DormCon General Body Meeting (Elections)
Date: May 9, 2024 @ 7:00PM
Location: 1-190
Food: Guru the caterer
note
If you find any issues with the meeting minutes, please email dormcon-secretary@mit.edu
TL;DR (will be created after the meeting)
- updates from exec: DormCon GBM Updates 5/9/24
Full minutes
Elections!!!
We will get started
The way this will work:
- candidates will present their platform. they will have 30 seconds per person.
- who they are (name, dorm, year)
- what they hope to achieve
- why want role
- questions
- fancy online system (scan the qr code at the front of the room)
- 2 minutes to submit questions
- judcomm will ask questions directly (consolidating repeat questions)
- same link for questions and voting for all positions
- each candidate has 30 seconds to answer each question
- discussion
- candidates removed from the room
- allocated 3 min per candidate before voting
- moderated by judcomm, vote once people seem ready
- when you cast your vote, please put what dorm you represent + proportions (e.g. 50% candidate A, 50% candidate B)
q: how do you disagree from your president?
- only presidents vote on the link
- afterwards there is time allocated if you disagree
vote numbers are from guide to residences website (best we can get)
- elections in dormcon are population vote
if you want to nominate yourself for a position, come write your name on the board at the front!
President
-
nominations
- Jordan
- Geoffrey
- Ananda
-
platforms
-
Jordan
- currently dormcon housing chair
- been ec president, rac
- want to be dormcon president because
- dormcon is org with a lot of power to make changes on this campus. want to be a part of that. role of dormcon in interacting with admin, p/vp meet with suzy and have power to influence decisions at mit
-
Geoffrey
- sophomore in Next, course 20
- at a higher level got a lot experience in being uc rep, being on committees like coc. doing stuff in ua.
- in the words of an alum I interviewed, important to get involved
-
Ananda
- junior in Simmons, 1-12
- deep love for dorms and everything I’ve been a part of. did not come intending to be involved in leadership but found great community to make change in dormcon.
- working with sustainability and organizing a lot of things in dorms
-
-
questions
-
now accepting questions!
-
favorite colors
- Jordan: blue
- Geoffrey: red
- Ananda: red + blue
-
dormcon’s priorities?
- ananda
- dormcon has specific place in govt and student advocacy
- restoring relationships with admin important for changes in the future
- making more people aware of dormcon
- big role in sustainability advocacy which has not been that prominent recently
- geoffrey
- increasing dormcon’s presence in interacting with admin, the general student body, and interacting with other student governments who are doing analogous/simultaneous work
- documentation from being in the ua easy to overlook
- jordan
- agree with restoring relations with admin
- along with that based on the last week and last 6 months, there are lots of flaws in mit’s systems surrounding student life. policies not being clear
- advocating for transparency from admin when there are not massive problems on campus. learning from mistakes and building on that
- ananda
-
how much interaction/collaboration should dormcon have with ua?
- geoffrey
- as much as needed
- we meme about the ua for good reasons but shouldn’t necessarily avoid collaborating with them on issues that affect student life generally
- as whole representative has power of unique leverage
- jordan
- ua has power that dormcon does not
- personally have faith in upcoming ua administration, would like to work with enoch. common goals would like to work on
- ananda
- ta’ed both enoch and rishika so respect lol
- agree on figuring out how we interact
- tyra and I had experience with food insecurity and dining which is helpful
- geoffrey
-
how much time do you want to commit to this role next year? esp considering other roles in student gov
- jordan
- easy senior year
- not many other activities
- no other roles
- ananda
- main priority extracurricular wise minus tech week for theater
- 6-8 hours a week
- geoffrey
- would be top priority
- generally flexible in hours I can commit to things
- 6-8 also sounds good maybe more if necessary if there is a big thing going on
- jordan
-
what interactions with admin that have not gone as planned? how did you handle it?
