Ad Hoc Implementation Committee Final Report

In response to our invitation for individuals and groups of up to eight students to apply to become House Leaders for 1997-98, we received 38 letters of intent, and chose 21 groups (95 students in total) to live and be House Leaders in the five campus houses (7 Boody St., 238 Maine St., Baxter, Burnett, and Howard Hall). We are very excited about these diverse groups of House Leaders and are confident that they will help to create and maintain an inclusive and vibrant residential community at Bowdoin next year.

House Association and Choice

The members of these three classes have the following options:

1. Form groups of up to twelve people and request to be randomly assigned to a house. The group may state a preference for a specific house; these preferences will be honored depending on space. House Leaders may invite friends beyond their House Leadership Group to join their house in groups no larger than twelve in total; for example, a Leadership Group with eight members can invite four friends to join their house; a group of five can invite seven additional, and so on.

2. Choose to be assigned to the house with which your first-year residence is now associated. All members of these three classes are guaranteed to be associated with the house with which their first-year residence hall is now affiliated (Winthrop--Burnett; Maine and Appleton--238 Maine St.; Hyde--Howard; Coleman--7 Boody St.; Moore-- Baxter).

3. Choose not to participate in the College House System.

Regardless of students' affiliation with a certain house, all spaces will be available for student use provided that they obtain permission from the House Officers of the specific house.

The Future: The Class of 2001 and Beyond

1. All incoming first-years will be associated with the house with which their brick residence hall is associated.

2. All students are guaranteed the opportunity to change their house affiliation in groups up to three at any point after spring break of their first year. A personal statement documenting the reason(s) for making the switch will be required; this statement will not be evaluated but will provide the Residential Life Office potentially useful feedback about particular houses. The reassignment to another house will be random and will be based upon the number of students affiliated with each house at that time.

3. Students who encounter problems within the Campus House System that require immediate attention will be referred to the Office of Residential Life. The Director of Residential Life will make appropriate and necessary changes.

Faculty Involvement within the House System

In addition, each house will also have two Faculty Advisors (preferably from different academic disciplines). The primary role of these individuals will be to answer questions and address concerns regarding academics. In addition, they will assist in the planning and organization of educational events at the houses.

We are proposing that funds for professional development be provided to compensate the Faculty Advisors and that meal tickets be available to all faculty who wish to dine with students, as has happened this year. This will enable them and their families to enjoy meals at any of the houses on any occasion. Finally, we propose that a Student Academic Chair be part of the governance system of each house. The Student Academic Chair will also help to increase communication between faculty and students, and work with student organizations and academic departments to plan lectures and academic events in the houses.

The Residential Life Student Staff

The house residential advisors (RAs) are expected to take a much more active and substantial role in the houses than RAs in the past. They will plan educational programs; connect students to support networks and resources on campus; coordinate programs with proctors in the affiliated brick dorms; mediate conflicts between students as they arise; intervene in crisis situations; and provide a direct administrative link to the Office of Residential Life and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. They will provide disciplinary advice/action when necessary.

We will encourage the Residential Life Staff and the Dean of First-Year Students Tim Foster to plan social events and meetings at the houses during First-Year Orientation. We expect that some of these meetings and events will occur after the House Leaders have returned to campus. These meetings and events will enable first-year students to meet upper-class students and become familiar with the history of the houses and of the College.

House Governance

In addition to the primary positions mentioned above, there will be a variety of other elected positions in each house. Elections for these positions will be held three or four weeks into the fall semester to allow other house members, including those from the first-year class, to run for office. The individuals elected to these positions will not be expected to live in the house.

For 1997-98, Baxter, Howard, 7 Boody Street, and Burnett will have operating budgets of $10,000 each. 238 Maine Street will have a budget of $15,000 since it will be affiliated with two first-year residence halls. These funds have been provided in roughly equal proportions by the Student Activities Fee and by a gift from an emeritus Trustee to support the new house system.

The existing Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) has expressed a strong desire to work with the new house system. This will occur using the existing structure of the IFC (perhaps renamed the IFHC). The IFC has already elected leadership for next year. The house Presidents will become full members of this council, learn about how it works and then participate fully in next year's elections.

