American University
Residence Hall Association
c/o Housing & Dining Programs | 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW | Washington, DC 20016-8142
Phone: (202) 885-1878 | FAX: (202) 885-1154 | E-mail: info@aurha.org | www.aurha.org
Reiter Boldt
President
(202) 885-1878
reiter@aurha.org
Devon Wallick
Vice President of
Administration and Finance
(202) 885-3606
devon@aurha.org
General Assembly Agenda
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Rajita Sanji
Vice President of Advocacy &
Community Coordination
(202) 885-1742
rajita@aurha.org
Hayat Abu-Ghazaleh
Vice President of
Programming
(202) 885-2772
hayat@aurha.org
Patricio Barnuevo
National Communications
Coordinator
(202) 885-3676
patricio@aurha.org
Marieka Cober
Chief of Staff
(202) 885-2179
marieka@aurha.org
Daniel DeHollander
Advisor
(202) 885-3138
deholla@american.edu
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February 20, 2014
Call to Order
o President Reiter Boldt called the meeting of the General Assembly to order at
9:03 pm.
Attendance
o Anderson 4/6
o Cassell 3/4
o Centennial 4/5
o Hughes 6/6
o Leonard 6/6
o Letts Clark and Roper 6/6
o McDowell 4/4
o Nebraska 1/4
Minutes Approval
o Motion to approval the last minutes, unanimous consent
 seconded
Agenda Approval
o Motion to approve this week’s agenda, unanimous consent
Hall Reports
o Anderson
 New GA member!
 Candy grams went well, residents were happy
o Cassell
 Roza is new financer
 Keke will probs be president next week…
 Valentine’s Day grams went well
 First North Side Block party, getting the ball rolling
o Centennial
 Submitted Hall Wars shirt submissions
 Made posters for RA Appreciation Day
 Started making a newsletter
 Bra decorating contest
 Allocated money for pride bucks
 Had a snow day event
 Working on things for the tailgate
 Worked on details for Taste of DC
o Hughes
 New GA members and Kaitlyn now advocacy!
 Hughes Olympics went well
 Allocated money to pride bucks
 Involved in the block party meeting
 Looking forward to the tailgate
o Leonard
 Raised money with the flower sale
 Stay Fit event to give away Lara bars
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 Worked on details for Taste of Leonard
o Letts Clark and Roper
 Raised more than $400 for Relay for Life
 Had first town hall council meeting
 Cereal bar event on March 3, 9:30 pm
o McDowell
 Snow day snowman event
 Midterm event coming up in McFormal
 Making a banner for the basketball game
 Relay for Life fundraiser
 North side block party meeting
 Gave money to pride bucks
o Nebraska
 Pick up line competition
 Banner decorating event on Sunday
 Oscar party next weekend
Executive Board Reports
o Changed format of updates to be clear and accountable!
o President
 What I did:
• Created discussion questions for Training discussion.
• Compiled and completed RHA Strategic Plan.
• Sent out scheduling email and Doodle for Constitutional
Review Committee.
• Reviewed Spring Election timeline and materials with Paul.
• Represented RHA at the Board of Trustees Campus Life
Committee.
• Contacted Hall Council Presidents about the creation of hall
specific transition documents.
• Sat in on Programming, Advocacy, and Finance roundtables.
 What I didn’t do:
• Did not schedule Constitutional Review Committee meeting,
waiting on additional responses.
• Print, sign, and scan resolutions from first semester for record.
• Outline specific Constitutional Review goals.
• Outline specific Rules and Procedures changes.
 What I am going to do:
• Schedule first Constitutional Review Committee meeting for
next week.
• Print, sign, scan, and file Fall Semester Resolutions.
• Outline Constitutional and Rules and Procedure goals with
Paul.
o Vice President of Administration and Finance
 What I did:
• Finished the budget.
• Entered the My Favorite Student check into the budget.
• Sent out all the care packages.
• Started gathering quotes for the Hall Wars t-shirts.
 What I didn’t do:
• Create Relay for Life Presentation.
• Schedule dual Programmer/Financier Roundtable.
