2017-2018 Rutgers University Residence Hall Association Hall Government Transition Report Clothier Hall
Table of Contents Introduction 3 Schedule of Accomplishments..3 Contact Information.4 Recommended Changes.4 Hall Government Words of Advice...4 Appendices.5 Position Reports/Transition Letters..5
I. Introduction A. The Clothier Hall RHA s mission for the past year was to make the residence hall a home and to bring together the hundreds of residents living in such a large hall. Our main focus was to bring together such a large mass of people successfully and to be as inclusive as possible. II. Schedule of Accomplishments and Events Accomplishment/ Event Date Completed What should be repeated/replicate d What can be improved Halloween Movie Night October 22nd, 2017 We did a raffle basket that brought in a lot of people. The movie we chose to show was family-friendly and able to be enjoyed by different people Scooby Doo Overall turnout of people at the event. Make sure you have a laptop that is compatible with the TV needed to be used. No mass email notification. Pumpkin Painting October 29th, 2017 Food and theme was relevant to the season. More space for painting and food. Smaller/more convenient paintbrushes. No mass email notification. De-Stress/Holiday Event December 10th, 2018 Food relevant to season. We made cards for sick children and this wasn t advertised well enough- not many cards were made. Candy Cane Grams February 14th, 2018 Good fundraiser overall. Advertisement of event could ve been better. Hours spent selling grams.
Plants, People, and Pizza Event March 21st, 2018 Students loved the free pizza and enjoyed painting. Got a bit messy with soil and cleanup. RHA Bingo Night April 17th, 2018 *event done after TR *event done after TR III. Contact Information Name Contact Info (Number and/or Email) Reason for Interaction Dominoes (732) 249-0030 Catering Giovanelli s (732) 220-1220 Catering IV. Recommended Changes Our primary goal as a hall government was to be as inclusive as possible because we had such a variety of people living in the hall due to its large capacity. Our hall is known for its transfer student LLC which was a big deal because it required us to build a bridge between old Rutgers students and new ones in a healthy and fun way. Luckily our events were successful enough that they brought together all of the Clothier Scarlet Knights. One thing that we wish we had done differently however is just having more events. We stuck to a consistent schedule of trying to fit in at least one event per month and using up our budget as efficiently as possible. To avoid this mistake you guys (the new Clothier RHA board) should make a list of ideas and an event schedule as early as possible no matter how vague it is because it is always better to throw ideas around and carry out the ones everyone agrees upon and put away other ideas that can be used in the future. V. Hall Government Words of Advice The best way to have a successful RHA board and events is definitely communication. That is the number one priority in a hall government. Whether it be for concerns regarding event supplies or flyer details, it is important to always stay in constant contact with the board members and the hall advisor. Our board was very successful with staying in contact through the GroupMe app and by having the president be the primary caretaker of handling issues that require an advisor s assistance.
VI. Appendices 1. Appendix A: Event Flyers
VII. Position Reports/Transition Letters VII. Position Report for the President of Clothier Hall My name is Sadia Alam and I served the position of President of Clothier Hall for the 2017-2018 school year. My position consisted of attending the weekly hall government meetings, the biweekly GA meetings, and a 1 on 1 meeting with the hall advisor every week. I oversaw all events and hall meetings and served as a bridge between executive RHA and the hall government. My favorite part of the position was definitely getting to meet so many people from various campuses that were just as excited about ResLife as I was. It was nice to connect with them and collaborate on hall events while also sharing ideas. The biggest con of the position was the time commitment it required in regards to not only meetings and events, but also in planning for events and contacting important people when necessary. It was also difficult to get a handle on balancing school, work, and RHA but was manageable eventually as I got the hang of things. One of my greatest accomplishments, or I should say one of OUR greatest accomplishments, was having a board that was so comfortable and reliable. I was lucky enough to have attained a board that was full of enthusiastic members who always did their best to make sure everything RHA did was the best that it could be. Although many mistakes such as calling caterers too late or not filing for a cash advance soon enough were made, my board was always on top of figuring out the best solution in the moment and made sure the same mistakes weren t made. The only thing I wish I had known before taking on this position was the fact that sometimes I had to be strict with my board when things needed to be done even though they were also my friends. It is sometimes difficult to be taken seriously when you personally know your board members/are friends with them outside of RHA, so it was hard at first to separate
