University of Michigan

 1 Route Maps (Table of Contents) Cover Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Blue Line: The Campus Level
3-12
Goals and Objectives
3-4
RHA Structure
5-6
RHA Engagement with Other Groups
7
Community Service and Outreach
8
Programs and Events
9-11
Addressing Challenging Issues
12
MRHA’s Benefit from Affiliations
12
Maize Line: The Regional Level
13-14
Involvement Growth
13
Use of Services
14
Victors Line:
National Involvement
15
End of the Line: Letters of Support 16-­‐17 Lance Sharp, RHA Advisor 16 Christianna Pedley, RHA President 17 2 Goals and Objectives – Last Year Overview: The Residence Halls Association (RHA) has the sole purpose of guaranteeing
residents are comfortable and enjoying their time in each of the many residence halls here
on campus. To ensure this goal, RHA puts on events and activities, both put on separately
and coordinated with the respective RHA Representatives, Hall Councils, and
Multicultural Councils. Overall, RHA has been an integral component to providing
residents with a dynamic residence life experience.
In the 2013-2014 School Year RHA had goals to…
• Increase RHA Campus Awareness of RHA
o Crisler Game Screening: MRHA hosted a viewing of the UM vs. MSU football game at
our basketball arena. It was the first such endeavor of a student organization, and we
were expecting high attendance! Although numbers were not exactly what we wanted, we
did have around 1000 students in attendance.
o Bagels and Water: Before every U of M home football game, we passed out free bagels
and bottled water in order to help students get the nutrition and hydration they needed on
hot game days. The water bottles were wrapped with the RHA logo in order to promote
awareness
• Increase Diversity-Related Activities in RHA
o Hosted two diversity-related forums on campus – the first in RHA’s history! In addition,
we hosted an ally-training workshop. Each event featured collaboration with other
organizations and strengthened based on the previous event.
• Forge Key Partnerships with Other Organizations
o Career Day: RHA hosted its first-ever career day! We partnered with the other schools
and colleges on campus which may interest our residents. We also partnered with the U
of M Career Center to host a
resume workshop that paired with
the event.
3 Goals and Objectives – This Year In the 2014-2015 Academic Year, RHA has goals to…
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Improve Campus Safety
o North Campus Safety Walk: implemented to improve overall
safety on UM’s on North Campus. We walked around possibly
unsafe areas with leaders from UHousing and assessed security
concerns. Fortunately, our efforts were successful and efforts will be
made to make North Campus safer. These include better lighting,
blackout shades, and tree trimming.
o Residence Hall Access Policy: RHA has considered the issue providing residents
access to all residence halls. We sent a resolution voicing our opinions and
concerns to officials in housing.
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Advocate for Residents
o The Dining Experience: RHA has worked closely with the dining halls on campus
to provide input on the dining experience. We sent a resolution to UM Dining
voicing our opposition to biometric dining hall access systems.
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Build Community Within the Residence Halls
o Supporting Hall and Multicultural Councils: Each council is allocated a certain
amount of money per resident who lives in that specific residence hall in order to
halls build community. RHA has improved its funding limits from last year’s
total sum of $123,789.14.
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Strengthen RHA Meetings
o General Assembly: RHA has made an effort to increase the number of
representatives. This was successful and led to an
increase in the participation and discussion at the
General Assembly meetings.
4 RHA Structure – General Overview U of M’s RHA Preamble:
We, the residents of the residence halls at the University of Michigan, in order to create a strong and
vibrant community in all residence halls, to strengthen the bonds between the individual residence halls,
to address concerns of residents regarding residence hall issues, to recommend, review, formulate, and
develop policies/procedures/rules relating to the residence halls, to provide representation for residents
to the university administrators, to promote services and opportunities in the residence halls, to create a
forum of discussion, and to promote general social welfare hereby establish this organization known as
the Residence Halls Association and ordain these articles as the Constitution of that organization.