 What I am going to do:
• Updating budget.
• Creating Relay for Life Presentation.
o
o
• Finalizing quotes for Hall Wars shirts.
• Determine Hall Council rollover amounts.
Vice President of Advocacy and Community Coordination
 What I have done in the past week:
• Contact facilities about McDowell trash cans
• Reach out to hall council members for different advocacy
issues (ex: public safety vouchers and McDowell formal)
• Update HOTY
• Create a slide of HOTY to be put on monitors
• Fill out risk management forms for Hall Wars
• Reach out to campus partners (NRHH, Amnesty International,
and UNICEF)
• Reach out to Red Cross about another potential blood drive
(their dates didn't work for us)
• Keep up with e-mails about the 3 challenges
• Sent Marieka all information regarding previous RHA members
• Compiled learning objectives from training
• Monthly awards completed
• Created a new HOTY challenge (testing it out today)
 What I need help with:
• People completing challenges
 What I am doing this week:
• Fixing Hall Wars packet
• Reiter's AU Club Council thing
• Creating a Hall Wars Presentation
Vice President of Programming
 What I did:
• Worked on finalizing details for the S'more Spirit Tailgate. It
is Wednesday 2/26, 5:30-6:30. Banners are due to the RHA
office by Tuesday 2/25 and everyone must have a most
spirited resident contestant.
o Banners are due Tuesday in the office
o Nominate your residents and get the banners done!
• Went to a Do it in the Dark Meeting with the Green Eagles and
the Office of Sustainability. Finalized the date for the kick-off
event.
o The Green Eagles are here to speak to us about what
Do It in the Dark is.
• Went on the final Founder's Day Walk-through. Finalized the
rest of the details for Founder's Day. Finalized remarks and
the schedule of the day.
o Founder’s Day is Saturday!
• Have been working on logistics for Hall Wars
o Space reservations, supplemental forms, AV amplified
sound requests, and quotes from food companies and
other contractors
• Sent out a Doodle poll to set up one-on-ones with all the
Programmers.
 What I didn't do:
• I did not get the chance to contact some of the food
companies we would like to hire for Hall Wars.
• Did not get to meet with Marieka to start working on
Transition
Did not get to meet with Devon in regards to some budgeting
questions
 What I am going to do:
• Contact food trucks for the event after spring break
• Contact food companies for Hall Wars
• Meeting with Devon
• Order hot chocolate for S'more Spirit tailgate
National Communications Coordinator
 What I did:
• Contacted schools from around CAACURH to organize a
charter bus for NACURH.
• Worked on regional resolution to change how seniors bid for
the RBD.
 What I didn’t do:
• Did not complete NCC Amendment.
 What I am going to do:
• Finalize NCC Amendment with Zoe for next GA.
• Create a timeline for selecting the NACURH delegation.
Chief of Staff
 What I did
• Met for a one-on-one with Daniel
• Met with Jamie to make sure she was on task, keep updated
on her projects, and make sure she is good with all
assignments
• Had GA member roundtable to give assignments for the week
and check-up with hall reports
• Attended Rajita’s roundtable this week
• Created a master list of all GA members (including email
contact information) to keep a better record of all people
involved in the organization
o Has been sent by Daniel to other people to allow them
to reach out to RHA
• Helped Jamie with posts on social media, especially related to
Founder’s Day
• Posted office hours of the executive board on the General
Assembly Facebook page
• Checked the advertising form to make sure the RHA Events
calendar is up to date
• Updated the I-drive
• Sent website document to Jaime… AND IT IS UPDATED!
o Sending minutes so they are updated weekly
 What I didn’t do
• Set up a meeting with Hayat about transition, decided to wait
until after Founder’s Day
 What I plan to do
• Have a meeting about transition next week
• Finish the GA list and send an updated version to Daniel
• Finish a presentation about NRHH for next week’s GA
• Write some OTMs!
• Send Nikki in HDP all past minutes to add to the website
Advisor
 What did Daniel do?
• Participated in RA Interview Weekend
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o
o
o
Congratulations to everyone who was offered a
position!