myself from being their friend to being the president of the board. All in all I had a great year serving as president and I would definitely do it again so I wish you the best of luck!! VIII. Position Report for the Vice President of Clothier Hall I am Kelsey McAlpin and I held the responsibilities of the hall VP. I attended weekly hall meeting, and I followed and assisted the president with the responsibilities of planning and leading the hall government, I also provided campus updates. I attended weekly campus council meetings, I was required to help plan and run campus events with VPs from other halls on College Avenue. The best part of being the VP was having the opportunity to plan events small scale but also big scale through being a part of the hall government and the campus council as well. My least favorite part of the position was the extensive time commitment, attending a weekly hall meeting as well as a 2 hour campus meeting, along with planning events for both was a hassle. Some mistakes that I ve made in the position IX. Position Report for the Secretary of Clothier Hall I am Zoe Verrico, and I was the secretary of Clothier Hall for the 2017-2018 school year. I was mainly responsible for keeping track of the meeting minutes that were recorded at every single RHA meeting, in which we met once a week for about an hour. I was responsible for recording the relevant dates and times that we met, and every single thing that we discussed including President updates, ideas for potential events, and the outcome of every event we hosted in the building. My favorite part about the position was being able to personally keep track of the progress we made throughout the year and seeing every event turn out the way we planned. I personally did not have a least favorite part, as I chose to be apart of RHA for a reason, and I loved being able to help plan inclusive events for our hall. While I was almost always on top of my responsibilities and feel that I didn t make any noteworthy mistakes, if there was one thing that I could ve improved on, I would say that I could ve improved on assisting some of the other positions with things that they needed help with, as I mainly tended to my own responsibilities. Some of my personal accomplishments were getting a lot of students to buy candy grams in the building and successfully and efficiently advertising the events to friends in the hall and getting a good turnout at the events as a result. I pride myself in how detailed the meeting minutes were and how invested I was in recruiting students to come to our events, and how involved I was in in contributing ideas to the table when discussing potential new events. If there was one thing I wish I had known about my position, it would be that you are required to attend the two LDD days for RHA, which happen twice during the year and are very long events. However, they are tolerable. Overall, I had a lot of fun in planning events and gained a lot of experience in collaborating on ideas with my peers in RHA, and wish the next secretary the best of luck in the fall! (: X. Position Report for the Treasurer of Clothier Hall My name is Zev Rosenbaum and I held the position of Treasurer of Clothier Hall. As treasurer, my responsibilities included: overseeing a $559.00 budget each semester, keeping track of expenses and cash flow, communicating our financial position to the rest of the RHA team, and generally contributing to the planning and running of hall events. My favorite part of the position was being involved with the hall government and meeting new people in the dorm. I did not have a least favorite part because the responsibilities of treasurer relate to my major and what I want to do career-wise; so there was no wasted time. One thing I did well was creating a
spreadsheet that detailed each event, recorded incurred expenses, and yielded the remaining balance. My biggest mistake was not being as committed to the position as I should have been. I had difficulting juggling the position of treasurer with the other responsibilities I had this year, and I did not give 100% of my energy to this position. Overall, the position was an excellent experience and I wish the next treasurer the best of luck. XI. Position Report for the Event Coordinator of Clothier Hall My name is Amber Ferrante and I held the position of Event Coordinator for Clothier Hall. As the event coordinator, my job duties included brainstorming fun events for the hall relevant to all students, making a list of supplies needed for each event, and implementing the event itself. As someone who worked at various children s party places in my hometown for the past couple years planning birthday parties and hosting them, I had a lot of fun. Holding this position, I wasn t the main coordinator at each event, as the rest of my RHA committee helped me greatly. I enjoyed coming up with fun events and seeing the residents have lots of fun at each of them. I was proud of myself for making such strong lists of materials without missing anything important, as well as making use of some leftover materials we had in the storage room so nothing went to waste. My biggest mistake with this position was not putting much thought in the actual number of people who would attend each event, due to the days I selected to implement it in correspondence to advertisement. Overall though, I LOVED this position and wish that I was able to get involved more. XII. Position Report for the Public Relations of Clothier Hall My name is Krista Campbell and I held the position for Public Relations of Clothier Hall. As the public relations chair, I held the responsibilities of collaborating with the rest of the team to come up with posters to advertise event. Each event was different and required a personalized flyer to attract attendees. To make each flyer, I used a free website called Canva. This was a free, easy to use website that offered various templates to work with. After making the flyer and getting it approved, it was helpful download a.pdf to send out to the RA s. That way residents could receive a text message reminding them of the upcoming event. One thing that was difficult and I would like to improve on was the ability to send out blast emails or event post to a social media account just for Clothier residents. This position is very important and it s what attracts resident engagement. Without the interest of the residents, these programs would not exist. Overall, this position was a great experience and I had the chance to build a portfolio in content advertising materials.