Give and Go Green

Dear Eco Friends:  It's that time of year again...  Give & Go Green!

For those of you who may not be familiar with this event, Give & Go Green provides Barnard students with an opportunity to donate items that you don't need any more, don't have room to pack, or you would rather not be wasteful and donate to an organization/person who can use it!

As EcoReps, we coordinate Give & Go Green and work in collaboration with Facilities and Residential Life to provide you multiple drop off locations throughout campus.

Starting this week, we will be collecting clothes, appliances, non-perishable food, electronics, partially used toiletries, and other items of the same sort.  All items must be clean, washed, and in good condition as we are donating these to other people.

There will be collection stations in the following locations:

• Sulzberger Lobby (until May 12th)
• 600 W.  116th St.  Lobby (for small items only - larger items go to 616)
• 616 W.  116th St.  Lounge 
• Elliott 3rd Floor Lounge
• Cathedral Gardens 10th Floor Lounge
• 110th Street, Area Off Of Lobby
• Plimpton TV Lounge

Each of these locations will have areas sectioned off for each type of donation.  Please help us to keep everything as organized and as clean as possible and drop off your items in an organized fashion.  

You are also welcome to look through what is at the donation stations and pick up anything you would like as long as you leave the area clean.  This will be happening until May 17th, so please stop by and donate or browse!

All remaining items will be donated to Rock and Wrap it Up, Salvation Army, and Goodwill.  In the past, we have donated truck loads of items and we look forward to doing so again!!

Cheers!  The Barnard EcoReps (http://barnardecoreps.wordpress.com)

End of the Year Residence Hall Check Out

As we approach the end of the semester, please be aware of the following:

• All residence halls officially close at 10am on Saturday, May 12, 2012.  Students who are not graduating will be required to have completely moved out by this time.
• Graduating Seniors only will have until 5pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012, to complete their move-out.

Please visit http://barnard.edu/reslife/move-out for information about cleaning your room, checking out, requesting extensions, Give-&-Go-Green, summer storage options, returning refrigerators & cable boxes, parking, etc.

If you wish to apply for summer housing, please note that applications are due by 1pm this Friday, April 27, 2012.  More information is available at http://barnard.edu/reslife/summerhousing/.

Volunteer for EcoReps GIVE-&-GO-GREEN

Summer is fast approaching, which means it's time to start thinking about moving out and GIVE-&-GO-GREEN!  For those of you who don't know about GIVE-&-GO-GREEN, it is an initiative organized by the Barnard EcoReps that seeks to reduce the amount of waste thrown away by students at the end of the school year.  Every year, we throw out perfectly useful clothes, appliances, books, toiletries, and more because we simply can't keep them over the summer.

Instead of giving all of that to the landfill, give it to someone in need!  Barnard will collect what you don't want or can't take home and donate it to great local organizations.  Each year we fill up multiple trucks with donations!

The Barnard EcoReps are looking for students who can commit to staying late to help organize this years GIVE-&-GO-GREEN initiative.

Accepted volunteers will be eligible for a FREE HOUSING EXTENSION through Friday, May 18th at 12noon (please note that some students may need to relocate to a different residence hall).  Volunteers will be responsible for keeping donation stations orderly in shifts from May 4th through May 18th, and must commit to being present on May 11th, May 12th, and May 17th.  Additionally, they must also be present for the night of donation organization on May 16th and a full day of work on May 17th, when the donations are collected and loaded into trucks.

If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail us at ecoreps@barnard.edu with your name, UNI, class year, and current room assignment.

Thank you, The Barnard Ecoreps (http://barnardecoreps.wordpress.com/)

2012 Summer Housing Applications

Information about applying for 2012 Summer Housing at Barnard is now available online at http://barnard.edu/reslife/summerhousing/.

Housing is available for Summer Session 1 (May 20 - 5pm on June 29) and/or Summer Session 2 (July 1 - 5pm on August 10). May & August Interim Housing is available for students with Spring and/or Fall room assignments in Barnard housing.

The deadline for Summer Housing applications is 1pm on Friday, April 27. Late applications will be accepted only if space is available.

