An informational meeting on the newly-formed Residential Experience Advisory Committee shed light on how the committee — which was formed in response to last year’s student protest against the housing price increase — will operate. The meeting was held in Moore Lounge on Sept. 10 at 11:30 a.m., and attended by five students.
The purpose of REAC is to be a student-led body for staff and departments to consult about issues that affect student life — things such as facilities improvements, on-campus food service, recreation options, or changes that impact residence halls. It is also intended to serve as a point for students to broach their own concerns or ideas.
The meeting’s speaker, Dean of Students Ron Watson, will act as chair of the committee. During the meeting, he explained how he anticipates the committee will be structured.
REAC will be composed of eight students from different backgrounds, intended to ensure that various facets of campus life are represented. For example, it will include at least one student who lives in special interest housing, at least one student who lives in Greek Life housing, and at least one LGBTQIA+ student. Two students from each class year will be represented.
These student committee members are charged with the responsibility of both gathering and disseminating information among their peers — that is, they are responsible for collecting data on student concerns, interests, etc., as well as receiving feedback about ideas or proposals developing within the committee. They will serve as points of contact for the student body.
Dean Watson emphasized that the role of the committee is to be an advisory body. REAC is not responsible for making decisions, but rather providing recommendations. “I think an important piece of this to understand is that this is an advising body, so decision-making and those sorts of points will continue to remain with either my office, or whichever department or office is appropriate,” he said. Recommendations agreed on by the committee will be directly communicated to the relevant department by Watson.
This means the committee does not have final say in any decisions the college makes, though if necessary it is empowered to hold votes that determine whether a recommendation is passed on. In the case of a tie, the committee’s chair — Dean Watson — is responsible for the deciding vote.
In addition to consulting on changes the college is already weighing, REAC will provide independent suggestions. “There are of course institutional decisions that we always have to make that would impact and will impact students, and then there are decisions around things that we don’t yet know about that need to be made, and so in my mind, this body would do both,” Watson said.
Some elements of how the committee will function — such as how the minutes of meetings might be publicized and sent to students — are still undetermined. “In formulating the committee, this is part of what the committee will have to discuss, right?” Dean Watson said. “What are the best avenues for getting information?”
To be more specific about REAC’s composition, it is, according to the document Dean Watson referenced during the meeting, currently planned to include at least one student from each of the following demographics: a student with housing accommodations; an international student; a student from a marginalized racial or ethnic group; an LGBTQIA+ student; a student who lives in special interest housing; a student who lives in Greek housing; and a student-athlete. A student can satisfy multiple of these requirements.
REAC will also include “ex officio” members, who are present to offer guidance if necessary but not permitted to vote. These members will include the director of Residential Life, director of Student Engagement and Leadership, and associate vice president of Facilities. Additionally, Watson said, “We’re hoping to have at least one faculty member be a member of the committee, and we’re also hoping to have a staff member be a member.”
The committee has been arranged to meet three times per semester. “If the committee thinks that we need to meet more than three times a semester, that can happen. But right now, it’ll meet three times per semester, or as needed and arranged by the new students and/or the Director of Residence Life,” Watson said.
Much of the meeting was spent fielding questions. One student concern was that REAC’s members are not elected. Watson expressed some uncertainty about the idea of holding an election, given that it would lengthen the process of finding members and make it more difficult to balance representation. In response, student attendee Jake Fein’27 proposed that the committee’s makeup be reviewed by Beloit Student Government or the college’s Academic Senators, since those positions are elected. “That’s actually a really good suggestion,” said Watson. “I think it’s a good way to utilize BSG as well.”
What criteria a particular change would have to meet to be brought before the committee, Watson said, depends. “Right now, the hope is that everyone will recognize that certain decisions that are large and may impact students — that directly impact students — those will be obvious targets for us,” he said. “But sometimes there are things that don’t seem obvious to me as an impact that, in fact, are. And over time we’ll learn those.”
Watson expressed his hope that REAC will be running by the start of October. An interest survey for committee membership will be sent to students. “Certainly within the next week and a half, it should be out to the student body,” Watson said.
Featured image: Quinn Annis’29
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