• Met 1:1 with Reiter, Devon, Hayat, and Marieka
o Why: Do it in the Dark, Hall Wars, Strategic Plan,
Constitutional Review Committee, RHA Elections, and
the budget
• Attended “Do It In The Dark” Meeting on 2/17/14
o Why: To think about ways RHA and ResEd can
contribute and not violate policies
• Attended Residential Education Athletic Engagement
Committee Meeting on 2/19/14
o S’More Spirit Tailgate (2/26/14 at 5:30pm)
 Why: To increase resident’s participation in AU
athletic events
• Reviewed 2014-2015 Election procedures from RD perspective
o Why: To make sure that timelines to not interfere with
other major HDP projects
• Attended women’s basketball game v. Boston University
o We won! Men lost but…
o Why: To show AU Pride!
• Discussed GPAs and academic performance with Hall Council
advisors
o Why: It is important for advisors to help current Hall
Council members balance their tasks and priorities
• Sent roster of Hall Council and RHA Executive Board members
to Student Activities
o Why: To increase future partnerships and
collaborations in order to better utilize campus
resources
What did Daniel not do?
• Did not attend GW’s Martha’s Marathon Event
o Why: Too many tasks, especially with RA Selection
o Will follow up with advisors later for better
relationships
What does Daniel plan to do?
• Meet with Paul and Reiter to make final edits to RHA Election
Procedures
o Why: To make sure that the Residential Education
professional staff members can meet RHA’s
expectations
• Finalize “script” for S’More Spirit Tailgate
o Why: To event manage flow and be more rehearsed
and prepared
• Fill out additional space request forms for Hall Wars
o Why: Advisor’s job to make sure that policies are
followed and things like accessibility and risk
management are considered
Reminders from 2/13/14
• 2014-2015 Housing Selection
o Three Stage Process at
www.american.edu/roomselection
 STAGE 2: Group Declaration, February 10th –
February 23rd at 11:59pm
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STAGE 3: Room Selection, February 26th –
March 5th
o Information Session:
 Wednesday, February 12th at 6:30pm in
McDowell Hall Formal Lounge
o Questions/Concerns: roomselection@american.edu
Administrative Board Reports
o Parliamentarian
 What I did
• Created the election packet for Cassell Hall
• Finished election materials for spring e-board elections
• Created packet for next year’s elections
• Met with Logan, chair of BOE for SG, because our elections
will be at the same time
 What I did not do
• Did not set up presentation about elections, happening next
week
• Did not meet with Reiter and Daniel about constitutional
review committee
• Did not create form for Cassell Hall election
• Will be doing all of this throughout the next week!
o Deputy Programmers
 Hang up posters for CDI’s event
 Founder’s Day is this weekend
 Hall Wars
• Working on details
• Went to e-board meeting and talked about Record Setters
(like Minute to Win It with prizes)
 Attended Do it in the Dark meeting with Green Eagles
 Multicultural Night
• Emailed lots of clubs to get them involved
• Around the world night to showcase food, talent, and facts of
different cultures
o Social Media Deputy
 What I did
• Met with Marieka
• Met with Rajita about logo issues
o Use specific hall logo when making own flyers
o Ask before using logos of other organizations
 What I did not do
• did not archive posters, will do that this weekend
NRHH Report
o Hi Bianca, VP of Recognition!
o What are we up to?
 Application is coming out soon
 Rebranding organization and making name known
 Planning STARS week to recognize student leaders
New Business
o OTM Presentation
 Presented by Bianca
 Regional winners
• Megan from Cassell
• Joyce nominated Gabby from Centennial
 Campus winners
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o
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• E-board member: Rajita
• Educational program: Recyclemania Kick off from Lecloper
• First year student: Brandon Hughes, Lecloper
• Faculty: Billy Walker, nominated by Tim Staples
• Advisor: Daniel DeHollander
• Staff member: Patricia, Lecloper
• RA: Scott, Lecloper
• ResEd Faculty: Lindsay Whipple
• Community: Letts Hall Desk Staff
• Desk Attendant: Paul
• Community service program: MLK Day of Service, Lecloper
• Bulletin Board: Melissa Stoner, Centennial
• Student: Brittany, Centennial
• Spotlight: Calvin, nominated by Keesha
Green Eagles and Do it in the Dark
 Presented by Green Eagles
 Eco-reps that work with residents and campus community to
encourage sustainable behaviors
 Get to know us and get to know you
 Each hall has a Green Eagle, wants to work with you
 What is Do it in the Dark?
