January 27, 2021 | Meeting minutes

Wednesday, January 27

Present: Aaron, David, Eliza, Frank, Hannah, Jack, Jamie, Kevin, Ksenia, Maria, Mustafa,
Timothy
Regrets: Ankhee, Andrea, Jr., Eddie, Klara

Budget Review Presentation (Timothy, 15 minutes)

  • For 2021-22
    • Fiscal Year: May 2021-April 2022
    • Ancillary Services includes Housing, Food and Beverage Services,
    • Transportation and Trademark Licensing
      • Self-funded re: residence fee and summer business hotel revenue
  • Budgeting Process
    • Sept: Start Budgeting
    • Dec: Submit Plan
    • Jan: RAC Presentation
    • Feb: SARG presentation
    • Mar: UAB presentation
    • Apr: Business Board Approval
  • Budget Review
    • Will provide only single rooms (less than half occupancy compared to previous years)
    • Anticipate summer 2022 will still be lighter than an average year
    • Expenses include Operating Costs (staffing, maintenance, mortgage, utilities,
    • etc. ) and Other expenses (residence life expenses, office supplies and equipment, telephone, training and development, misc. (insurance, depreciation, etc.).
    • Services Provided: Security, Front Desk, Building Operations, Residence Life Office, Common Spaces, Gym, Bike Room, Free Printing, High Speed Wi-FI
  • Capital and Major Maintenance Projects
    • 2019 to present: upgrade to WiFi, Parking Garage Renovation, Carpet Replacement, 27th floor common area renovation, gym equipment, PTAC unit replacement, VoIP Phones, Security Server and Cameras, Furniture and mattresses
  • Residence Fee
    • 689 rooms – 65% double room, 35% single rooms = could have up to 1,200 students
    • For 2021-22, all single rooms, at most 689 students

Chestnut Annual Survey Overview Presentation (Eliza, 10 minutes)

Round Table Updates

  • Residence Life Office
    • Common Rooms
    • Dinner with Prof – February 4th
    • Clubs Fair tonight
    • Games Week with RLO
    • Wellness Chats
  • Housekeeping
    • Not at this time – cleaning common rooms twice a day
  • Administrative & Finance, Building Operations
    • Planning Phase 2 PTAC Project for Summer 2021
      • Looking to do as many as possible given quiet summer, but 12-20 for sure will be replaced
  • Food Services
    • First Food Committee Meeting last Monday January 25th
    • Chicken Wing night
    • Will trying to do something special each Wednesday (I.e. chicken wings, steak night, taco nights, etc.)
    • Will do menus for Lunar New Year and Black History Month celebrations
  • Urban Crew
    • Urban Crew will remain closed and Urban is only used during their assigned timeslots
    • Providing more opportunities for connection: Chestnut Dines Virtual Dinner hour daily 6pm-7pm, Urban Crew members host the event and students/staff are welcome to join in.
      • Question to Mustafa: could staff in the dining hall, maybe provide links to students that are interested
      • Cashiers to distribute those
      • Posters at Bagging Station
  • Residence Council
    • Tonight: Council Meeting Weekly –socialize and play games together – open to all to join
    • Wellness Wall will be expanded this weekend (VP Social)
    • VP Athletics will be running virtual workout sessions
    • Progress System for folks to work towards, stay more active, award house points
    • Substitution for Semi-Formal event
  • Student Updates
    • Jamie:
      • Concerns re: heating system for both new and old units (knows of floor 5, 6, 12) (Issues with temperature and noise)
      • Potential for power overload for electrical circuit (i.e.. tripping breakers)
      • Heaters are available to borrow heaters from Front Desk
      • Some students have requested room moves due to heating issues which have been approved. If you are having trouble
      • with your heater, please ensure the a work order is placed so it can be followed up on.
      • Sound issue of heaters – Kevin will look into the heater as more will be purchased soon and want to address any concerns before additional purchases
    • Ksenia:
      • Residence Life Office
        • Dinner with Professors are great ideas
        • Have the same program with other types of professors
        • Ksenia would be interested in organizing other events
        • Diverse student population need to accommodate all
        • Faculty that lives in residence, who is in engineering
        • Dave will raise this with Klara
        • Students can submit the names of prof they would like to see