This piece is in response to Jake Mullan's letter: "The Residence Hall Association is gratuitously self-indulgent."
First and foremost, I want to thank you for stepping up and becoming the first Ponderosa Commons President. It is quite the undertaking to accept a position with the potential to influence the future trajectory of the residence community in the building. Thanks, too, for ensuring that you are keeping the needs of residents in the foreground by ensuring the accountability of SHHS. As a previous RHA member and NRHH president, I can appreciate the time and effort you no doubt put in to making the residence experience a fun and memorable one for the residents of Ponderosa Commons.
It seems to me that your biggest concern with the RHA is the expense incurred by sending delegates to conferences. While I agree that the expense is quite large, I must disagree with your position that sending delegates to conferences is a waste of money.
One of the reasons that any member of an organization or community would attend a conference is to share ideas, new developments and experiences with the hopes that those in attendance can learn from them for use in their future practices. Of course, it is inevitable that when there are social aspects to a conference, those memories will also be shared. They are a part of the overall conference experience and returning with memories of social events displays the balance between educational sessions and entertainment.
Another reason is to get an external, objective opinion on any issues you may be facing, such as the student housing fee increase, with the hopes that an alternative perspective may bring about a solution.
A third reason is for networking. Having a network of individuals from, in this case, various educational institutions has the potential to help you, your committee and, by extension, the residents. Being present at the conferences and showing active engagement in the community makes those institutions more likely to contribute and help UBC’s RHA.
From my experience attending NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) and PACURH (its Pacific affiliate) conferences, I have been able to do all of the above. When I attended conferences as a delegate from UBC, there was an expectation that you would return to campus and report on some of the beneficial aspects of the conference and learning points that may help your committee throughout the year.
I can only hope that you did not follow in the same footsteps as those you speak of when you returned from your conference experience. I hope you would have seen the huge opportunity that was presented to you and that you would have taken every moment to learn from and share with other student leaders at other universities.
Regarding the award bids: most, if not all, bid categories have at their core involvement with the residence community. If a bid were to win, in a sense, the residents have already won. It recognizes the positive work that has already been put forward in the hopes of benefiting the residence community.
It appears that you believe the best way to make UBC residences a better place to live is through increased funding for events or otherwise. One thing I learned at NACURH and PACURH conferences is how unbelievably lucky the RHA and area councils at UBC are when it comes to funding from SHHS. If other universities have found a way to make their residence communities fun and memorable with a significantly smaller budget for the RHA (or equivalent), surely you can stand up to the challenge as well.
After all of this, I suppose what it really comes down to is one thing -- the residents.
How can you, as an RHA member (or I should say your successor at this point), work to best benefit the residents who live in your area? Through collaboration, both on campus and off, continual learning and shared experiences and keeping the residents at the forefront of your mind. One way that has proven to be beneficial is through membership in NACURH and participation at both regional and NACURH conferences. And if you think the travel expense is too much, you can always bid to host a conference at UBC.
Samuel Yellin is a former National Residence Hall Honorary President and UBC alumnus.
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