Tagged: work

Dance Party!

Just kidding. I’m the kind of person who refuses to dance.

You may be asking “why are you throwing a dance party if you don’t like to dance?” Great question! Two Brownie Points for you!

See, while it may look silly, I understand the point, I guess. Some people think it’s an appropriate way to celebrate. And I’ve got news that warrants a celebration.

The NMSU RHA is affiliated with NACURH!

affiliationWe’re still waiting on NRHH to be approved but everything is submitted!

Yeah, that’s more my speed, not dancing.

Work Day #3

I love my Work Days. Being productive is the bomb.

I’m here at, you guessed it, Starbucks. I’ve been here for two hours and it’s been super productive.

Yesterday I got an email from IACURH saying that they are looking for applications for people to join the IACURH Regional OTM Selection Committee, which is “tasked with voting for and selecting IACURH’s Regional Winners each month.” My first inclination was to write an email and send it to all the NRHHers here at NMSU, but then I figured I should probably give first dibs to the RHA Executive Board. So, I send the E-Board the email I had already typed up for the NRHHers and let them know they would be able to submit an application if they wanted to.

<= [What you will be doing when on the Committee]

I’ll send out that email to NRHHers tonight so they can let me know if they would like to join the committee. Each school can have a maximum of two people on the committee, and I want to make sure that the people turning in applications are legit and dedicated because I do not want non-dedicated people taking up space for someone who is!

 

One of the most important aspects of my job is to affiliation our chapters of RHA and NRHH. I plan on affiliating our chapters as soon as I can, which is basically at the end of the NACURH Conference, which ends June 3rd. So, I am making sure I understand all of the different pieces of information that are required to affiliate and make sure I have it all ready to go. To affiliate you need:

  • School Information (name, address, etc.)
  • RHA Information (name, website, fax, etc.)
  • NRHH Information (name, website, fax, etc.)
  • Contact Information (name, phone number, and email for RHA President, NCC, RHA Advisor, NRHH President, and NRHH Advisor)
  • RFI Report
  • NRHH Constitution
  • NRHH Active Members List

I have already gotten everything ready to go, minus the RFI Report, an updated NRHH Constitution, and the NRHH Active Members List. I contacted the NRHH President regarding an updated version of the NRHH Constitution (which reminded me about the RHA Constitution and how an updated version is nonexistent, so that is another thing I’d like to work on). I sent him a checklist that NACURH put on their website regarding Affiliation and aspects of NRHH Constitutions that have to be there in order to be approved. Hopefully we can be preemptive and solve all the problems before we turn it in. From what I hear, the NRHH Constitutions are the thing that NACURH is most nit-picky about. I don’t want our Affiliation to get kicked back due to preventable problems in the NRHH Constitution.

[How you feel when Affiliation gets kicked back] =>

The NRHH Secretary sent out a contact list with all of the Active Members and asked for more contact information from people who were missing a few weeks ago. A couple weeks ago I asked her if she had gotten any replies back to her email, she said no, so I just emailed her again to see what the final list looks like. If she hasn’t gotten any replies then I’ll just use the first one she sent out. If there are any additions, I will obviously turn in an updated version.

My biggest accomplishment today was writing the RFI Report. It is not 100% done, seeing as how I need to add in some numbers regarding the budget, which I don’t currently have. I have contacted the proper people in regards to that, so hopefully they will get back to me soon so I can finalize the Report.

So you may be wondering “What the heck is an RFI Report?” Obviously it is an integral part of Affiliating, but what is it? Good question.

“RFI” stands for “Resource File Index.” The RFI is a national database run by NACURH. As it says on the website, “The Resource File Index contains several thousand documents written by students from member schools over the fifty-year history of NACURH.”

In plan words, it is mostly reports about programming done at different universities. The RFI allows you to read reports about programs put on at other schools in depth, to see what was successful (and what wasn’t). You are able to learn about things you might have never have thought about or you could look up an idea you have to see if anyone else has done it, and how well it worked and how they went through with it.

If you’ve ever done a lab report for a science class in college, the report format might seem familiar. There are different formats that you can use, but I used one that is extremely close to lab reports, since I like that one.

Anyway, there are many different categories in the RFI: Alcohol Awareness Programming, Alternative Lifestyles, Legal Questions, Occupancy and Recruitment, Social Programming, and tons more.

If I’m not mistaken, you can look pretty in-depth at the RFI, you just can’t open the report themselves. However, you can still see what is offered and read the overall point.

Check out the RFI here.

If you are interested in knowing the specifics about how they are written and the required components, such as the questions that are answered, click here for a download of the document.

