News Archive

Hall Council Officer (HCO) Election Information—Apply NOW!

Introduction

🛑 Application Closed

The regular Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 application is now closed; the information on this page is just informational. Looking to submit a vacancy application and fill one of our vacant HCO positions? Check out this post.

The hundreds of events in and around all 49 residence halls across campus every year, the voice of thousands of residents, and one of the leading student leadership organizations at Tech—that’s us, and if you live on campus, you’re a part of it! RHA is the second largest student organization on campus, and we’re looking to recruit our next team of Hall Council Officers! If you’re interested in helping determine how over $250,000 gets spent annually for residents, planning events for your residence halls, or advocating for residents in your community, RHA is for you. Learn more about what RHA is here, and learn more about Hall Council Officers and Hall Councils here.

Although Hall Council events, meetings, and day-to-day operations will be hosted in person, Hall Council elections will be hosted completely virtually this year. Residents interested in running in their Hall Council elections must complete an application. Residents will then be able to view candidate applications and vote digitally for their Hall Council Officers.

Submit Your Application!

Informational Presentation

Looking for an overview of RHA, Hall Councils, and Hall Council Officer elections? We encourage every prospective candidate to view the below video in full, as it walks you through everything you need to know to be a successful applicant and Hall Council Officer!

Looking for a copy of the slides shared in the presentation? Check out the PDF below!

HCO Information SessionDownload

Reminders & Application Link

Positions Available

As discussed more here, each Hall Council has four open Hall Council Officer positions:

  1. Meetings Coordinator
  2. Communications Coordinator
  3. Finance Coordinator
  4. Events Coordinator

Elections Timeline

  • Sunday, August 29, 11:59PM EDT: application deadline
  • Friday, September 3, 5PM EDT – Sunday, September 5, 5PM EDT: voting
  • Monday, September 6, 10AM EDT: election results are released, at the latest

Application Overview

The application to serve as an HCO can be found here!

  • 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 is divided into two main components: (1) general information about you and (2) your leadership experience, platform, and goals and ideas as an HCO.
    • All candidates will write out answers to questions in Section 1.
    • Candidates will choose to respond to questions in Section 2 EITHER via video OR essay-styled written responses.

Bidding Down

We utilize a process called “bidding down” in HCO elections to offer prospective candidates the ability to run for more than one position. When you fill out your application, you will be able to indicate a primary position of interest and a secondary position of interest (your “bid down” position). If you do not win your election for your primary position of interest, you will be instantly considered for your second position of interest. Note that your primary position MUST be higher in gavel order than your secondary position of interest (Refer to the above section titled “Positions Available.” Your secondary position of interest must be lower in position than your primary position of interest).

If you are only interested in one position, you do not need to bid down to a secondary position of interest. If you win your election for your primary position of interest, you will not be considered for your secondary position of interest.

No Campaigning

No campaigning is allowed during HCO elections; your submitted application will be provided to every resident in your community to review, and the application must stand alone.

You may:

  • Inform friends and residents about HCO elections, generally
  • Encourage friends and residents to vote in HCO elections, generally
  • Introduce yourself to residents and start meeting other people in your community, so that residents and voters generally know who you are

You may not:

  • Use any campaign strategies that encourage residents to vote for a specific candidate
  • Create posters, flyers, or other physical/print campaigning materials
  • Create websites or other digital campaigning materials
  • Send out emails or mass messages that encourage residents to vote for a specific candidate

Why do we have a no campaigning policy?

  • Right now, the RHA Executive Board is a team of six people. We cannot realistically oversee campaigning and elections in 17 communities and 49 residence halls across campus; accordingly, if we allowed campaigning, there would be no feasible way for us to ensure that all candidates are following campaigning policies.
  • Forbidding campaigning and only allowing submitted applications to represent candidates allows us to preserve integrity and equity in our elections process. Not all candidates have equal access to resources (whether those resources be printing capabilities, the financial means to pay for posters or custom websites/domain names, or something else entirely). By disallowing campaigning, we believe that we create a more level playing field for all candidates, regardless of background and access to resources.
  • Recruiting HCOs and conducting a resident-wide elections process means that we already communicate lots with residents—over the past two weeks, we’ve sent every resident on campus multiple emails about RHA/Hall Councils/HCO Elections, hung door hangers on residents’ doors, encouraged RAs and HDs to send residents flyers and informational materials about HCO elections, and more. In the coming days, we’ll be reaching out to every resident yet again to share voting forms and candidate profiles with them. We don’t want residents to feel spammed with communications related to RHA and/or HCO elections, so we accordingly disallow campaigning to minimize the number of emails, flyers, knocks on doors, and more that residents receive during elections.

If you notice any candidate campaigning, please notify the RHA Executive Board by emailing rha-exec@groups.gatech.edu. Candidates caught campaigning will be subject to election penalties depending on the severity of the infraction.

Tabling

Have questions? Want to talk to the RHA Executive Board in person about Hall Councils and learn more about what RHA is all about? We’ll be tabling during the first week of classes, and we’d love for you to swing by! We’ll also have RHA merchandise—including stickers—for you to grab.

  • Monday, August 23, 7:00 – 8:00pm — Folk/Caldwell Courtyard
  • Tuesday, August 24, 7:15 – 8:15pm — Brittain Courtyard Outside of North Ave Dining
  • Thursday, August 26, 5:30 – 6:30pm — North Avenue Turnstiles
  • Friday, August 27, 3:00 – 4:00pm — 10th & Home

Contact Us

Have additional questions or concerns that you’d like to talk to us about? See our contact us page for information on how to reach out, and don’t hesitate to swing by our office hours to chat face-to-face.