Note: Residential Life & Housing does not grant approvals for College-Subsidized Summer Housing and cannot answer questions regarding the eligibility of different positions.   If you will be working for/with an office/program that you believe may qualify you for College-Subsidized Summer Housing, please speak to your employer.

Summer positions with Res Life & the Pre-College Program

The Office of Residential Life & Housing is hiring Office Assistants and Resident Assistants for Summer 2012!  If you are interested in promoting community, helping students, and having fun, you are encouraged to apply!

For more information on our summer positions and to download an application, please visit  http://barnard.edu/reslife/employment/summer.

Questions? E-mail Courtney Bazan Colvin at cbazancolvin@barnard.edu or reach her in Residential Life & Housing at 212-854-7682.

Additionally, the Office of Residential Life & Housing and The Office of Pre-College Programs are hiring Residential Interns and Program Coordinators for Summer 2012!  Barnard’s Pre-College Programs are selective programs for bright, highly motivated high school sophomores and juniors (young men and women) who are intellectually prepared for college-level work. If you are passionate about working with high school students, serving as a role model, planning and facilitating programs, and would love to live in New York City this summer, apply today!

For more information on Pre-College Programs, our student staff positions, and to download positions descriptions and application packets, please visit  http://barnard.edu/precollege/summerprograms/facultyandstaff/meet.

If you have any questions regarding Pre-College Programs, please email Frank Cirioni at fcirioni@barnard.edu, phone at 212-854-6608, or stop by his office at 110 Sulzberger Hall.

We look forward to receiving your application(s), learning more about you, and working with you in the future!

Room Selection 2013

As we approach the start of registration for Room Selection, we wanted to provide you with information about 3 changes in policy that could influence your room selection plans for next year.

• Students who anticipate requesting to be in housing over Winter Break next year should be aware that some residence halls will be CLOSED for most of the break (as part of cutting down on the cost of keeping other residence halls open over break). Students who pick into those residence halls & request to live on campus during that time period would be responsible for finding another student to give them permission to use their room in an open residence hall during the break. For more information (including a list of the residence halls that will be closed), please visit http://barnard.edu/reslife/roomselection/guide#winter_break.
  
• Students who sign up for the Guaranteed Wait List (for placement over the summer) will have the same cancellation date as students who pick a space at Room Selection. The cancellation fee will gradually increase over the summer instead of being the full amount right away. For more information, including the cancellation dates, please visit http://barnard.edu/reslife/roomselection/guide#cancellations.
  
• Students who pull-in one or more male Columbia students to select as a group at Barnard Room Selection will be required to sign the BC Open Housing Agreement/Contract. If a vacancy opens up within the suite, the members will be responsible for locating another student willing to move into their co-ed suite. For more information, please visit http://barnard.edu/reslife/roomselection/guide#gender_neutral.

As a reminder, registration for Room Selection will take place online between 1pm on Wednesday, February 29, and 1pm on Wednesday, March 7. In order to get a lottery number and be guaranteed a room assignment for next year, you must register during the time period above.

Please note that all students register as individuals (even if you want to be part of a group). You may join a group after you register and can change groups, drop from a group, etc. up until the time you select a room / suite.

Don’t know how Room Selection works? Come to an information session on February 29, Mar 1, 2, or 6!

Wondering where you want to live next year? Check out the online Room Reviews. Submit a new review of your own room by March 30 and be entered in a drawing for an Amazon Gift Certificate!

Tours of the residence halls will be available this Sunday, March 4.

If you have questions about Room Selection, please come to an info session, stop by an info table in the Diana / Hewitt cafeteria, or stop by the Residential Life & Housing office (110 Sulzberger).

Community Safety Inspections (Feb 15 - Mar 15)

The Barnard RA Staff will be conducting Community Safety Inspections (CSIs) from February 15 through March 15, 2012.  Residential Life & Housing conducts these inspections three times per year to ensure the safety of our community.  During these inspections, the RAs will enter student rooms to check for any potential concerns which may pose a danger to the residential community.  This commonly includes fire hazards (candles, extension cords, illegal appliances, etc.) and damages to the room that have not been addressed by Facilities staff (leaks, broken windows, etc).