The University of Michigan’s RHA consists of 14 different Residence Hall Councils and corresponding Multicultural Councils, and 2 Conjoined Councils. •
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North Quadrangle
East Quadrangle
South Quadrangle
West Quadrangle
Couzens Hall
Alice Crocker Lloyd Hall
Mosher-Jordan Hall
Mary Markley Hall
Stockwell Hall
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Fletcher Hall
Martha Cook Building
Betsy Barbour Building
Helen Newberry Buildings
Northwood Community Apartments
Baits Residence
Bursley Hall
Oxford Housing
People Involved: • Seven Executive Board Members and one Advisor
• Around 40 Representative Seats
Six Different Committees within RHA:
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Allocations and Budget Committee (ABC)
Committee for Conferences and Philanthropy (CCAP)
Committee for a Diverse and Welcoming Community (CDWC)
Housing and Rates Advocacy Committee (HARC)
Internal Review Committee (IRC)
Programming and Services Committee (ProgServe)
5 RHA Structure – Development Over the Past Year Allocations
Allocations are sent to ABC to be reviewed. From that point they make recommendations how much to
allocate. That is then brought forth to the Assembly and discussed/voted on. This year the quality of
discussion has improved and all aspects of the funding discussions have been mostly more efficient. In
addition, our Vice President for Finance revamped parts of our funding request form to make it more
useful.
G.A. Meeting Function
Our meetings are run under Robert’s Rules of Order (AKA ParliPro). ParliPro is a great way to run
RHA assembly as it keeps the Executive Board and Assembly focused on the business at hand. This
year, more members of our G.A have a good understanding of ParliPro and which has made our
meetings more effective and efficient.
We have also passed legislation over the past year to make our organization run better. At the beginning,
we passed legislation so that Hall/Multicultural Council Meetings would not be within two hours of the
RHA General Assembly meeting to ensure the attendance and active participation of our
Representatives. We have also updated one of our Executive Board Positions so that it is better
explained and more representative of its actual duties. We have even revamped our impeachment
process to make it more clear and efficient.
Attendance and Engagement
Last year, attendance was unsatisfactory. We were constantly seeing less-than-ideal attendance and only
a small few key contributors. This year, however, attendance has been very strong, and there are
multiple major contributors in assembly every meeting.
General Committee Function
Our committees each work within their respective areas to support the various functions of RHA. Last
year, committee activity was decent, at-best. For instance, while CDWC did start putting on substantive
events related to inclusion/multiculturalism, CCAP did virtually no philanthropy and IRC did not do
much by way of legislation.
This year, there is definitely improvement in terms of committee involvement. ProgServe and CDWC
have already put on events and have plans for even more to come. CCAP has done a great job with
conference preparation and now is planning three different philanthropic events – one of which will be
incorporated into a business meeting for the Michigan sub-regional affiliate. On the whole, our
committees have been working on making substantial changes within housing and have even been
talking directly to the Director of Housing herself.
Overall Benefits of Our Structure
The structure of our RHA is beneficial because everything is in order, concise, and
understandable. The committees are a wonderful asset, because it gives RHA Representatives the
ability to utilize their talents and skills. Overall, the Executive Board and Assembly have seen
pretty stark improvement this year. Assembly members have exuded leadership well in the
positions that they hold. Truly, there are not just sprinkles of individuals who work hard;
essentially everyone is trying to put their best foot forward.
6 RHA Engagement with Other Groups
U of M’s RHA has worked with over 20 different groups around campus in the last year.
Some of the bigger groups are listed below.
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U of M Athletics
Central Student Government
Dance Marathon
U of M Alumni Association
Ross School of Business
U of M Panhellenic Association
U of M Dining
This year we have became more involved with student organizations on campus. We
have helped fund many events geared towards the enjoyment of our U of M
students. Listed below are some of the organizations we have provided funding for:
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Michigan Latin@ Assembly
Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority
Association for Chinese Economic Development
Circle K
Mstars
Noir
Society of Women Engineering
Bronze Elegance
Pilot
Meconomics
Persian Students Association
Sister 2 Sister
U of M’s RHA has been involved with more than a dozen local
businesses throughout the last year.
