Dormcon GBM 11/20 Meeting Minutes

Andrew

1. dining guy
2. Dining Roadmap
   1. wants to tackle dining dissatisfaction
   2. currently dining is going over how we got to this point and stirring interest in plans for the future
   3. main issues
      1. geography - unlike many other campuses
         1. east/west split
         2. facilities do not match needs of community
         3. distribution of students (geographically) compared to food options is a big factor
      2. dining program operations
         1. some goals in conflict, and students have to weigh their dining priorities
         2. MIT wants to make decisions based on data (from surveys and whatnot)
         3. some priorities: high quality, affordability, convenience/availability, community-building, dietary needs, accessibility — all have associated costs
      3. stress
         1. eating should be fun, not a source of stress or difficult
         2. time is a big reason students don’t eat (impacted by geography, schedules or dining hall operations)
         3. affordability
         4. food seeking - community vs convenience
   4. financial sustainability - “break-even” dining program, where revenue goes back into improving program
      1. when things like participation or costs change, affects all “cogs in the wheel”
   5. Happening Now
      1. dining dollars promotions
         1. cook for yourself residents who upgraded got $50 extra
      2. cultural events
         1. tighten up some of the authenticity
      3. Grab n Go
      4. Dining Ambassadors
         1. paid students who go to dining and scout for Dining
      5. combo deals and discounts
   6. questions
      1. what is The Exchange?
         1. using meal swipes at other vendors on campus (like Forbes)
      2. how are they trying to incentivize meal plans (improving quality, addressing current issues, etc)?
         1. trying everything in their power
         2. raising quality, finding alternative forms of meal plans, making Dining as accessible as possible
         3. getting feedback of what students want (and looking from health and wellness standpoint) and seeing how to implement it
         4. “everything is on the table”
      3. what is MIT doing to address food insecurity on campus?
         1. “no student goes hungry” — so many avenues for finding food support
         2. in the future, dining might look very different, so it’s hard to say the gameplan for then
      4. cultural food pilots
         1. food has to be good and authentic
         2. wants to get super special chef to come train dining staffs or have demonstration in CFY dorm
      5. dining dollars
         1. have not been leveraged properly
         2. exploring meal plans with more dining dollars and fewer swipes — would give CFY people potentially more valuable options
      6. ddollars vs swipes
         1. value equation, swipes are technically worth more (partially subsidized) but not “worth it” bc of real value
      7. student agency
         1. weighing agency versus student welfare (57% of students say they don’t eat enough)
      8. money matters
         1. dining is subsidized $8.4mil right now
   7. can talk to Diego (Temkin) or Andrew if interested in dining

Exec Updates

1. Tech
   1. nothing
2. Secretary
   1. nothing
3. Underclassmen rep
   1. new rep wooo welcome
      1. Conner has something for him
   2. Andrew was analyzing survey results and needs to distribute TechCash
4. Treasurer
   1. should have guidelines for spring to discuss by next GBM
5. Dining
   1. exploring soups for breakfast
      1. survey went out
      2. 120 responses
      3. 65% said they’d consider going if it appeared at their preferred dining hall but only 45% would if it was only at Maseeh
6. Housing
   1. RCL meeting happened Monday
      1. language around McCormick reno
         1. hoping to have staple groups of 8 each move into other dorms, with possibility of 2 staple groups (so 16) per dorm
         2. also possibility of single-gender restrooms
   2. HRS meeting will happen soon
7. P/VP
   1. post-REX
      1. a google drive to add additional survey results
      2. also 360s/photos of dorm interiors

Dorm Updates

1. Baker
   1. had a breakfast? thing?
   2. piano will be dropped
      1. ramp built
   3. Baker friendsgiving happened
2. Next
   1. Next House auction happened
      1. sold 10ish bikes
      2. Ricardo now knows the process of bike auctions, so if you need info about bike auctions, he’s your guy
   2. dinner in the works
3. McCormick
   1. had a meeting with HRS about shutdown
      1. had a town hall with residents
         1. negative responses
      2. HRS will be visiting soon
      3. will be in touch with dorms about accommodating
   2. had karaoke with heads of house
   3. and will have Thanksgiving
4. New Vassar
   1. had some social events
   2. will be doing stuff for Thanksgiving and winter
5. MacGregor
   1. will have a Thanksgiving event for weekend after
6. Random
   1. third dryer from the left is acting up
   2. Temkin - Helen brought up roofs
      1. has strong thoughts about student safety
      2. HRS & Reslife things… happening
7. Simmons
   1. meeting with heads of house to discuss policies (like chalk)
      1. no paint in rooms allowed anymore (HRS firm on it)
      2. but hoh supportive on chalk
8. East Campus
   1. social events are happening
      1. Thanksgiving and Christmas
   2. OSCCS stuff
      1. a problem
      2. maybe one new potential case since last time
      3. now being asked to do paperwork for volunteer hours (to satisfy their punishment)
      4. choosing to pay the fines with EC funds to clear the community service
      5. OSCCS still planning event with MITPD to build better relationships between EC and MIT police
9. New House
   1. HoH will be buying 3-4 turkeys for Thanksgiving
   2. Looking into doing a mixer, will contact other social chairs
   3. Elections end of this semester or next semester
10. BC
    1. Whole house meeting happened and went well!
    2. Elections platforms are open
    3. House team are collabing with someone in RCL/HRS to develop an alc training for RPMs and floor/wing reps. Goal is to inform on alcohol training basics. Will be revising and giving back for more feedback, has been in the works for a couple of years

• also have a new CPW/REX chair
  • Miranda