[ASA-Official] Space allocation assignments; required ASA Database updates

[Rachel Meyer]

Dear Student Group Officers,

Announcements included:
1. Space allocations
    A. Assignments
    B. Moving timing and logistics
    C. Shared space agreements and meetings
    D. Office hours and appeals

2. Required ASA Database updates
Please note: these updates are required for all groups and are especially 
critical to your group's ability to continue making financial 
transactions and reserving space.

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1. Space allocations

A. Assignments
Space assignments are now posted along with additional information at: 
http://mit.edu/asa/resources/office-space-alloc.html.  Please pay careful 
attention to these assignments and the included notes.

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B. Moving timing and logistics
Moving will take place from Saturday 1/28 to Sunday 2/5. Please see the 
detailed moving schedule 
(http://mit.edu/asa/resources/office-space-alloc.html#moving) for 
information on when you will need to move or when groups will be moving in 
or out of the office you are staying in. ASA Exec will have a van 
available for moving items between W20 and Walker. If you are interested 
in using this resource, please email asa-space at mit.edu by Friday 1/27 with 
a few possible times that work for you and roughly how much volume you 
have to move.  Information about getting access to your space is at: 
http://mit.edu/asa/resources/office-space-alloc.html#access.  More 
information about access will be emailed to groups later in the week.

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C. Shared space agreements and meetings
Groups sharing office space need to submit shared space agreements - this 
is also indicated by the shared column in the assignment listings.  The 
purpose of this agreement is to support a successful sharing arrangement 
and to give the groups and ASA Board a starting point if a need arises for 
arbitration about the sharing of the space.  If the meeting column in the 
listings is not checked, groups are expected to communicate directly and 
submit a copy of the agreement to asa-space at mit.edu by Monday 2/6.  We 
have posted a template and a sample for these agreements at: 
http://mit.edu/asa/resources/office-space-alloc.html#shared

We are requesting that groups in many shared spaces have a brief 
(15-20min) meeting with ASA Exec representatives to discuss how the space 
will be shared. These meetings will also be used to discuss (and ideally 
approve) a shared space agreement for the space. Your group only needs to 
have one person at this meeting, though you may have more. Please submit 
this Doodle once per group: http://www.doodle.com/ub49pdsysift87hi. 
Before coming to these meetings please look at the template shared space 
agreement and discuss/draft your initial ideas for those items.

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D. Office hours and appeals
Due to the schedule of the allocations and moving process and our need to 
balance the needs of all students groups, we have very limited flexibility 
to make changes to assignments. We encourage you to speak with us at our 
space allocation office hours (http://mit.edu/asa/about/office-hours.html) 
or email asa-space at mit.edu to see if we can provide further information, 
clarifications, or resources that could address your concerns without an 
appeal. If you wish to appeal some portion of your group's assignment you 
may follow these steps:
- email asa-space at mit.edu stating your intent to appeal (or with your 
appeal) by Wednesday, 1/25. This step is important so that we know if the 
moving schedule needs to be changed.
- email asa-space at mit.edu the details of your appeal and brief reasoning 
behind it by Sunday, 1/29.
- beyond that the appeals process (such as meeting with ASA Exec) will be 
determined on a case by case basis.

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2. Required ASA Database updates

The ASA is transitioning to a new Database.  As part of this transition, 
groups are responsible for inputting most of their group's information to 
ensure that it is up-to-date.  Groups have the next two weeks (until 
Sunday 2/5) to ensure that their information is current and complete.  In 
particular, it is critical to your group's ability to continue making 
financial transactions and reserving space that you list your signatories 
before MIT offices starting using the new Database.

More information about accessing and using the new Database and which 
fields need to be updated is posted at: http://mit.edu/asa/database/

As of now, only the person listed as president in the outgoing Database 
has the ability to update information in the new Database for a group 
(since they're the only person listed).  If for some reason this means you 
cannot promptly input your group's information, then please email 
asa-exec at mit.edu and cc your group's officer list briefly explaining the 
situation.

This system is new, so please bear with us while we work things out. That 
said, we now have much more flexibility to change things about this 
database, so any feedback you have would be great.  You can email any 
comments, concerns, or questions to asa-db at mit.edu.

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Please feel free to email asa-exec at mit.edu with any requests, questions, 
or other inquiries.


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