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M-Den
Barnes and Noble
Underground Printing
Bivouac
Acme PartyWorks
U of M Credit Union
This year, we have made some new partnerships: •
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OCM
Buffalo Wild Wings
Shutterfly
7 Last Year:
Community Service and Outreach
- The University of Michigan’s RHA hosted last year’s sub-regional annual
October Business Meeting (OBM). For philanthropy, the Committee for
Conferences and Philanthropy (CCAP), held a food drive through the Food
Gatherers Organization. Each school attending OBM was asked to bring food to
donate to the drive. Over 100 pounds of food was collected and distributed to
families in need throughout the Washtenaw Country area.
This Year:
- The University of Michigan’s RHA will host this year’s sub-regional annual
April Business Meeting (ABM). For philanthropy, CCAP, will hold a blanket
making event for animals in the Humane Society shelters. The delegates
attending ABM will have the opportunity to make a blanket for animals in need.
- CCAP will also facilitate a different philanthropic event and will be allowing
the members of RHA the chance to participate in the Detroit Partnership (DP)
Day. DP Day is one of the largest service events at UM in which students travel
to Detroit and participate in service learning projects. This event will allow the
members of RHA to learn about social justice, raise awareness, and break
stereotypes.
8 RHA Mainstays Every year RHA hosts annual events that have only continued to get better. This year
the impact of these events have increased. We are reaching more students and
increasing the turnout for our events. Even the events that we are in the process of
creating have received a great amount of response and interest, and the turnout looks
very promising.
Every year U of M’s RHA has around $15,000 to put on
Pre-Class Bash (PCB) the final day before fall classes
start. This year’s PCB was successful in a variety of ways.
-Highlights included: inflatables, photo-booths, and tons
of free food (pizza, cookies, cotton candy) and several
student organization partners~
-Hundreds of students showed up and enjoyed the
festivities – even though it was raining like crazy!
-T-shirts were given out free with the RHA logo on the
front and back of the shirt that are worn often to different
U of M events (you may have seen the leftovers at
GLACURH Swap Shop!)
Another favorite annual RHA Event is Sibling’s Weekend.
We provide activities for Residents to do with their
younger siblings. This event has seen improvement year
after year, and this year is bound to be no different:
-Crafting activities and pictures to start the day off right
-Attending the Men’s Gymnastics Match to give the
young ones a family friendly look at UM Athletics
-Ice-Skating at UM’s much loved Yost Ice Arena
-Collaborating with other student organizations to put on a
student organization concert for the siblings (a first for
RHA!)
9 RHA Diversity Events – Last Year Last year one of the committees in our RHA implemented a new
series of events that were not previously done regularly at U of M.
The Committee for a Diverse and Welcoming Community (CDWC)
started facilitating a series of forums that address different aspects of
our lives. These forums offer students a healthy way to address
complex social issues through facilitated discussion and questions.
CDWC held its first forum called “We Can’t Stop: A
Dialogue about Feminism and Cultural Appropriation
in the Media.” During this event questions about
female portrayals were addressed by four panelists
from different groups around campus. Although
attendance was not particularly strong, the event was
a good start to the newfound activities of CDWC.
CDWC also held another open forum about the
Portrayal of Ethnic Groups in Disney movies.
This event was the most successful of its kind
and was attended by over thirty people. This
discussion was particularly active and
impactful.
10 RHA Diversity Events – This Year This year, CDWC wanted to capitalize on the momentum it gained
with its forums from last year. However, they focused on
collaboration and wanted to touch on some less-commonly-discussed
issues.
The first event held this year by CDWC partnered
with the UM World AIDS Week Committee. They
hosted an event during World AIDS Week, which
discussed what HIV/AIDS actually is and the
medicine/science behind it. In addition to the
partnership with the World AIDS Week Committee,
they brought out a professor to provide proper
information to students on the origins and treatments
of the disease.
CDWC’s second event was a film screening –
for which they partnered with our own
Programming Services committee and other
student organizations. They screened “Pursuit
of Happyness” and had planned to host a
facilitated discussion on income inequality.
However, the event happened to fall during the
middle of midterm season, and there were not
enough numbers to support the discussion
component.
