Polls open for RHA vote today

The [RED]EFINE and Vote Naked! tickets have campaigned, and today students in the residence halls will be offered the opportunity to vote.

“I’m very excited to see who will be the new administration of executive members,” said senior Jessica Schul, current Residence Halls Association president. “They are all great individuals that I’m sure will do great things with RHA.”

Eligible students can vote from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today in residence halls across campus to elect a new administration to represent student concerns in the dorms.
The RHA board works closely with residence hall administrators on issues related to living in the halls, RHA adviser Sarah Nagy said.

This includes a voice in formulating meal plans, determining how space will be utilized, input into learning communities and seats on the Campus Housing Advisory Committee.

Schul said her year in presidency has been a good one. She said she has seen this year’s directors really take on the programming initiative to increase collaborations with other organizations and add variety to the events.

One administrative organization the board works closely with is Residence Programming Services, by sitting in on meetings and representing the residents. Michael Coleman, junior and vice president of internal affairs, said one example of its influence was the energy drink controversy the board faced this year.

When RPS was against adding energy drinks to the C-stores because it would put a strain on their new health codes, RHA stepped in and voiced the student’s concerns.
One of the things that also brought attention to RHA was a complaint from Wright Quad representatives after the board reallocated surplus funds evenly amongst all residence halls. Wright lost the majority of its surplus funds.

“We had a lot of stuff to learn,” Coleman said. “We still hope to come up with a resolution for that.”

Nagy, who has been the RHA adviser for more than a decade, said she saw the outgoing board accomplish many things.

“They have worked hard on issues related to the cost of education, creating collaborative relationships with other student organizations and University offices, planning and implementing programs (such as) Help Me Harlan, a Halloween dance, Advocacy Week and more to come,” she said. “They are supporting other student groups through the funding board and addressing internal issues to become more accountable and transparent.”

Coleman said something else the board worked towards this year was better relationships with the resident assistants.

“I believe we did a semi-good job,” he said. “I hope it continues next year. It’s such a great resource for upcoming presidents.”

Schul agreed. This year’s board campaigned on the notion of having RHA and resident assistant training, but it didn’t happen due to scheduling. She said the collaborative experience is vital since the two work very closely throughout the year.

“It’s so important to put platforms into effect as early as possible,” Schul said.
Any student in the residence halls or who plans to live there the following year is eligible to run for an RHA board position.

“I would hope whomever gets into office brings a true passion for serving students, implements programming ideas, has the willingness to hang in there when the going gets tough and takes advantage of the opportunities the organization and positions provide for learning about oneself and others,” Nagy said.