- ananda
- [laughs] we survived last year
- adapting is the key to everything I do. things will go wrong
- specific admin interactions. like when there is imperfect information. going in with specific objectives and goals
- geoffrey
- one example recently. next exec position. had to interface with mit licensing office to print shirts
- back and forth on how to get design printed
- was able to find way to get around things while still obeying the rules of mit licensing office
- jordan
- most recent example is dormspam working group
- most certainly did not go to plan any time
- involved a lot of persistence, did not get a lot of things asked for because of external factors and stakeholders
- but was able to advocate enough to get some things we wanted
- ananda
-
do you have any broad projects/directions you want to take dormcon next year?
- geoffrey
- dormcon acts a bit in the shadows. good for getting things done but with the initiatives inviting admin to gbms
- becoming more people-facing and entire ug resident facing student gov
- jordan
- big year for dormcon next year for both housing + dining
- renewing bon appetit, reopening ec, closing mcc
- lot of work keeping these projects moving forward
- repairing relationships with admin will be a lot of work based on what happened this semester
- ananda
- lots of negotiation with class and ta and from climate negotiations
- year of big change + opportunity. great point to include more student views on what things are done and how they are done
- dining has a lot of options as dining chair (la verdes replacement)
- geoffrey
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
- now voting
-
result
- jordan has been elected!!
Vice President
-
nominations
- geoffrey
- tyra
- ananda
-
platforms
-
ananda
- already said a lot of things
- being vp sounds great and being involved in student gov and getting more people to know about dormcon!
-
geoffrey
- I already explained but yes
- would be very nice to be vp
- dormcon is powerful and efficient org
- would be honored to serve in this role
-
tyra
- east campus, 6-1/8
- based on experience as dining chair this past year
- seeing what students think and talking with admin
- lots of tangible results
- conversations are what I enjoy and would like to continue those but not exclusively about dining and things more broadly
-
-
questions
-
now accepting questions
-
how familiar with each of dorms? how plan on getting more familiar?
- tyra
- more familiar with some than others
- think I know people in every
- understanding what community each dorm has (very different, good thing) and this is something we should preserve
- push for more communication between dorms
- geoffrey
- several friends in each dorm
- interested in dorm culture in general
- enjoy archiving what dorms did in the past and how they evolved community over time
- something special about every dorm but also many similar things that unite dormcon
- ananda
- been to every dorm
- as simmons president last year got trauma bonded to every single president
- key part of this is listening and gather what people need the most
- tyra
-
what would be your main priority as vp?
- geoffrey
- similar to what I said as president
- more public facing to the point that a dorm resident can think “I have an issue, who can I turn to?” and answer is “dormcon” not “no one” as I have heard people say
- ananda
- if I had to pick one. negotiations
- focusing on values and figuring out what those are
- sustainability because that’s an area we need to work a lot harder on
- tyra
- very unique position where we represent students through the dorms
- problems brought to dorm pres then further to dormcon
- main priority is to try and get more connection between dormcon exec and dorm presidents
- now that we have more money do more outreach
- geoffrey
-
responsibilities of vp? differentiate from and work with president?
- ananda
- dependent on year to year
- largely a partnership
- sounding board for each other and working on projects
- inner vs. outer logistics (historically vp is more inner)
- tyra
- no strong opinions because also up to jordan
- I think I work well with jordan
- important to be flexible
- geoffrey
- same vein, general ideas
- be an active presence, work with president as partnership
- for specifics important to sort that out instead of coming in with preconceived notions
- ananda
-
question for tyra: how much time would you expect to put into role?
- tyra
- toning down, dormcon is priority
- stepped down from other exec position in other club earlier in the semester
- would have enough time
- been here for 2 years, know how much time
- currently dining chair takes up a lot of time
- tyra
-
good balance between dormcon vp/p (allocation of work, who hosts meetings, etc.)?
- tyra
- depends on what the dynamic is like for the specific pres/vp
- pretty similar
- looking at mitali and rebecca, working as a team
- would expect to be even
- both going to meetings
- geoffrey
- not only person dependent but also time dependent in who is doing what
- general goals of pulling my own weight, communication. specific things should be agreed upon between p/vp
- flexibility throughout the year as things come up
- ananda
- particular strengths and what people enjoy doing
- like doing detective work and brainstorming
- would I be as good at notes as rebecca? ??