11 Addressing Challenging Issues RHA’s overall goal this year is to make “Our Campus, Our Home.” In order to
fulfill that goal, RHA has/is:
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Shifted focus from funding and allocations to programming and advocacy
Worked with the “It’s On Us” Campaign – the White House initiative on
sexual assault awareness
Helped facilitate the Safety Walk on the North Campus of the University of
Michigan
Worked with University officials to help install blackout blinds and better
cell phone connection on North Campus
Given suggestions to University dining regarding meal plans and how to
broaden student appeal in dining halls
Suggested potential changes to make the laundry system more efficient for
students
Investigating adjusting the quality of toilet paper in University bathrooms
These are just a few of the many steps that Michigan RHA has taken to make
residence feel we are advocating for them and making them feel at home here at
Michigan.
MRHA Benefits from Affiliation Knowledge-Sharing
U of M values the opportunity to workshop with other schools from across the
region. In addition to face-to-face conversation about RHA operations, we have
utilized social media to ask for other schools’ input on issues we have faced.
Delegate Learning and Bonding
When RHA sends delegates to GLACURH/NACURH, we know that they will
learn valuable information they will hopefully bring back to campus. In addition,
the conferences give our delegates to make long-lasting bonds not only with other
delegates from other schools – but with each other as well.
12 Regional Involvement Growth Conference Attendance:
GLACURH 2013 at MSU
• Delegation: NCC, Advisor, 2 Delegates
• Small delegation
• Moderate level of Boardroom activity
• No bids for anything
NoFrills 2014 at SVSU
• Delegation: NCC, Advisor, NCC-IT
• Used to train NCC-IT on GLACURH Boardroom
• Moderately active in Boardroom
• No bids submitted
GLACURH 2014 at ISU
• Delegation: NCC, Advisor, 6 Delegates
• One of the larger UM conference delegations
• Active in Boardroom
• Bid (successfully) for AOTY
NoFrills 2015 at IWU
• Delegation: NCC, Advisor, NCC-IT
• Used to train NCC-IT on GLACURH Boardroom
• Very active in Boardroom
• Submitted bid for RHA Building Block of the Year
Future Conference Plans:
• Take sizeable delegation to GLACURH
• Present at least program at GLACURH
• Take at least one program from GLACURH back to U of M
• Submit quality bids for awards we deserver
• Continue being active in Boardroom
13 Regional Use of Services Communication with Regional Member Schools
• Within GLACURH as a whole, we have utilized the GLACURH Facebook
Group to reach out for advice. Specifically, we asked students about safety
initiatives and residence hall access policies to gain some context on
conversations we were having. That information was taken back to our G.A.
as part of our discussion on these issues.
• We have personally networked with other schools, specifically in Michigan,
about issues their RHAs are facing. We have also helped other schools with
affiliation and conference related questions.
• MRHA found the region to be very helpful and we plan to continue reaching
out for advice and support.
Communication with Regional Officers
• We have reached out a couple of the Regional Officers with questions
mostly regarding GLACURH policy or affiliation – specifically the ADFA.
Again we have found much support and plan to continue utilizing the
Regional Officers for assistance.
RHA Conference/Officer Hosting
• Unfortunately, U of M has high turnover in RHA as people usually leave
Housing after Freshman/Sophomore year. This means we are unable to
sustain a conference-hosting team from year after year and means that
Wolverines usually do not run for RBD positions.
RHA Award Bids
• U of M has not been very active with bidding in the past. However, this year
we have made an active effort to bid for awards we feel we would be eligible
for. We successfully bid for Advisor of the Year, and are now submitting a
bid for RHA Building Block of the Year,
14 National Affiliation Information U of M and NRHH
• Unfortunately, the size of the Residence Hall community at U of M means
that maintaining an active NRHH means supporting an organization with
around 100 members. We used to have an NRHH, but it just became too
difficult to sustain. Still, we have plenty of Diamond Love at heart!
U of M and the NIC
• Just like every other school, MRHA submits an annual RFI, and we also
utilize the NIC for affilation questions. We have found them to be super
helpful in addressing any of our concerns and plan on utilizing them further
in the future.
U of M and the NACURH Conference
• MRHA sends a delegation almost every year to NACURH. In fact, we
almost always send our incoming Executive Board. NACURH is a great
opportunity for them to learn from the various programs and also bond with
one another. We intend to continue having a strong presence at the National
Conference.
