I. Purpose
Housing and Ancillary Services is a unit within Student Affairs (SA), working closely with SA colleagues in Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment, Student Life & Learning, Student Wellness Services and others. Responsibility and oversight of residence operations falls under the Vice-Provost and Dean of Student Affairs.
The Residence Advisory Committee (RAC) serves as a consultative group, advising on decisions directly affecting students in residence, helping to ensure student life in residence promotes the well-being of students and is complementary to the attainment of academic excellence. RAC provides a forum to voice opinions and ideas to the Housing & Ancillary Services administration and facilitates bi-directional communication between students, housing staff and other student support services. Input and feedback is welcome on various matters pertaining to housing services, programming for students, resources and departmental budget priorities. Areas of discussion may include:
• Housing policies and services, residence admissions, student conduct, customer service and student engagement
• Budgetary priorities for the department and an annual consultation on residence room and board fee (prior to submission to university Board of Trustees for approval)
• Consideration and sharing of ideas around student life, facility projects and food services
• The annual review of the residence contract (community standards/agreement) and providing suggestions for updates to align with the student population, government legislation and legal precedents
• Support and encouragement of student government in residence, including reviewing their activities, and the annual financial audit and/or other accountability measures for the use of student government fees
• As an overarching philosophy, consideration of sustainability and I-EDIAA priorities with respect to all recommendations and decisions
II. Membership
Includes 15 core members – nine students and six staff; plus three ex-officio individuals from the Housing & Ancillary Services leadership team, who provide support and information on matters that come before the group. Administrative support service for the committee is provided by the Office of the Executive Director, Housing & Ancillary Services.
| Members |
|---|
| - Executive Director, Housing & Ancillary Services (Co-chair) |
| - President, Residence Society (Co-chair, live-in role) |
| - 2 Dons or other residence student staff (eg desks, program assistants) |
| - 2 Residence Society appointees (live-in role) |
| - 1 AMS appointee |
| - 3 students-at-large, from within the residence population, in non-leadership roles |
| - 1 Residence Life Coordinator (live-in role) |
| - 1 Faculty member, ideally from a Faculty/Department involved with a residence Living Learning Community (LLC), or staff as an alternate |
| - 1 appointee from Student Wellness Services (Counsellor or Health Promotion staff) |
| - 1 appointee from the Human Rights & Equity Office |
| - 1 appointee from the Office of Vice-Provost & Dean, Student Affairs |
| Ex-Officio RAC members: |
| Director, Residence Life & Services |
| Director, Business Development & Communications, Housing & Ancillary Services |
| Director, Facilities & Infrastructure, Housing & Ancillary Services |
Note: Committee will strive for representation across different residence buildings among the student members who live in residence and consider honorariums for student members where appropriate.
III. Meeting Frequency
Committee will meet six times per academic year, in late September, October, November and in late January, February and March.
*Student representatives will be compensated with a $200 honorarium per term.