• Residence halls compete to see who can conserve most
energy
• Taking part in national competition as well
• Buildingdashboard.net/American to check stats
• March 17-April 6
• Asking residents to sign pledges to hang on their doors
• Kick-off event on March 19, 6-8 pm
o S’mores event, to get a s’more, sign a pledge
o Encourage residents to shut off lights in their rooms
o Starts on North Campus, switches to South Campus
o Can sign up for the Green Eagles listserv and win
prizes
• Doing three events throughout the semester
o TDR Date Night
o Watching Walking Dead in the Perch at the same time,
same place
o Light Bulb Exchange
• Lights Off, Camera, Action! video competition
o Handed out posters
o Submit videos to meg@aurha.org
 Contact info: kayla.ma.92@gmail.com
Hall of the Year Update
 Presented by Rajita
 Challenge
• UNICEF and the Tap Project
• Download app, gives money for every 10 minutes you are not
on your cell phone
• Clean water for a child with only 10 minutes
• Application name: UNICEFTapProject.org or tap.unicefusa.org
• Screenshot and tell Rajita times to get more HOTY points
• Questions
o How long is this running?
 Challenge is for the next two weeks
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Standings
• 1. Lecloper
• 2. Centennial
• 3. Anderson
• 4. McDowell
• 5. Cassell
• 6. Leonard
• 7. Hughes
• 8. Nebraska
 Questions
• Can they be ordered by totals?
o Yes, can be done next month
Monthly Awards
 Presented by e-board
 President: Kyle from Anderson
 Finance: Joanne from Leonard
 Advocacy: Shanon from Leonard
 Programming: Maxine from Centennial
 General Assembly: Sol from McDowell
Budget Presentation
 Presented by Devon
 Adding money to accounts to reduce the deficit
 Motion to extend Q-and-A by five minutes, unanimous consent
• seconded
 Questions
• Why more office supply money this semester?
o Need to buy color ink this semester
• Can you explain why column 1 in e-board discretionary is red?
o Things had to be taken away from revenue line item
o Some items became negative
o Start new line items from 0 this semester
• What are the restricted accounts?
o Meant to create emergency amount
o Decided to 0 it out and stay in budget
• What are general expenses?
o Banners, renewing domain, name tags, anything that
doesn’t fit in a category
• Why is there a deficit?
o Don’t know what happened in previous years
o Need to focus on fixing problem and keep it from
getting worse
o Revising Constitution and Financial Policies
o E-boards based spending on allocation and perceived
roll over
• Why is there more money in hall discretionary?
o Halls already said they wanted to use the money
o Want to give opportunity to request more money if
needed
o Collaborative events usually need more hall
discretionary
 Pro/con discussion
• Pro
o Unforeseen expenses and trouble
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o
o
Continuous program
o
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Pro
•
Pro
o
Working on a tighter budget
o
Looks awesome
o Devon is responsible and makes decisions we can trust
• 3 unopposed pros end the period of pro/con debate
 Motion to approve budget by roll call vote, seconded
• Withdrawn, second withdrawn
 Motion to approve budget by voice vote, seconded
 Vote: 34-0-0, approved
 Can support other organizations in other ways besides money
 Point of clarification: just happened, not someone’s fault
No Frills and School of the Year Update
 Presented by Patricio
 Did not win SotY
• UMD won in a close vote
• After 3 rounds of voting, lowest was dropped
• 2 more rounds, hard time finding majority
• Going to submit to the national level
o Need people to look over grammar, content, and
appearance
o Will send to give about 3 weeks to look over the bid
 Questions?
