[ASA-Official] Space Allocation Categorizations Now Available

[Rachel Meyer]

Dear Student Groups,

If your group currently has office, storage, or locker space or applied for
space please read this whole announcement carefully.

The initial categorizations of groups are now available at:
http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/office-space-alloc.html

These are categorizations based on the applications we received and are not
assignments.  Assignments should be released by the end of finals week (Friday,
December 18).  Please direct any questions to asa-office at mit.edu.

Further information included below:
1. Appeals
2. Late applications
3. Philosophy

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1. Appeals

Groups that want to appeal their categorization need to email an appeal to
asa-office at mit.edu by Thursday December 10 at noon.

The appeal should meet the following specifications:
- describes why the categorization of the group in the initial decisions is
incorrect
- limits arguments to the merits of the protesting group; it is inappropriate to
attempt to discredit or demerit another group
- is no longer than a single regular 8.5x11in page and no smaller than 10pt font

When we receive your appeal we will schedule a meeting with representatives of
your group and a representative from the Student Activities Office.  The
appeals process is outlined further at:
http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/office/appeals.txt

Again, appeals are due by Thursday December 10 at noon.  However, the sooner you
submit your appeal, the easier it will be to scheduling meetings.

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2. Late Applications

Groups which did not submit applications by the original deadline, yet still
wish to request space, should submit the original application as soon
as possible.  The final deadline for late applications is the appeals deadline,
Thursday, December 10.  The application is at:
http://asa.mit.edu/applications/office/office.php

In particular, groups which currently have space should check to ensure that
their group is not on the list of groups which will lose space unless
they submit a late application.  This list is at:
http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/pdf/09space/lose.pdf

We will not be going through the same process of publishing categories for
groups which apply late, but we will consider late applications when making
assignments.

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3.  Philosophy

To quote our policy:
"It is the highest responsibility of the Executive Board of the Association of
Student Activities to act in the best interest of the MIT Community and of the
Student Activities which it represents. No other interest or responsibility
should supersede it. Thus, the Board must make a good faith effort to allocate
rooms fairly. The Board should attempt to ensure that the most active groups
who need space and other groups with the highest demonstrated need for space
actually receive it. Secondary to that is attempting to allocate space to as
many groups as possible."

We have followed this philosophy to the best of our ability in considering
applications and in making categorizations.  We looked for effective use of
current space and the intended purpose for new space, particularly details
regarding the proposed use or what would be stored in that space.

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Sorry for the delay in this process, we have been working very hard on this for
the past two weeks and wanted to take the extra time to ensure that we are
doing the best job that we can.

Hope everyone is having a good end of term!

Sincerely,
 The ASA Executive Board
 http://web.mit.edu/asa/about/board-members.html