I was originally going to write a report about Humans Vs. Zombies, since that is our most popular event of the year (by far) but since we do it annually, an RFI has already been written about it, so I can’t write one.

I decided to write an RFI about Manic Mondays, which we started this past February. It is a weekly event where we give out donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate for free to residents. I will post the RFI Report to this blog when I finalize it so you can see what they look like.

All right. So, now I’ve been here for two hours and forty minutes. I may be a fast typer but that doesn’t really factor in when you’re writing a wall of text, does it?

Work Day

Yesterday I spent about two and a half hours at Starbucks.

I was one of those hipsters who use Starbucks as their office. I have the thick-framed glasses, but I didn’t have a Mac (I have a Dell), and I wasn’t wearing hipster clothing (though I was wearing a Reptar t-shirt). But the point still stands, right?

I have tons of things to do this summer for work. I strive to do the best possible at this job and I guarantee what I do this year will be better than what was done last year.

I’ve already started earning the NMSU RHA banana points. There are emails sent out every Monday where they ask for content to put in that month’s newsletter. This week there were a few things that I wanted to take advantage of:

  • Monkey See, Monkey Do
  • Swinging Scholars

The Monkey See Monkey Do assignment was to “give 3 unique ideas for recognizing at the end of the year.” I wrote up three paragraphs about three ideas: Candy Grams, Study Bucks, and a thing I titled “What Goes Around Comes Around.” I’ll post those paragraphs at the end of this post. By sending these in, it already gives us 5 banana points. Sure, that’s not a lot, but it’s a good start.

Swinging Scholars is where you submit a list of people who got a 3.5 GPA (on a four-point scale) or above to recognize them. I was able to work with our RHA Adviser to get a list of people who had a 3.5 or above. I made a list of active Hall Council and NRHH members, then she went through them and found those names who qualified. I then submitted those names to the website. We will see what comes out of that.

One of my official Summer Projects is to affiliate the NMSU chapters of RHA and NRHH, which can’t be done until NACURH is over, since affiliation goes from NACURH of one year to the next NACURH conference. I want to make sure everything is ready to go before registration opens so that when it does, it will be super easy to do. So, yesterday I was able to compile all of the information I need, just minus the NRHH Constitution, which will be easy enough to get my hands on.

The other (huge) official Summer Project is to get together a bid team for No Frills 2015 and to get everything together and ready to go for that. I already have two people who will be on the team for sure, but the most important step at this point is to give a presentation to the Director of Housing to make sure she is ok with us bidding to hold this conference.

What I am working on now is getting together a plan to plan. Planning a conference is not simple and I want to make sure that everything is great and done correctly. I have figured out how everything needs to be split up so that everyone is able to focus on the one thing they are working on, instead of working on a plethora of things, since that can get confusing. I have been looking at previous No Frills bids to see what sections they had and what some bids look like.

 

I’m on the right path and it’s going to be a great year.

—————-

Unique Recognition Ideas

[Monkey See, Monkey Do]

As you can tell by my humor, I am trying to win over IACURH with my charming personality.

Candy Grams –

Send something sweet to recognize those who have helped out and made a difference. Sure, it isn’t a showy way of recognition, but it is nice to know that people appreciate the contributions you have made. We make a difference because it is the right thing to do, not to get a showy (yet shiny and attractive) plaque!

Study Bucks –

The end of the year is stressful for everyone. People have their heads stuck in books like a bear has his paw in a bear trap, and it is just about as pleasant. But, studying is a necessary part of college and cramming is a tradition that nobody can seem to break, just like a bear trap. Ok, clearly this is an unpleasant time of year. Why not turn that frown upside-down and give an added incentive for studying? Study Bucks is a low-stress program where RHA executives and Hall Council members can go around their community and hand out Study Bucks to people studying. The recipients of these Study Bucks can collect and redeem them for things at the RHA Office for small prizes, such as random snacks or school supplies, like scantrons or pencils. Students get recognized for their hard work and we are able to help ease the pain of the end of the year.

What Goes Around Comes Around –

Nobody knows how much stuff they have until they are moving. Your room may look miraculously clean and organized, but there is still so much extraneous things you have that you don’t even think about. When you have stuff you don’t want or need you tend to throw it out. Unless you’re a hoarder. And if you are, that’s ok, this is a judgment free zone. Why throw out perfectly good things, though? A great way to be productive with unwanted items is to donate them to local charities. RHA can reward people who have donated items with coupons they redeem at the RHA Office. They can redeem these coupons with small prizes such as drinks or snacks that they might crave while moving out.