The following is a tentative list and description of the governance positions within the College House System:

• President: Responsible for organizing and facilitating regular house meetings; acting as the official house representative at College functions and meetings; assisting the Proctor in responding to any complaints or disciplinary issues in the house; and acting as the Inter- Fraternity and House Council (IFC-IHC or IFHC ?) representative.
• Vice President: Responsible for chairing the Events Committee composed of the Volunteer Chair, the Academic Chair, and the Communication Chair (positions described below); and acting as the primary house leader in the absence of the President.
• Secretary/Treasurer: Responsible for managing dues and financial resources provided by the College; allocating funds to officers/groups within each house according to the budget created and voted upon by each house at the beginning of the school year; and attending SAFC meetings when appropriate.
• Social Chair: Responsible for collecting ideas and suggestions from house members regarding house- sponsored events, planning and organizing events which have been approved by at least 1/3 of the house members and attending SUC meetings when appropriate. This person is also responsible for the coordination of intramural athletics for the house and may elect to share that responsibility with others in the house.
• House Manager: Responsible for ensuring the physical upkeep of the house on a daily basis; and acting as the Facilities Management/Housekeeping liaison.
• Volunteer Chair: Responsible for collecting ideas/suggestions from house members regarding possible volunteer/service endeavors; ensuring that viable ideas are planned and carried through to completion; and overseeing the house's one large volunteer event/association of the year.
• Academic Chair: Responsible for planning and coordinating house events involving faculty members; and planning and coordinating any other "educational events" at the house.
• Communications Chair: Responsible for publicizing events at the house to the College community (including alumni) and when appropriate, to the local community.
• House Steward: Responsible for planning meals in the house; and acting as the Dining Services liaison. We have envisioned that the houses will have the same weekly meal for house members (for example: Sunday brunch or Thursday dinner); however, we realize that current circumstances will not allow for Dining Services to provide service for multiple houses at the same time. Although Dining Services reports that this catering is feasible, more Dining Service vehicles are necessary for the transportation of the meals. Therefore, next year, houses will schedule their weekly, in-house meals around those of the other houses.
• House Historian/ Orientation Chair: Responsible for planning First-Year Orientation Events, knowing and documenting the history of the house and the College and passing house and College traditions (including songs and cheers) on to new members.
• Student Assembly Representatives: Responsible for attending all Student Assembly meetings; acting as the house liaisons to the Assembly; and keeping house members abreast of the Assembly's work and initiatives. (A restructuring of the current student governance system is being proposed by the Student Executive Board to allow more student participation. Envisioned is an Assembly of 30 members, 20 of whom will be elected by residence. This Assembly will work with a reformatted nine-person Executive Committee, constituted by students elected at-large. This proposed constitutional change must be approved by a two- thirds vote of at least 30% of students enrolled on campus).
• First-Year Residence Hall Representative: Responsible for facilitating first-year student involvement and input in the house. Each first-year residence hall will elect two first-year students in the fall to serve as representatives to the House.

Final Thoughts

We propose that dues be set at a nominal amount by each house. Ultimately, house dues will provide funding for parties and additional programming that the house budget does not cover. These required dues are essential for the vitality of the houses, yet they should not prevent any person, who cannot pay dues for monetary reasons, from participating in house events. Members who cannot pay dues may contribute a "house service" in lieu of paying dues. House services may include cleaning, setting up equipment for house events, or assisting with publicity.

Housekeeping and Facilities Management will continue to play a clearly defined role in the houses. House members, as directed by the House Manager, will be responsible for cleaning unreasonable messes and reimbursing the College in the event of property destruction.

The guidelines listed and discussed above will be included in a College House Handbook and distributed to all houses next fall. Handbooks will be available to all students and may be modified by individual houses.

As alluded to in the House Governance, an Inter-Fraternity and House Council will serve a similar role as the Inter- Fraternity Council (IFC) has in the past. The IFC and the IHC will be merged during this time of transition.

Also, the House System will need a system of checks and balances within each governance structure. Each house may move to create a set of House bylaws; that fits with our vision as long as those bylaws are consistent with the philosophy of residential life as presented in the Interim Report. The Ad Hoc Implementation Committee will continue to meet next year to monitor the implementation of this plan and to continue to address a number of unresolved questions as the new House System gets underway.

Some of the issues we anticipate addressing in the fall in consultation with House Leaders include how to create opportunities for alumni involvement in the Houses; how to encourage staff participation, in addition to faculty, in the new system; and how to incorporate other houses that may become available over time. The question of re-naming 7 Boody Street and 238 Maine Street has come up; we know that names of College buildings are determined by the Board of Trustees, and we hope that this first generation of House Leaders may be involved in some appropriate way in those potential decisions.

We see this report as the beginning. This report and the Commission on Residential Life's Interim and Final Reports establish the foundation for a new, inclusive residential life system that will evolve over time, guided by the clear philosophy of residential life and led by able and imaginative student leaders.

The Ad Hoc Implementation Committee

Craig Bradley, Dean of Student Affairs Hannah Brown '97 Kevin Cuddy '97 Agostinho Fernandes '98 Hiram Hamilton '97 Julie Johnson '97 Nahyon Lee '97 Steve Lee '99 Shareene Lindquist '00 Elisabeth Morse '00

Leah Muhm '00 Kim Pacelli '98 Meg Roessing '99 Tim Ryan '98 Jeffrey Schneider '97 John Shukie '99 Buffy Small '99 Heather Tindall '98 Michael Volpe '97 Marc Zimman '98

May 5, 1997