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This year, the fundamental structure of RHA looks quite a bit different than it has in the past. These differences include: a scaled-down Executive Cabinet, a suspended Judicial Branch, a repurposed Legislative Council, and Hall Councils that are totally new.

Why the Restructure?

At the direction of the Department of Housing and Residence Life (HRL) (which funds, provides professional staff for, and generally supports RHA), RHA is undergoing a process of strategic planning and evaluation to determine the course of RHA over the next 5-10 years. During this process, RHA will accomplish the following:

• Evaluate the role of RHA on Georgia Tech’s Campus
• Identify how RHA can best serve residents
• Evaluate the current structure of the organization and Hall/Area Councils
• Evaluate how RHA supports the mission of the Department of Housing and Residence Life (HRL)
• Evaluate the roles/membership of RHA

In order to make room for the work required to meet such goals, the responsibilities of the RHA Executive Board have been rebalanced. Operations such as Legislative Council, Area/Hall Council involvements, and some Executive Cabinet positions are taking a back-seat this year.

❓ What does this mean for Legislative Council?

RHA’s Legislative Council (LC) has been scaled back this year in order to assess the structure and purpose of it’s operation. LC will meet on a monthly basis (as opposed to the typical weekly meetings) to discuss governance, provide leadership/bonding experience to it’s representatives, provide a forum for resident concerns to be voiced, and for elections of the RHA Executive Board in the spring. The funding typically allocated to LC has instead been allocated to programs facilitated through Resident Assistants, Hall Directors, and Area Councils. At this time, RHA does not offer any funding to student organizations providing programs for residents. 

RHA still wants to do everything it can to support the many student organizations that provide community, support networks, and social engagement to our residents. Right now, RHA’s Resource Room houses over 100 distinct items designed to be used to host events big and small. This is open to the entire Georgia Tech community completely for free. Click the “Resource Room” button on the navigation bar to access our Resource Room reservations page (or click here).

Community Councils ➡ Hall Councils

We are thrilled to announce a new title for what was formerly known as Community Councils. Effective immediately, these councils will now be referred to as Hall Councils! This change reflects our ongoing commitment to enhancing the community experience and streamlining our organizational structure.

🏡How you can get involved:

Looking to get involved in the second largest student organization at Georgia Tech? Well, its not too late to join in! 

Hall Council Application

The Application for the FY25 year Hall Council is NOW open! Please read over the Hall Council Application post more more information. We look forward to seeing you make a difference in your community.

Hall Councils, together with Legislative Council, constitute the Legislative Branch of RHA, and HCOs oversee the governance and operations of our 15 independently-governed Hall Councils across campus in all 48 of Georgia Tech’s residence halls.

Important Links:

• FY25 HCO Application
• HC Recruitment Processes (a general timeline of the application process)

You may submit one application to express interest in running for up to two of the four HCO positions (written below in gavel order):

• Meetings Coordinator
• Communications Coordinator
• Finance Coordinator
• Events Coordinator
• Building Representative (Gold Councils Only)

Application Timeline:

• Information Session – Each applicant is encouraged to attend an informational session. These sessions are designed to educate residents about the purpose, function, officer positions, elections process and required training.
• Elections Process – Following information session(s) each Hall Council will host an elections process for the aforementioned positions. Check with your Hall Director for more information about this period including results.
• HCO Fall Training (HCOFT) – Following the completion of elections, a mandatory training for our HCOs will begin.  This will occur Friday, September 13 (5:30p-10p) and Sunday, September 15 (10a-6p).

Application Overview:

• Your responses, unless indicated otherwise, will be compiled into a candidate profile and distributed to residents of your Hall Council to review prior to voting.
• This application has the following components: (1) general information about you and (2) your leadership experience, platform, and goals and ideas as an HCO.
  • All candidates will have the option of submitting written or video responses.

