Interhouse Committee
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October 14, 2003

IHC Minutes, 10-14-03

Meeting with Margo and Mannion
No Jessie: Gautham instead; no Fleming, Blacker, Ruddock
I. Moore money
Jeremy: Finally got an email saying who the awards would go to
Margo: After decisions made it should be either on the web or in the Tech Working on a template letter It's in the committees interest to get the word out
Jeremy: both web and newspaper should be done Summary of results-say what it was about each proposal that made it worthwhile
Margo: wouldn't want to publicize the one's that got rejected Rejected because not thought out or other organization or Provost should pay Vast majority submitted by students 20 submitted…some accepted
Jeremy: want to know what makes them good Get the info out to general public as soon as possible
Margo: student involvement is great Haven't had any faculty involvement-need to work on this More submissions than we thought
Natalia: say characteristics of proposals that worked and did not work

II. Summary of how Rotation went
Jeremy: from our end went very well
Margo: not one complaint No parents complaints
Tom: RAs seemed a little concerned (Ruddock-about picks)
Margo: one parent upset about the environment of the room that the frosh moved into (with an upperclassman) Fred is in convo with parent
Tom: Rotation week seemed to have gone well for the Frosh

III. Gravity of Frosh living in Avery
Jeremy: both frosh that were told that they can live in Avery ' Houses (Ri and Ru)
Margo: don't know any of these cases
Tom: talked to parents-strong reasons to give them Avery Tough call to make, but if not made then person might not come to Caltech
Jeremy: have a procedure that have a room in a House saved for them-so they can
Natalia: concerned that parents are making this decision Should be a serious case Talk to student about what they want as well
Tom: can't tell you why, but will tell you when someone talks
Jeremy: talk to student during Rotation and make sure Avery is a good idea

IV. Lack of channel to pass information through
Jeremy: really upset about the lack of tickling down of information For example: one student decided not to come to Caltech; we didn't find out until Wed.! Jeremy mentioned to Marie, first she heard about it
Margo: info would have to come from Admissions
Jeremy: maybe it would go from Admissions ' Kim…now no Kim still need info
Margo: need to work on communication Make sure in future that Admission would make a list of who is and isn't Send it to EVERYONE
Tom: talk to Erika about this tomorrow 192 students over BIG class (like last year) could make a $1 million surplus to spend on houses over four year
Margo: still under pressure to cut down on budget
Tom: Target number 185-200 Cutting the numbers without talking to Tom makes it hard to make budgets, etc.
Us: enough seats in lecture halls…good

V. Who should international students talk to now
Jeremy: who should international students talk to?
Margo: there is an ISP office with staff Seems to be working well…well organized Orientation for international students went well
Gath: everything was working well-and still is Everyone was attached to the two people in that office Everything that happened, happened behind the scenes…and it still ran smoothly

VI. Organization Chart
Jeremy: STILL WAITING FOR THIS
Margo: Erika and Tim working on this TALK TO THEM ABOUT THIS!
Margo: see it on Thursday to view it
Us: it would be nice for us to see it and okay it Publish on line and tech We want something that says who to go to for what concerns we have
Margo: that's the hope!

VII. Problems with physical plant taking over maintenance and such
Tom: maintenance still there department ' but gotten worst
Margo: Art Albert (in charge of physical plant) and Mannion trying to work on some plan
Tom: no financial benefits
Mike D: started to install fire equipment, etc. First week of rotation started bringing in the equipment
Tom: can't just bring people in and work in Houses
Jeremy: anytime there is a work order in the House then the President should know about it. Things that happen to the house, the President should be informed
Tom: Gregg wanted to put a card access to get into houses and courtyards
Margo: need to have a list about who needs to be notified-including admin and Presidents Can't just do things to the Houses without contacting people
Tom: Albert is in charge of campus planning and construction So physical plant and graphic arts does fall under it
Tom: don't use physical plant in Catalina's etc and it all goes well Only in UG houses that there are phys plant people
Tom: student shop…there seems to be some unhappiness there Evidently un-undergrads took over it and tripled the dues… Now not even one undergrad on it Stan Bordenski-offered to students that they could meet with Tom, etc. about it Who's department pays for that…
Margo: put it on an agenda to talk about it to departments
Us: Doesn't Caltech own the machines…so they can't do this!
Margo: have a better system for letting us know when they are coming into the room, courtyards, lounges, Houses, etc.
Us: let both damage rep and president know about it
Margo: do we have a database that says work done?
Tom: for private room only Not public-but could work on it

VIII. Change scheduled lunches to Wed. or Fri. Change the day we meet-talk to Suzette
IX. Steel House
Jeremy: Backyard and first floor still open to student use Inside of house still useable?
Margo: bottom floor where admission movie shown Admission tour starts from there, etc. Public Relation due other types of tours Waiting area for people
Jeremy: great space in that house Pool table, etc
Margo: need to move the pool table
Jeremy: still want the house open to student use When we were frosh…top floor was fin aid and we could still use the bottom level after hours We wouldn't make a mess
Margo: Erika O'Neil and Dan Lengdale in charge of working on the space Trying to professionalize our admissions office
Us: backyard reservations who to contact? Probably Sue C. to get that
Margo: carriage house for filing system Relocation needed for self defense, etc. that used to be there
Natalia: carriage house used a lot
Margo: know this…considered.

X. Anything else?
Search Committees? Positions advertised and committees formulated
Any other positions replaced? Sharon Miller? ' Not yet; resources limited Tim Downes: ˝ of time in athletics and ˝ in admin. Eventually something will change, right? ' yes…but not focusing on it right now Inconvenient for us about who to go to for what-would like some stability Most positions filled by end of school year (hopefully)
Registrar's office needs to be in a bind Need to fill the position quick-need stability Gloria is back
Margo: Development office retreat Margo and ppl were invited to this for two hours-didn't know role Wanted to talk about only houses (for 45 minutes) Houses were scapegoat for the failed campaign How do we address this? Formal ways of involving alumni and Houses to raise money Al Horvath and Margo trying to find out if there is any other way to raise money
Natalia: Part of problem is that there is no maintenance, so it gets worst People do things to the house that are perceived in bad because nothing gets fixed
Margo: it isn't all the student's fault-also the admin fault
Tom: physical plant should know better-they need to fix thing
Margo: need a plan about what has to be done and how long we can live in the houses If we can't find money, what are we going to do
Jeremy: need to be realistic and decide if the money is coming or not and if not, start to renovate
Margo: need to have a realistic plan about where we are going ' something major needs to happen
Tom: $37 million for south houses is the bare bone deferred maintenance costs
Lammers: is there any money for alumni-student relations
Margo: maybe alumni office
Jeremy: alumni association asking for volunteers to have more ties between alumni and students. But these are not the givers
Margo: the houses are already named so that makes it difficult
Tom: Can name the south complex/ a fourth north house/ dining halls/ specific rooms
Margo: we need another plan…they say that it won't happen It's an important aspect of student education Document more clearly than ever, what condition the houses are in and what it costs
Kristen: make a brochure or set meeting with alumni and students to ensure that they know how important money for the Houses is
Margo: fewer donors and less wealthy
Us: North Houses: bathrooms and showers are really bad; but rooms okay South Houses: getting bad-maybe 5 more years…!

Andres dinner with IHC-some Friday night-find a time
Mannion meeting-lunch or dinner any day




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Last modified 10-25-03