The Residence Hall Association held area council elections on Sept. 13 and 14, filling almost all open positions and maintaining competitive races in specific residence hall communities.
Across 15 hall and area councils, there 120 positions were filled. There were multiple candidates running for positions on all hall and area councils.
Typically RHA recieves many applicants, and this year Chen said he was “very satisfied” with the numbers
Residence hall councils are required to have a president, a certain number of senators proportionate to its residents (one senator per 250 residents) and a vice president of sustainability. The council’s resident director advisor determines other membership types. Another potential position is floor representative, which is a role comprised of individuals who do not hold an elected position but still have an active role in the community.
This year, RHA opened applications early, “which was great because a lot of students were interested early on,” said Steve Chen, RHA president and a senior global health and biological sciences major. “We kept applications on longer and minimized time it took to get elections running.”
Once the first RHA Senate meeting is held on Tuesday, newly elected senators will approve standard operating procedures, which change frequently to “hopefully increase the efficiency of parliamentary procedure or at least streamline the debate process,” said RHA vice president Sasha Galbreath, a senior government and politics major.
The procedures are constantly developing, so while changing them is not required, they are an opportunity to improve efficiency within the organization. And because senators will have a role in following the operating procedures, Galbreath said she believes they should have a say in them.
Leadership Training Day will be held on Sept. 25 to introduce roles and responsibilities of the newly elected members. The training day is an opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills for any organizations they participate in — not just RHA, Galbreath said.
This year, RHA will continue to focus on leadership development, Chen said. Chen wants RHA members to have a voice and continue to be involved.
“What distinguishes us is we are incredibly focused on … being more effective and engaging leaders,” Chen said.
At the beginning of the semester, RHA members went to welcome events to encourage student to apply, said junior information systems and marketing major Helen Liu, RHA public relations and outreach officer. The association held tables on move-in days, hosted an open house in the Cambridge Community Center and manned a table at the First Look Fair, Free Fest and at the BIG Show.