Additional Information:

• A complete PDF copy of this application for viewing and planning purposes can be found here. Some steps of this form are irreversible, so we suggest you plan your responses accordingly and only proceed when you are finished. We additionally recommend that you draft your responses to this application in an external word processor and copy your responses from there when ready.
• If you have any questions regarding Hall Council, HCOs, or this application, please contact your Hall Director or RHA’s Advisor, Larry T Brown, rha-advisor@housing.gatech.edu. Please allow up to 24 business hours for a response.

🗳 RHA Executive Cabinet Application is Now Open! 

Looking for leadership opportunities? Apply for one of the 5 open positions in the Residence Hall Association Executive Cabinet! We have openings for Resource Room Manager, Auditor, Visual Media Manager, NRHH Liaison, and RA Liaison. Applications close on June 28th at 11:59 P.M. 🌟🏆 This is a great chance to develop leadership skills and work in a team. To be considered, you must live on campus for the 2024-25 school year. Some positions are compensated. For questions, email rha-president@housing.gatech.edu or rha-advisor@housing.gatech.edu. 

• Link to the Application 
• Position Descriptions 

Get ready for an awesome summer packed with fun community events hosted by the RHA! Check out what we have planned:

🍩 Donut Days with RHA  
📅 6/27, 7/2, 7/11, 7/16, 7/23 | 📍RHA Office   

This summer, treat yourself to delicious donuts and learn about RHA at our Donut Days! Once every week from June 27th, we’ll have delicious donuts at the RHA office (Matheson Residence Hall Room #003) during the executive board members’ office hours listed below. This event will happen five times throughout the summer. Stop by to grab a donut, chalk, and bubbles, and get to know your fellow residents. Build community and satisfy your sweet tooth with us! 

• June 27^th 3-5 PM  
• July 2^nd 12-2 PM 
• July 11st 3-5 PM  
• July 16^th 12-2 PM  
• July 23^rd 12-2 PM 

🍔 RHA Summer Cookout & Movie Night  
📅 July 12th @7:30PM | 📍The Quad  

Join us for a fun-filled Summer Cookout on the Quad! Any GT summer residents are invited to our Summer Cookout & Movie Night with free hot dogs, watermelon, and chips. We’ll have an outdoor movie, cornhole, and spike ball. Additionally, you can get creative with ceramic pots and succulents to paint while you watch the movie. Please refer to RHA website for updates regarding the date and time. Don’t miss out on the chance to grab some cool RHA merch like footballs and frisbees. See you there! 

📚 Study with RHA! 
📅 July 24^th & July 25th | 📍CULC/Library (Room Location TBA on RHA website) 

Need a study break on reading day? Join us for Study with RHA! We’ll provide free coffee and pastries from Blue Donkey with yummy snacks in the CULC/library to help you power through your exams. You can also pick up some RHA stress balls to keep the stress at bay. Come socialize, grab a snack, and study with us on July 24^th from 5-7PM & July 25^th from 3-5 PM. 

Hi, everybody! The RHA Executive Board is excited to announce that we are continuing the Election Process of Director of Administration for the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year. This post will detail the timeline of the election for everyone, detail the application process, provide the necessary documentation, and then finally link to the application. If you have not participated in an RHA election before, please make sure to read all of the available material to get proper context and information.

Election Timeline:

11/29: Application for the Director of Administration is live.

3/20 @11:59pm: Application for the Director of Administration closes

3/25 @11:59am: Candidate Information Page is published.

3/27 @8am: Candidates are required to submit materials for Election Night.

4/10 @7pm: Election

Application Process:

All applicants must have the following actions done by their respective dates:

• • Submit an application that is fully, correctly, and intentionally filled out.

• • Submit a slide deck for an 8 minute presentation.

• • Attend Legislative Council on April 10 7pm – 9pm.

• • Have not campaigned in any capacity.

• • Prepare for questions about RHA contributions, experience, knowledge, and intent.

Election Documentation:

Position Descriptions (Information within the Position Descriptions is subject to change)

Constitution

Policy Book

Exec Position Presentation: Will be uploaded at a later date.

