[Gsc-hca-family] [Gsc-hca-all] HCA 1/16 Meeting Minutes

[Nathaniel Schafheimer]

Greetings all,

Please find our 1/16 HCA meeting minutes below.  If you have questions about an item or want to learn more/get involved, please email gsc-hca at mit.edu.

Nathaniel Schafheimer and Randi Cabezas
GSC HCA Co-Chairs

Housing and Community Affairs (HCA) Meeting

                                                  Wednesday, January 16, 2013  

Meeting Minutes

 

 

Introductions
Attendees: Ashley (HST rep), Randi, Nathaniel, Brian (GSC Pres.), Yavar (warehouse), Jennifer (SidPac), Kelsey (OffCampus), Anders (Eastgate, Family), Daniel (Edgerton), Sven (OCR, Tang)

 

Project Updates          
On-Campus Rental Renegotiation
Report on HSG GRC proceedings

   GRC has met twice, 3rd meeting tomorrow morning (Jan 17)

   First meetings were about goals and housing finance models.  We hope the GRC will produce a report mid-spring semester, and that some part of it will be public.

Report on Planning Board Meeting

Kendall Sq. redevelopment is on the horizon.  Cambridge Planning Board met last night for a public forum, and Brian and Nathaniel spoke representing graduate students.  Our message was that there is already a housing crisis in Cambridge before any development goes forward, and that before any development is finalized, a comprehensive analysis of the housing situation in Cambridge must be made.

GSC Presentation to HSG GRC – Jan 17th

Nathaniel and Randi will be talking about student finances and how we see housing.  The talk is a hybrid of Cost of Living info and expense data, and housing info (the Cambridge market, history of housing).  This year’s 7.93% off-campus rent increase is alarming.  We’ll also be talking about Kendall Sq. changes.

We won’t be making an explicit argument at this meeting; it is a sharing of information and perspectives.

 

Cost of Living – Stipend recommendation
Cost of Living Update

Analysis of costs, income, and relevant updates to 2011 CoL data are ongoing, as well as our Break-even analysis;  we’re looking at different subpopulations and breaking the data out in different slices (department, on vs. off, single/married, etc). Roughly 77% of PhD’s and ScD’s are breaking even.

We are still looking for help and volunteers.  This is important and effects nearly ALL grad students.  Come help!

Timeline of CoL Project

This culminates in our presentation to Academic Council the first week of Feb.  So the next couple weeks will be busy and vital for this project.

Discussion Topics
NW Community Policing Position
Community Feedback

Tiky requested the contact info for the NW-officer to invite her to a town hall.  Jennifer says she has been to their last 2 hall council meetings and a coffee hour. Yavar says she has come to all of their events as well; he is concerned that the officer’s office is hard to find. David says she has also attended Edgerton events.

   Possibly better label the sidedoor that gives access to the office.  What kind of access should there be to the office, since she’ll be out on patrol often? HCA will check with housing on options.

   At a recent coffee hour, Brian says Officer Almeyda was in uniform and armed.  It was hoped, at the positions inception, that she would be in soft uniform, much less imposing and intimidating.

   What proportion of time is spent on foot or in cruiser? It might be really good to have her on foot and walking around.  Tabled until spring J

 

On-Campus Residences Support Systems
What support systems are needed in Grad Housing?

Naomi Carton and Henry Humphreys are very interested in assessing and overhauling the way RLP thinks about grad support systems on-campus.  They recognize that there is not enough support, and that there is no holistic approach, just a lot of sometimes-known piecemeal approaches. 

Anders, speaking as a family student, says childcare support is the only and the big type of support they need.  Short-term/emergency, but really the long term day to day type.

Some support types given to undergrads are not applicable for grads.  Example of utility to both: cooking classes.

Are there ref’s for dorms?  They are not residential, they are department based.

Tiky says Westgate already has a hobby club, but there is no funding for it.  Could budgets simply be increased for house gov’ts to do what they find important? Water shutdowns are a huge problem.  Shopping options (cart borrow system, shopping bikes, like Edgerton’s, kid options on the bike too) would be welcome.

Brian: What about a convenience store? (general sentiment: it would be fantastic, for both east and west).  Student programming is usually done better by students.  We should be incentivizing service in the dorms (potentially by free/discounted housing with some check/balance thing). The conflict with GRT’s and grad-dorm-officers in recruitment was brought up.

Jennifer: The guaranteed housing for officers was great. But as you become an officer, you are committing a lot of time (20 hours a week sometimes).  That is without outside resources; very little incentive except the guarantee, same as if I spent 2 hours a week.

Anders: Space and money are resources that would help everyone, but each dorm already has a system and a good idea of what their residents want.  The basics aren’t working, and it would be nice if that was functioning: maintenance, internet, laundry.  Focus on those, not more events or therapy, etc.

Sven: Ditto. There is no community programming in Tang; we just approved a house tax, so maybe things will improve. 

Yavar: We think we’d benefit from more interaction with staff (desk, maintenance).  We’d like to have them be part of our community, invite them to events, etc.

The independence of exec-committees from housemasters or other entities was a concern.  HCA and RLP are aware and thinking about ways to standardize expectations of housemasters.

 

What is the best way to collect data from the community?

Anders: Best way is to make it as official as possible.  Emails don’t do it.  A sign on every individual door is the best and only way to get max awareness and response.

Tiky: A dorm leader brainstorm meeting would be good to generate categories and ideas.

 

Standing Subcommittee Reports
Families Subcommittee
                                               i.     Anders: Not much to report since last meeting.  We’re working on the presentation/dialogue to Dean Ortiz about childcare and family issues.  We need more data-crunchers and presentation helpers.  Volunteers needed.

Brian: What news from EBOC?  We haven’t followed up, but we should.

Off-Campus Subcommittee
                                               i.     No updates

 

Institute Committee Updates
MIT Medical is redesigning its website to be more easily updateable and to more easily disseminate medical news toward specific groups.  Many things about Obamacare are also an implementation mystery and will be discussed soon.
 

Open Floor
Nothing 

 


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