Residence Affairs Committee Meeting

Meeting Held on MS Teams from 1:00 – 2:00 PM

ATTENDANCE

Present: Dana, Bailee, Lexi, Renee, Matthew, Mustafa, Tim, Andrea, Kenneth
Regrets:Chef Eddy, Namita, Rubaina, Bhavisa

Introductions

• Committee Members
  • Dana Burke, Assistant Dean, Residence Administration (Committee Chair)
  • Bailee Walls-Guertin, Assistant Dean, Residence Life
  • Timothy Duanmu, Manager, Finance, Administration & Operations
  • Andrea Nelson, Rooms Manager
  • Matthew Mifsud, Building Operations Coordinator
  • Eddie Low, Executive Chef, Chestnut Residence & Catering, Food Services – absent
  • Mustafa Nalwala, Manager, Residential Dining Operations
  • Bhavisa Tiwary, Chestnut Residence Council representative -absent
  • Renee Kolentine, Urban Crew Manager
  • Namita Pise, Student Representative -absent
  • Kenneth Sulimro, Student Representative
  • Lexi Davidson, Don
  • Rubaina Farin, Don -absent

TERMS OF REFERENCE

• Reviewed the document together. Changes for this year vs what is published on website:
  • Meetings will be Nov, Jan, Feb and Mar this year.
  • Dean is no longer part of this group due to expanded portfolio, and we have both Chestnut Assistant Deans on the committee who will report back to the Dean.
  • Chestnut Staff members, we have more than 1-2, decided to represent all operational areas: Finance, Food Services/Dining Hall, Maintenance, Housekeeping/Rooms.

Department/AREa Updates

• Residence Life – Dana & Bailee
  • Fall Survey is live (Dana)
    • Sent to all students yesterday, due Jan 16 (one week after classes start),
  • $150 floor prize for highest floor submission rate, anonymous to fill out, provides feedback on our services, facilities and programing that we use to better our offerings for future
• Winter Break Planning (Dana, Bailee)
  • Chestnut website details all procedures mentioned below
    • Dec 21 – move out, Jan 7- move in
    • Application to stay over break
      • Deadline for submission is tomorrow, Dec 1. Can still apply after this time but incur $50 late fee; already have 180+ applications this year, expect to receive more right up until the break; instructions for those staying will be sent after Dec 1 (returning fall key/receive winter key)
    • Check out instructions
      • Expected to check out within 48 hours after last exam OR by 12pm Dec 21, whichever soonest; Can request an extension by emailing RLO; report to FD and return fall key to check out. Will be doing checks to ensure students moving out as expected.
    • Move back in instructions
      • Move in time slot to be booked by all students, Jan 7-15, so that we can spread out volume at FD and for elevators. No guests Jan 7-8.
    • Dons/supports over the break
      • Small team of Dons working in the building over break. Responding to situations as they come up. Slightly modified job duties compared to regular duties.
      • Emergency supports available – security 24/7, Dons on duty, Bailee and others providing escalated support if needed
    • Programming
      • Some limited programming will take place
      • Dons will each host one program, 6 programs total from the Don team
• Don Hiring updates (Bailee)
  • Applications will be live on the Chestnut website as of Dec 9 –
  • application period closes end of Jan.
  • If anyone is interested in being a Don direct them to the Chestnut website.
  • Info sessions will be held during the application period, and support for resume writing, etc., will be held
• Admin & Finance – Tim
  • We are in the budget season, the forecast for fiscal year 22-23 is done. We are now working on the fiscal year 23-24 budget (note: fiscal year is May 1-Apr 30)
  • Main focus now is to determine how to fund projects and order of priority
    • Maintenance is ongoing, keeping the building in good shape
    • New initiatives to improve the student common spaces, specifically Urban Lounge
• Food Services – Mustafa
  • Hope all have been enjoying the themed events we have had. More events to look forward to:
    • Wed Nov 30 – monthly birthday cake for all Nov birthdays + steak night (veggie and meat options available)
    • Wed Dec 7 – rib night
    • Sat Dec 10 – holiday themed dinner, Dr Seuss themed (Whoville annual dinner)
    • Tues Dec 13 – breakfast for dinner and exam jam
    • Wed Dec 14 – monthly birthday cake for all Dec birthdays
    • Thurs Dec 17 – hot chocolate and cookies
• Housekeeping & Rooms – Andrea
  • Heads up, Housekeeping will also close during the break, but there will be some areas still serviced for students who are staying over.
  • Floors 16-17, we are replacing the drapes on these floors currently, should be completed tomorrow. We are replacing drapes on a couple of floors yearly (4 floors done in total now, will continue).
• Building Operations – Matthew
  • Currently understaffed. We normally have 24/7 operations, but are just operating 8am~7pm daily (note: Central U of T Fac. And Services is on call for urgent matters outside of this time)
  • Over the winter break, we will have at least one shift daily. Exact shift times will be announced shortly.
  • Working on getting the heat on in the building, generally complete. Adding some portable heat to the 27th floor today.
• Urban Crew – Renee
  • Hired 16 people for the volunteers
  • World Cup matches
  • All events going well and running smoothly.
• Chestnut Residence Council – Bhavisa
  • Absent
• Don – Lexi
  • Dons are currently preparing for winter break and make sure students apply to stay before late fee
  • Room checks, programming for winter break
  • Assisting with promoting the fall survey so we get as much feedback as possible
  • Also getting our own team feedback from our supervisors (RLC) to implement changes for next semester.
• Student Reps – Kenneth *optional
  • Nothing to report

Additional DIscussion ITEMS

• What common space upgrades are being planned?
  • Urban Lounge is the highest priority – within the next couple of months we want to reupholster the furniture. Andrea/Dana can work on this, funds have been approved for this fiscal (Tim confirmed).
• Other projects with TBD timelines:
  • 27th floor refresh, 28th floor refresh
  • Floor kitchenette spaces update – include hot water, counter.
  • Note: Kettles have been requested by students for the kitchenette rooms
• Urban Lounge – plugs not working well everywhere, Matthew to investigate. Chestnut Tree sign outside of the Dining Hall, some letters are missing. Can we either remove or re-attach the letters? Matthew cannot locate the letters that have fallen off.
• Lexi shared some feedback heard from students:
  • Students like living here, spending time in Urban, good feedback on the Dining Hall cashiers/staff.

NEXT MEETING

• January, week of the 9th
  • Dana will solicit the student leaders for availability before the winter break, meeting date will be confirmed week of Jan 2
  • Dana to confirm who will present the budget at Jan meeting with Tim’s
• departure.