The Residential Hall Association will hold elections today online for the positions of president and vice president for the upcoming year.
The election is just a formality. Only one ticket is on the ballot.
Amy Scales, a secondary education junior, and Denelle Walker, a communication studies junior, are the only names that will appear on the electronic ballot for president and vice president, respectively. The ballots are accessible via PAWS accounts.
Scales and Walker have both been involved with RHA for the past three years.
Scales was appointed vice president at the beginning of the spring semester after the seat became vacant when the previous president was impeached, and Walker is chief of staff for the executive staff.
Since Scales and Walker are running unopposed, they have already started planning for next year.
Scales said the first change they will make is to create a new position on the executive staff — policy director.
The policy director will research any administrative changes, hold round table discussions with students to get feedback from them and perform routine “safety walks.”
Safety walks, which RHA used to do regularly, are used to check for safety problems such as bad lighting and security in dorms.
The executive staff has traditionally been appointed by the newly elected president. But Scales and Walker plan to accept applications instead.
The candidates plan to hold an informational session next Tuesday after the RHA general assembly meeting. At the
meeting they will describe the positions and distribute applications.
They will ask potential executive staff candidates to offer ideas about the positions they want and ideas to improve RHA.
Scales said this process will help select people who have a positive and creative outlook on working with RHA.
RHA’s primary function is programming. Scales said she and Walker will work with Residential Life to create new programs for residents.
One idea Scales said is in the works is a move-in dinner. The dinner would be after the move-in period for parents and students.
Scales said that at the dinner RHA representatives and Residential Life representatives would answer questions, try to make the transition from home to campus easier and let new students know about RHA.
Elections for community councils are held after the start of the fall semester, and while publicity has been good in past years, Scales said she and Walker hope to have more publicity for next year’s community elections.
“We want information in their rooms about elections before they move in,” Scales said.
Scales said she also hopes to start requiring all members — members of the campus-wide general assembly and community councils — to attend general assembly meetings.
“We think they would stick around longer, creating a more cohesive group,” Scales said.
Scales and Walker are also plan to work with Residential Life to change some dorm policies.
Scales said she and Walker are researching the way students pay for laundry services.
Students living in dorms pay either with quarters or with Tiger Cash on their ID card. Scales proposes to change the system to allow students to pay a flat laundry fee in their housing fee. Students would then swipe their ID cards to use the laundry machines instead of paying for each use.
Walker said she and Scales would also like to extend the move-out time at the end of the semester. Students now have to leave by 6 p.m. on the Saturday of final exams. If a student has an exam late on Saturday, he can file an extension until 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Walker said having students drive home after hours of studying is a safety issue.
Walker and Scales were able to start planning for next year so early because no one else filed for the offices, and there were no appeals said, David Dessauer, RHA commissioner of elections said.
Doug Fields, current RHA president, said the election will be more of a formality to make sure the entire process is completed.
“It’s going to be good practice for future elections. This is our first online election,” Fields said. “If there happens to be a problem, we’ll be able to work out the kinks.”