While inspecting rooms, RAs are obligated to address any violations that they observe.  Each year, the majority of these violations are a result of students possessing items that are prohibited in the residence halls (i.e. microwaves, space heaters, candles, etc).  Students are strongly encouraged to review the list of prohibited items.

If you happen to have items that are prohibited, please be sure to remove these items immediately by either sending them home or donating them to a local charity.  You will want to make sure do this prior to the inspections beginning, as RAs are required to confiscate any prohibited items that they come across.  Once an item has been confiscated, it cannot be returned to the student.

We would like to thank you for working with us to make our community a safer place for everybody to live.  Your cooperation and help with conducting the CSIs is greatly appreciated.  If you have any questions about CSIs, please feel free to reach out to your RA, Associate Director, or the Residential Life & Housing Office.  We're happy to answer any questions that you may have!

Holiday Observances / Candles are Prohibited

As the holiday season begins, all of us in Residential Life and Housing would like to send along our best wishes for a successful completion to your semester and for a happy and healthy holiday season.

The holiday season is filled with special occasions and traditions, which have an impact on our entire community. We would like for everyone to be safe in their observance of the holiday season. With this in mind, please be reminded that the possession and lighting of candles in the residence halls is prohibited. We will do our best to accommodate as many observances as possible providing they are safe for the entire community.

For example, this Hanukkah season (December 20-27) one menorah will be lit by Rabbi Yonah (of the Kraft Center/Hillel) in the Sulzberger Hall Lobby at sundown on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (December 20 – 22). Please note that menorahs may not be lit anywhere else in campus housing.  With Winter Break starting at 9am on Friday, December 23 (and campus offices closing), please note that menorahs will not be able to be lit in the Sulzberger Lobby or elsewhere in campus housing after the evening of Thursday, December 22.

Thanks for your cooperation and we wish you a very happy holiday season.

December Room Change Requests

December Room Change request forms are available to download from http://barnard.edu/reslife/roomchanges/december/.  Completed forms are due to the Res Life Office (110 Sulzberger) no later than 4pm on Tuesday, December 6.

If a vacancy opens up in your room / suite for the Spring, you may encourage a friend to request the space through a December Room Change Request form or by specifying your room / suite on their housing application (ex. students returning from abroad, readmitted to the College, or commuters wanting to move on-campus).  You will need to submit a Roommate / Suitemate Request Form (http://barnard.edu/reslife/forms) mutually requesting your friend, no later than 4pm on Tuesday, December 6.

Note:  due to the number of people we need to assign to housing for the Spring, it is not possible to request to “buy out” a double as a single.  If your current roommate is leaving housing or receives a room change, you will more than likely receive a new roommate as a result of a December Room Change Request process or have a new student assigned to your room for the Spring.

80 visiting international students are coming to Barnard this Spring from Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Russia, China, South Korea, Ghana, and South Africa. If you have a space opening up in your room / suite and would like to request one of these students, please email housing@barnard.edu.

For more information about the December Room Change Request process, please visit http://barnard.edu/reslife/roomchanges/december/.

Apply to be a 2012-2013 RA

Do you enjoy being part of a team of hardworking, caring, and dynamic individuals?
Do you want to make a difference in the residential community at Barnard?  

Make a difference!  Be an RA!  

The RA Selection Process is quickly approaching!  To apply, you MUST attend one of the following information sessions:

• Wednesday, November 16th, 9:30pm, Diana 504
• Friday, November 18th, 2pm, Diana 103
• Sunday, November 20th, 7:30pm, Diana 504
• Monday, November 21st, 6pm, Diana 504

Come learn about the position, our application process, and meet some of our Residential Life & Housing staff who can't wait to talk with you about being an RA!

Prior to coming to an Information Session, you can find additional information about the position by speaking with your RA, finding information on our website and/or visiting our Facebook Group.

If you have any questions, please email the RA Selection Committee at RASelection@barnard.edu. We hope to see you at one of the upcoming Information Sessions!