- being flexible with some weeks busier than others
- tyra
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
- now voting…
-
result
- ananda has been elected!!
Housing
-
nominations
- temkin (jordan w. proxy)
- farin
- geoffrey
- gabriel
-
platforms
-
temkin-ish
- housing is one of the most significant issues at mit that affects lots of people at mit
- want to work with hrs
- residential life stuff
- excited to work on this
- worked a lot with tasha in the past
-
geoffrey
- interesting position
- if you could pick one exec position that exemplifies the work of dormcon it is housing chair
- first introduction to dormcon was housing chair initiative (real fake walls), excited to continue that
-
gabriel
- housing can make/break your experience
- facilities are important
- all aspects of housing are important even simple things
- for ex. removing stoves in macgregor. and renovations. we have to fight back as students
-
farin
- taking 5th year, living in mcc for last year before renovations
- current cpw/rex chair
- enjoying time on dormcon this year
- would like to do more advocating for students because of how valuable living communities are
-
-
questions
-
any significant issues in mit housing you would like to address?
- farin
- dorms should be more connected
- mcc having transition right now
- could use wisdom that other dorms have collected
- housing is going through price restructuring right now and housing security
- gabriel
- following up on existing initiatives (ec and mcc renovations)
- given that housing tends to be overloaded whether summer or during academic year. figuring out solutions so everyone can have housing if desired
- geoffrey
- documentation around renovations. very critical period
- interviewed yu jing chen (bc transition team)
- opportunity is revising cat policy within dorms. for ec transplants. cats have been so good for dorms
- temkin
- temkin has a lovely cat named skateboard, very fond of
- has fought with hrs on many occasions for said cat
- farin
-
how does this position fall in preference if nominated/interested in running for other positions?
- temkin
- really wants housing
- geoffrey
- this is actual target position, good fit for what I want to do
- gabriel
- a bit more passionate about food but tech chair and housing second place
- farin
- most interested in housing
- temkin
-
experience advocating for students at mit?
- geoffrey
- previously uc rep on dormcon
- big project was real fake walls in next house and bc
- currently on coc, offer perspective on curriculum proposals
- student org working group, scooter working group
- gabriel
- been more on the periphery so far
- hoping through this position getting more experience
- farin
- tried to be a voice in a number of campus positions such as ua
- temkin
- originally worked as dormcon cpw/rex chair
- was on ua election committee last year (fun times)
- currently working on ec and simmons tech web stuff
- institute committee (cls)
- working on how gender is represented in mit systems
- geoffrey
-
how do you plan to advocate during meetings with admin? will you be able to negotiate and push back?
- gabriel
- trying to figure out how it works from their side and emphasizing instead of just pushing back
- stronger place to advocate
- would not hesitate to have firm stance when needed
- farin
- even if you can understand where admin is coming from, should always try to push and discuss things through. how you would get the most out of this position
- temkin
- ?
- geoffrey
- one thing I’ve heard time and time again. picking your battles because things you work on in one aspect will affect things in another aspect
- limited time with admin
- easy to get bogged down in issues that go nowhere
- gabriel
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
- voting now for 1st housing chair
- voting now for 2nd housing chair
-
results
- temkin and farin have been elected!!
Dining
-
nominations
- daniel
- geoffrey
- gabriel
- tyra
-
platforms
-
gabriel
- junior, majoring in 11-6
- been in ua food insecurity committee this semester
- would like to continue doing work from slightly different angle
- making sure everyone has access to good food whether in cook for yourself or dining
- prioritizing health
-
daniel
- majoring in cms, prev. cpw/rex
- involved in dining shadowing mitali + rebecca two years ago
- during interphase there was a gap in food security and they gave people techcash and it actually made things better!
-
geoffrey
- would like to be dining chair because a lot of important conversations in dining. food security, bon appetit
- been on periphery of these conversation and have seen things in dormcon and ua
- have uniquely primed myself to get involved
-
tyra
- one of two current dining chairs
- primary motivation last year, interested in improving food security
- from past year got a lot of understanding and new experiences on what it means to be dining chair
- seeing big picture of dining
- 3 billion stakeholders, lots of compromise and navigating difficult conversations. would like to continue
-
-
questions
-
how much time devote to this position?
