Update on Residential Support

[Jonté Craighead]

[image: Inline image 1]

June 5, 2012

Dear Undergraduate Community:

We wrote to you on Sunday, June 3rd, regarding the planned change to
replace the five RLAs with nine RLADs. On Monday, June 4th, we had a joint
meeting with Chancellor Grimson, Dean Colombo, and Senior Associate Dean
Humphreys, to discuss this topic in more detail. As we understand it, the
change was intended to bolster the residential support system in response
to the tragic events of this past year. However, given student concerns,
the Chancellor and Deans are open to community suggestions regarding how
best to improve the system.

In our meeting with the Chancellor and the Deans, we expressed concerns
that had been raised by students over the weekend. Specifically, we
discussed perceived issues with the role RLADs would assume in the
dormitories as well as the timing of the decision and hiring timeline. The
inability of many dormitory residents to become involved with this process
over the summer was a major consideration, and the UA’s Letter on Student
Engagement <http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/233/modi.html> in the January
2011 Faculty Newsletter was referenced as a model for student involvement
on this issue. These concerns were met with great understanding by the
Chancellor and the Deans.

Moving forward, we have suggested that each dormitory community (including
students, Housemasters, and GRTs) be given a chance to shape the system
which will support its residents, including the role of their RLA or any
RLAD in the future. We believe that enabling each community to propose how
to strengthen its support system will naturally lead to increased trust and
greater awareness among students. It will also empower students to play an
active role in the support system themselves, the critical component in
student support.

In the week to come, the Chancellor intends to introduce a process by which
each community plays an active role in strengthening their system,
including whether the summer is appropriate for introducing major changes.

Our influence in this process rests on our ability to develop effective
solutions to address the challenges our community faces in the area of
student support. We need your help in promoting a civil and constructive
discussion around this issue that focuses on ideas rather than people and
motives. Innovation is at the heart of our community, and we are all
working diligently to make the campus a better place. As before, please
feel free to contact us at residential-support-feedback at mit.edu with any
questions, and please post your suggestions on the IdeaBank at
http://ua.mit.edu.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you,

                        Jonté Craighead
Edward Mugica
                         UA President
DormCon President

                         Michael Walsh
Janille Maragh
                     UA Vice President
DormCon Vice President

In partnership with campus leaders and meeting attendees:

Ravi Charan, UA Chief of Staff                              Robert Johnson,
East Campus

Katy Gero, Senior House President                        Alexandra
Westbrook, Random Hall President

Phoebe Whitwell, DormCon Secretary
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Note: this e-mail was intended for delivery on June 5th, and therefore the
original date has been retained.
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