What's a House?
All of our residence halls are broken into smaller communities called houses. Each house community has a name that was formed by students living there. Each house has an RA, its own house government, and traditions. We want students to take ownership of their houses and build an engaged community that supports their needs.
Hall Councils
Each house president attends weekly meetings of the hall council for their respective
residence hall; Wadsworth Hall Student Association (WHSA), McNair Hall Association (MHA), Douglass Houghton Hall Council (DHHC), and Hillside Place Association (HPA). These meetings are hosted and coordinated
by an elected executive board. The residential organizations are both governing bodies
and programming boards. House presidents have the opportunity to bring ideas or concerns
that they have to elected representatives of the residence hall at these meetings,
along with recommending changes to different policies from Residence Education and
Housing Services. They also assist the executive board with planning events to engage
the hall community. A budget is available from student fees that may be used as the
organization sees fit to serve their community.
The president of the executive board for each Hall Council attends weekly meetings
for the Inter-Residence Housing Council (IRHC), which has its own electoral board. The IRHC executive board communicates
with Residential Living directly to address student concerns, discuss ideas that students
have, and suggest policies that students would like to see. If students have concerns
about the residence halls or ideas to create better opportunities for residents, they
are encouraged to attend an IRHC meeting. We encourage diverse perspectives and ideas.
Please join your house government or hall council or attend a meeting to share your
thoughts with us.
House Governments
Each house in the residence halls has its own government that helps engage the residents with the rest of their residence hall and campus. This allows residents to have ownership over their community. They plan events, solve community concerns, and work to make sure the house feels like home for every student who lives there. Each house government has a few common positions and positions that the residents decide would fit their community. The common positions that houses have are:
President
- Attends weekly hall council meetings (WHSA, DHHC, HPA, or MHA) on Monday evenings.
- Informs residents of hall council information and sends out weekly hall council minutes.
- Meets regularly with the RA of the house to communicate and plan programs and activities.
Vice President
- Supports the House President in their responsibilities and duties.
- Assists the RA in the house with program planning and implementation.
- Works on special projects for the house.
Food Representative
- Attends food representative meetings with the general manager of Dining Services once per month.
- Takes constructive food suggestions to the food representative meetings.
Sustainability Steward
- Attends monthly sustainability representative meetings.
- Shares sustainability tips and recommendations with the house
Social Chair (Optional)
- Organizes house social functions either with the RA or by themselves.
- Sets up weekly house dinners and door knocks to invite everyone.
Each house elects these positions at the beginning of the fall semester. Students interested in joining their house government should talk with their RA or attend a community meeting to learn more.