• This past NACURH, U of M did something really exciting – we presented a
program! The program was attended by around 20 delegates from across the
country and focused on the basics of Deaf Culture.
Thank you for
reading
Go blue!
15 Letters of Support Dear GLACURH,
It is my pleasure and honor to write this letter of recommendation for the University of
Michigan Residence Hall Association in their bid for the Building Block Award. This bid is a
culmination of their hard work and commitment to becoming the best that they can be.
Over the past year, the UMRHA has undergone a revitalization of who they are. Last year’s
executive board took it on them to become a programming board rather than a funding board for
other UM organizations. This year the board took that even further by taking on safety roles and
becoming the voice of the resident hall students. The goal for this year was to help the
University of Michigan see what RHA was all about. The framework left by last year’s board
left a lot of room for improvement and this year’s eboard took it onto themselves to bring that
work to the forefront of their commitment.
This year the eboard took on a huge issue that the resident hall students saw as a real issue:
safety on the north campus. This endeavor took a lot of commitment and communication
between the residents and the administration. It is through their hard work that many issues that
the residents have are being addressed. The partnerships that UMRHA created from this work
have been a real asset due to the other work that has come out of their success. The
administration has also become more aware of the role of UMRHA and has become more active
in reaching out to the assembly to receive feedback about major changes that they are looking
into.
Over the course of the year, the assembly has also become more active in both the chapter and
within the different constituents that UMRHA is a part of. The previous year’s assemblies have
been prone to dropping off throughout the year yet this assembly has been more active and
more aware of their roles within UMRHA. The assembly as a whole has become more active in
their involvement; whether it’s going to the regional conference or participating in the state
level meetings, planning major events, or relaying information and opinions to each other
(which has been a problem for many years). This active assembly is reflective of the hard work
that has gone into this year’s UMRHA and has been a game changer for the future.
As you can see in the bid, the UMRHA has done a lot of work to become more active on a very
active campus. It is through their determination and willingness to achieve change that this
year’s RHA has become one of the best that we have had. It is through all of this work that I
humbly write this letter for them to receive recognition by GLACURH as the Building Block
RHA of the year.
Sincerely and GO BLUE!
Lance Sharp
RHA Advisor
Couzens Hall Director
16 Letters of Support Our Campus,
Our Home
Dear Great Lakes Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls:
I am writing this letter to express my support for the University of Michigan for the Building
Block RHA of the Year Award. The 58th Session of the Residence Halls Association at the
University of Michigan has drastically improved from the previous sessions. We have kept
our mission at the forefront of our restructuring efforts. The Preamble of our Constitution
states, “in order to create a strong and vibrant community [and] to promote services and
opportunities in the residence halls, to create a forum of discussion, and to promote general
welfare, [we] hereby establish this organization.” This year specifically, RHA has increased
its dedication to these fundamental values, by adopting a new slogan to reflect this: “Our
Campus, Our Home.” What was once known as a funding body has become a true student
government organization that contributes to the well being of our residents in almost every
way possible.
MRHA demonstrated its commitment to this new direction with several major initiatives
undertaken this year. One of the biggest was our North Campus Safety Walk, which brought
together U of M leadership and enacted real change to promote safety and security. This was
just one step in the ever-increasing amount of advocacy we are doing for our residence hall
community. In addition, our regular programming line-up has developed to include
philanthropy initiatives and multiculturalism-promoting events. We are now addressing issues
like class inequality and HIV/AIDS awareness, and doing so by forming valuable on-and-offcampus partnerships. In addition, we will be benefiting the community outside of UM through
philanthropy benefiting the Humane Society and the city of Detroit. Our standard yearly
programs have also grown and developed, taking lessons learned and using them to help
promote our organization. These efforts has strengthened connections between RHA,
residents and the campus community in general.
These extensive changes attest to the enhancement of RHA on a variety of levels. It has been
a privilege to work with this bright and motivated group of student leaders as they fulfill this
organization’s mission in a way not seen in recent history. I am confident that the Residence
Halls Association at the University of Michigan will continue to grow and will always
faithfully represent the interests of our residents.
Sincerely,
Christianna Pedley
University of Michigan Residence Halls Association President
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