• What happens next?
o Goes to NACURH conference
o Winning at the regional level gets a letter of support
from CAACURH
o RCC of Bidding and UMD think we should submit to the
national level
o Decided by national and regional boards of directors
• What feedback did you get at the conference?
o No presentations at CAACURH
o Reading, discussion, and pro/con
o Lots of pros, only con was lengthy
o Waiting for survey answers about the bid
o Might have come down to color scheme
• What was the color scheme?
o Was the DC skyline with red text boxes
o “Weak?” Powerful might let it stand out.
• Why is the color scheme important?
o Content is important
o Content might have been equal and could have swung
some votes
• Can we see UMD’s bid?
o Can send it to you
• What can GA do to help?
o Will give deadline and send the bid
o Look through and give any suggestions
o Will then have about a month to edit and submit to the
national level
• Why should GA want to help?
o Great job at No Frills
o Acknowledge good work that is happening at AU
o Show off what you have done
o
o
o Recognition for RHA and the school
o Make residents, HDP, and Neil Kerwin more excited!
• Is the SotY presentation different/can it work with a
delegation?
o Show interest and help out
o Can help your case in going to NACURH
o No bid teams or presentations of bid at NACURH
o Learning the bid process can help you in future
leadership positions
• How long do we have?
o About 3 weeks
o Will have spring break
 Daniel drove like a boss.
RHA Strategic Plan
 Presented by Reiter
 Attached to the minutes
 Go through the plan and edit, responsibility to the residents
 Go to Reiter’s office hours or email with any questions or comments
Hall Wars Shirt Competition
 Presented by Rajita
 Questions
• What about the Disney one?
o If there is a problem, we will go to the second or third
choice
o Can tweak designs to avoid copyright
• Would characters be included?
o No
• Can we have three votes?
o No, just two
• Vote for all residents, not just you
• Purpose is a competition that grows pride
 Vote (vote for 2 favorite, top 3 will be taken to sudden death)
• 1. Things in the halls 5
• 2. Hunger Games 3
• 3. Superheroes 7
• 4. Deathly Hallows 0
• 5. Disney 7
• 6. Survivor 0
• 7. Hunger games chest 0
• 8. House of Cards 13
• 9. Floors in your favor 4
• 10. Lord of the Rings 2
• 11. The show must go on 0
• 12. What’s the issue? 0
• 13. Frozen 0
• 14. Video games 0
• 15. Shoot for the stars 0
• 16. Board games 11
 Second round
• Board games 15
• House of Cards 18
• Disney 6
• Superheroes 13
 Third round
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•
•
• Board games 7
• House of Cards 19
Winner: House of Cards
Suggestions/comments/discussion
• Move quote down
• Make font bigger
• Expand quote to make larger
• Make font closer to House of Cards
• Order of words
• American University and RHA logo on shirt somewhere
• Be aware of costs
• Take halls off and stick to colors
• Competitive but not recognized by people who don’t watch the
show
• Put quote farther down on the shirt
• Try to mimic the look of House of Cards
• ’14 in italics
• War of Halls?
o Branding issues to think about
• Model after the logo
• Getting rid of stars on the flag
Open Forum
o Will send out questions about training as a google survey
 Fill them out over the next week
 If we do not get at least 50%, discussion will be next week
o Shoutouts
 McDowell in trying to fill positions
 New RA positions
 Kaitlyn as new Advocate for Hughes
 Ada as new GA for Anderson
 Everyone for sticking with us in long GAs
 Lecloper for working hard and getting OTMs
 Meg and Sarah for Founder’s Day
 Hayat for Founder’s Day
 Patricio in the office before No Frills
 Patricio for taking Centennial minutes
 Devon for the fast budget
 Paul for giving Charlie something to do in line
 Everyone who waited in line nicely
 Joyce for writing nice OTM
 Jamie for joining an RCC
 Cassell for rocking the new election
 Centennial for having an awesome snow day event
 Everyone who will have banners done by Tuesday and everyone
nominating residents
 New GA members in Hughes for sitting through the longest meeting
first
o How much time… 1 hour, 35 minutes
 We saved lives, people
Adjournment
o Meeting adjourned at 11:30 pm.