dorms don’t have a chance to get extra funding before rex, don’t get money until house taxes come in
    • q: distinguish between people rolling over from summer housing? random last year was summer housing so no actual early returns (just 6)
      • would only have to feed your early returns
    • random: run so many rex events with all volunteers so would be infeasible to run on our budget
    • ec: would be hit with massive bullet. we have build so many early returns for build. they are doing manual labor all day. only way we could feed is doing constant grilling. we can’t do much more than buying a bunch of burgers and constantly grilling
      • ec cannot have summer housing transition into early return category, disproportionally hurting us rn. because we have to fund all food for entire month
      • jordan: specific ec numbers. 30 volunteers, $15/meal, 2 meals a day for two weeks (far less than we need) out of $30000 rex budget is 42%
      • tyra: ec doesn’t have a building so rex happens outside in a field so hard to cut costs by cooking in a kitchen. either grilling or catering food
    • q: why is this a thing that once you transition from summer housing into fall you have to be paid by mit for food?
      • finaid doesn’t cover, this is why bridge program came about. dining halls aren’t open
      • part of policy is that if you are sponsoring early returns you need to feed
      • q: why different for off campus vs on campus?
        • because mit is making you run around for rex and high stress need to make sure you are eating
        • food security (reason for health aspect)
        • well intentioned but logistics need work
    • if you have more thoughts please come to p/vp (dms, email, after meeting)

Pres updates

• simmons (gabbie)

  • first house meeting, got funding for things
  • simmons/next/mcc formal. think social chairs are in contact, wanted to ask about that?
    • mcc just got social chair this week. seem very excited to get things going
      • some discussion with things outside of mit whether formal is the kind of event we want to have
      • discussion on smaller community type events
      • still interested in discussing this
    • was there my freshman year and hadn’t happened in a bit so wanted to check
    • next was trying to coordinate with simmons/mcc last semester and wasn’t successful (simmons/mcc didnt have social chairs)
      • think we successfully booked a space for april
      • feel free to reach out
    • thinking of next fall

• mccormick (jyotsna)

  • some of exec members met with hrs (david)
  • no updates yet, generally mcc starting coordinating with residents
  • started house gov for rest of the year
  • let dormcon know if we/dorms can be a resource

• bc (kyna)

  • mural policy
    • last semester skated out of 8k in fines
    • this semester had just one, immediately painted over
    • meeting with hrs to avoid fines
  • hrs wants us to continue to try wall panels
    • except costed $60k and not sure how we will ever afford more
  • working with hrs on storage
    • can’t have non fire resistant furniture but fire resistant costs thousands more
    • advice to renovations dorms: hrs will give you thousands of dollars worth of stuff if you ask once
      • last year gave us $30k of kitchenware
      • trying to get some more painting stuff
  • hrs targeting murals last semester
    • cleaning staff work with hrs
    • trying to avoid things like this
    • people were upset generally
  • q: is there a dormcon art chair?
    • no but usually uc reps handle this
  • issue with continuity, when I graduate I take away all knowledge of being on reopening committee.
    • lot of dorms are making same efforts and would be nice to strategize together

• baker (guy - proxy)

  • got the piano
  • and a metal ramp for the piano, permanent ramp
    • q: where did you get it?
      • think we made it
      • either done or will be done

• ec (river)

  • ec is vibing
  • formed a documentation comm which is subcommittee of ec cultural continuity team, had meeting recently
    • picking up on that
    • if people want to talk about documentation
  • had social events
    • last week had one called uncomfortable icebreakers, really good

• new vassar (mateo - proxy)

  • new president, shiqi!
  • transitions over next couple of weeks
  • dining more receptive of suggestions/feedback on foods to add and things like that
  • question for housing chairs
    • student reached out about getting confirmation for filling out housing intent form but was informed they would have to go on waitlist
    • forwarded by housing chairs
    • lusi: will directly reach out to student. if any other folks have issues send to residence@mit.edu

• random (bianca and lauren)

  • random as a community signing caa petition
    • handling logistics of how we would sign
    • holding a vote
  • as of yesterday having some issues with toptionality and it getting communicated properly
    • context: toptionality on certain floors, need to unanimous poll for each semester
    • some people not notified
    • better communication with house team
    • people figured out yesterday they hadn’t been emailed and scheduled emails with house manager and area director, supportive-ish
    • seems like they can keep toptionality until new vote is conducted, haven’t gotten hoh response yet
    • getting new hoh over the summer so especially relevant on figuring out how it should work and how we should communicate
  • happy birthday random!

• new (david)

  • new new house president!
  • just had elections past week, results announced on tuesday
  • doing transitions upcoming weeks

• next (shorna)

  • first house meeting yesterday, went fine
  • talking about budget. $16k in excess last semester
    • talking about cutting on house tax, on the higher end ($83)
    • trying very hard to spend money
    • discussing what that entails
  • pi day coming up
    • hoh weirdly excited to get pie this year

• macgregor (not present)

  • ski trip this weekend, a little over 50 going
  • starting to plan for field day in april