Last week, the Residence Hall Association (RHA) voted to discontinue the hall council structure within the residence halls. Beginning next fall, there will no longer be hall councils.
For the past several years, Residence Life and RHA have struggled to find student interest in hall councils. There are so many leadership opportunities on campus now that students have not chosen hall council as their means to leadership training. RHA has also struggled with keeping membership numbers up. Therefore, RHA is disassociating with hall councils and will be moving to a structure of using hall representatives who will bring information back and forth to residence hall students and provide leadership with RHA. The Office of Residential Life supports this change.
To ensure that there continue to be opportunities within the halls, residence directors will be assessing their areas each year and providing opportunities for interested students. These opportunities may include a program board for the area, a representative group to bring issues to the RD, or some other structure; the opportunities will not include hall councils which would report to RHA.
The Office of Residential Life wanted to share this information in a timely manner so that all staff are aware of this change. We continue to be excited about the role RHA plays in our residence hall system. We hope these changes will allow RHA to reach its full potential. Please contact Darese Doskal-Scaffido in Residential Life with any questions.
Contributed by Darese Doskal-Scaffido
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20040427085715775