Application Link:

Make sure to fill out every required question with a true, intentional, and helpful answer.

Make sure to save your answers separately, as Qualtrics has been known to delete answers upon refreshing.

• • FY25 Election Application

Join us once again for some Fall Fun at RHA’s 2nd Annual Fall Festival 🍂🎃 on Tuesday, October 31st, from 6-10PM. We’re here to help you celebrate Fall with various festivities and snacks!

Play some carnival games to win fun prizes or dare to venture into our haunted corn maze. Enjoy some good old-fashioned cathartic destruction with Pumpkin Paint & Pummel, where you can paint and then destroy helpless pumpkins! After that you can pet the cute animals in the petting zoo, and then check out some of our Community Council Officer-led booths with fun activities! During set-up, from around 11:00am to 2:30pm, there will also be 40+ adorable dogs wearing their best Halloween costumes. 

Be sure to register and sign the waiver on Engage. This is required for entry and participation in ANY activities! You will receive a wristband upon completing check-in at the event.

Before reading on, check out our video from Fall Festival last year!

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Pumpkin Paint & Pummel 🎃🔨 

• Looking to relieve some mid-semester stress? Take out your anger on some pumpkins! Come paint and then smash some fresh pumpkins with a large, heavy sledgehammer. Of course, if wanted, you can also just paint your pumpkin and take it home! 

Carnival Games & Prizes 🎪🏆

There will also be a variety of Fall-themed snacks and hot chocolate! Food will be first-come, first-serve.

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Check-In 

• To ensure waivers are completed, you will receive a wristband at the check-in area upon providing proof of waiver completion through Engage. Attendees will not be allowed to participate in ANY aspect of the event without a wristband. 

Safety 

• Clothing/Apparel: To smash pumpkins, you are required to wear closed-toe shoes. We will provide a hard hat, gloves, and safety goggles that you must wear to smash pumpkins! 
• Waiver: This must be filled out to participate in ANY activities at Fall Festival. Participants under 18 are required to have a parent’s signature to complete the waiver.

Volunteers

• Want to be part of what makes Fall Festival fun? Sign up to volunteer for a portion of the event! Volunteers get to have a full hour of Fall Festival fun before the event officially starts, and get entered into a raffle that is pulled at the end of the semester! Sign up here!

Does your residence hall have what it takes to save the most energy? As part of Campus Sustainability Month, we’re partnering with EcoReps to host a week-long energy reduction competition between on-campus residence halls. As a resident, you play a key role to reducing waste within your residence hall—this is also a great opportunity to learn environmentally sustainable behaviors!

The EcoReps Energy Saving Competition starts Monday, October 16^th and lasts until Sunday, October 22^nd. The winning residence hall will have a special party with food!  We’ll be updating the standings daily on @rhagt and at the bottom of this page! 

Tips & Tricks for Reducing Energy Use 

• Open blinds for natural light instead of turning on the lights. 
• Turn off lights when not in use. 
• Keep AC/HVAC close to outside temperature. 
• Conserve water—heating water takes a lot of energy! 
• Unplug all appliances when not in use.
• Report any drips or leaks by submitting a maintenance request. 
• Only wash your laundry when you have a full load, wash laundry on cold. 
• Air-dry instead of using a dryer.

Why is Energy Conservation Important? 

• Georgia’s energy profile is only 12% renewable. 
• Non-renewable energy emissions contribute to climate change and harm human health. 
• Air pollution is responsible for deaths related to lung cancer, stroke, and ischemic heart disease. 
• BIPOC are more likely to live/work near dirty energy sources, therefore exposed to 1.2-1.5x more to particulate matter than white non-Hispanic people. 

As a resident, you’re an important part in reducing the negative environmental effects of on-campus residence halls! While you may not be paying for utilities now, the ability to reduce waste by practicing environmentally sustainable behaviors is an essential skill that will help you transition to living on your own.

Who’s Winning? 

This challenge has ended. Congratulations to the Graduate Living Center!