- gabriel
- no more than 3 classes + superurop
- about 5 hours
- daniel
- 9.01 + 3 intro hass classes
- ua history
- geoffrey
- ua history
- 4 classes
- pretty flexible
- tyra
- exact commitment as this semester including dining chair possibly
- gabriel
-
immediate considerations to address?
- daniel
- concord market
- what products
- “ethnic” foods - people have to go to chelsea to get basic spices
- concord is invested in responding to student feedback
- geoffrey
- definitely concord market
- supply of food, several dining halls have significant drop in amount of food available to people
- tyra
- no new considerations because enough with current stuff
- concord market - feedback
- launchpad, greenboxes
- general dining feedback
- vending machines
- continuing that
- gabriel
- concord market has long contract
- best interest of everyone (mit + market) to see market succeed
- using swipes on the east side of campus and other ideas
- daniel
-
how much engage with dining hall vs. cook for yourself community vs retail dining?
- geoffrey
- live in dining hall dorm
- mostly get food from dining hall dorms
- lots of friends in cfy, how is that life going for you, are there issues
- while I occupy one sector of this, I would make sure to branch out to other perspectives
- tyra
- live in macgregor (cfy)
- retail dining for lunch
- dining halls - go once or twice a week either through limited number of swipes or friends
- dining feedback so I know what’s going on
- gabriel
- also macgregor (cfy)
- go to dining halls when ec house team swipes us in, so familiar with how dining works
- retail dining - aware but not personally engaged
- daniel
- freshmen year - went to every dining hall
- cfy right now because budget
- get feedback from friends on dining hall dorms (increased a lot from ec diaspora)
- geoffrey
-
people have tons of meal swipes left over every semester (wasteful) - how do you plan on addressing this?
- tyra
- very complicated with bon appetit contract
- way to address at root is have a different structure in meal plan
- gabriel
- important to talk to different stakeholders
- sent out spreadsheet to dormspam
- one of mods in swipe system server
- talking to stakeholders at the root
- daniel
- changing over to instead of swipe system, you can tap in at every time. meal plan is so that you have access to the dining hall.
- takes away scarcity mentality. while on swipe system. your friend just swipes people
- geoffrey
- structural issue on how meal plans are 225 and things
- while we have contract we can find ways to make meal plans more usable both within dining halls and outside mit
- when finding new contract we should keep things in mind to make more sustainable meal plan system
- tyra
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
- voting now for first dining chair
- voting now for second dining chair
-
results
- figgis and tyra have been elected!!
Judcomm
-
nominations
- geoffrey
- tyler
-
platforms
-
geoffrey
- hello I think following constitution is good I’ve heard
- on a serious note, judcomm is about making flow of constitution and documentation better and that is something I can work on
-
tyler
- tbh idk what to say
- I do plan on working a lot on documentation as macgregor president because when I fell into this role it felt like being thrown into chaos
-
-
questions
- now accepting questions
- no questions
- now accepting questions
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
-
results
- tyler and geoffrey have been elected!!
Secretary
-
nominations
- david
-
platforms
-
david
- I want to do a good job
-
-
questions
- now accepting questions
- no questions
- now accepting questions
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
-
results
- david has been elected!!
Treasurer
-
nominations
- leo
-
platforms
-
leo
- 25, next house, started coming to dormcon since freshman year
- became next house treasurer this spring and enjoy spreadsheets
- not going to be treasurer for much longer because may have won a special election :0
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
-
results
- leo has been elected!!
Tech Chair
-
nominations
- gabriel
-
platforms
-
gabriel
- technology is my passion
-
-
discussion
- discussion is now ongoing, contents of discussion will not be included
-
results
- gabriel has been elected!!
Underclassmen Rep
- vacancy, postponed to special election
- next gbm next semester
- first job for new judcomm!! wooooo
CONGRATS TO NEW DORMCON EXEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE ENDED AT 9:07PM GUYS LIKE WOW DORMCON HISTORY