We’re Hiring! Join RHA’s Executive Cabinet (PAID Leadership Positions)

Hi Fall Residents,

Georgia Tech’s Residence Hall Association (RHA) is hiring Executive Cabinet members, and we’d love to have you join our team. We have seven openings:

  • IT Coordinator
  • Visual Media Managers (2)—ideally, one visual media manager will specialize in graphic design, and one will specialize in photography
  • Resource Room Manager
  • Auditor
  • Resident Assistant Liaison
  • Elections Chair

Except for the Resident Assistant Liaison and Elections Chair roles, all positions are compensated between $900 and $1100 per semester. You can learn more about each position, RHA, and our Executive Cabinet in the attached Job Descriptions PDF. Note that these positions are not open to incoming first-year students.

Applications for the Executive Cabinet will be live through Friday, August 20, and an interview period will follow applications. A full timeline, along with more information, can be found in the Executive Cabinet application, here.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out!

I look forward to reading your applications,

Bryan Gomez, RHA Executive President

Executive-Cabinet-Job-DescriptionsDownload

This Weekend: 4 Events, Jeni’s Ice Cream, Kona Ice, Tiff Treats, Prizes, & More!

This weekend, RHA is hosting four unique events across campus, and you’re invited to all of them! These events are free to all on-campus residents and RAs—regardless of where you’re living this summer—and will feature delicious treats from Atlanta vendors or prize packages that you can win.

Friday, July 16, 6-8pm | Pop Up Party on West Campus, with Free Tiffs Treats 🍪

  • We’ll be out on the West Village Lawn with music, lawn games, and the Tiffs Treats Food Truck!
  • If this event has to be cancelled due to inclement weather and rescheduled, we will share information about the new date/time on our Instagram Story (@rhagt).

Saturday, July 17, 2-4pm | Pop Up Party on East Campus, with Jeni’s Ice Cream đźŤ¦

  • Meet us at the GT Connector Lawn (between Glenn and Towers residence halls) for music, lawn games, and free ice cream from Jeni’s!
  • This event is rain or shine! If it rains, we’ll move indoors to the bottom and top floors of the GT Connector.

Sunday, July 18, 2-4pm | Pop Up Party at Tenth and Home, with Kona Ice đźŤ§

  • Come find us at the Tenth and Home roundabout and courtyard for music, lawn games, and free Kona Ice (snow cones/shaved ice)!
  • If this event has to be cancelled due to inclement weather and rescheduled, we will share information about the new date/time on our Instagram Story (@rhagt).

Sunday, July 18, 8:15-9:30pm | Bingo Night at Brittain đźŚź

  • Join us in Brittain Dining Hall after hours for 10 rounds of BINGO, music, and the chance to win various prizes, including a Bluetooth Speaker, Amazon Echo Dot, Hydroflask, Whiteboard, LED Light Strips, and more!
  • Each prize package has an average retail value of over $30!

We’ll also be handing out our brand new stickers at each event, so don’t miss out!

Executive Order 22-02: Interim DOP Appointment

Last Monday, I announced the resignation of RHA’s elected Director of Programming and explained the need for an emergency application and appointment process to fill the new vacancy. I’m excited to announce that the first round of the search process—an internal search—yielded four qualified applicants for the position. Following careful consideration of each candidate’s application, resume, qualifications, commitments, and energy for the position, I’m pleased to announce that a further search is not needed and Gabe Gauderman will serve as RHA’s Interim Director of Programming, effective immediately, until the first Legislative Council session of the Fall 2021 semester.

Gabe has previously served with RHA as a Hall Council Officer in the Third Street community during the 2020 – 2021 academic year and has a demonstrated history of achievement and excellence in the residential landscape. The recipient of this past year’s Meetings Coordinator of the Year award and leader of the Hall Council of the Year, Gabe has engaged in nearly every facet of RHA and contributed immensely to developing the residential student experience in his community. Both outside and inside RHA, he planned 18 events during his first year at Georgia Tech and has worked first-hand with RHA’s Permanent Improvement process, which the Director of Programming currently oversees. Gabe understands the scope of the organization and, I’m confident, will be able to meaningfully contribute to not just his roles and responsibilities as Director of Programming but also the larger development and success of the organization. A great resource for running successful and engaging meetings, planning events, building community, advertising initiatives, engaging residents in submitting bills and attending Hall Council, pursuing large-scale projects for his residence halls, and collaborating with diverse groups across campus, Gabe Gauderman will be a great addition to our team.

When it comes time to do so, I hope that the Legislative Branch will support this decision emphatically. I’ve made this decision with the support and advice of the rest of the Executive Board and believe that this is the best decision for the protection and successful operation of the organization.

Respectfully signed,

Bryan M. Gomez, 2021-2022 Executive President

Executive Order 22-01: DOP Vacancy and Appointment Process

On April 26, 2021, RHA’s elected Director of Programming (DOP), Maria Costa, amicably resigned from her position for personal and medical reasons. Because RHA’s Legislative Council is not currently in session—and won’t be until Fall 2021—and per Article VIII, Section C of the organization’s Constitution, I, as the Executive President of the organization, have the authority to appoint an eligible candidate as an interim officer to fill the vacancy of the Director of Programming position.

Until an interim is appointed, I shall fulfill all duties and responsibilities of the position. Once an interim is appointed, they will remain in the position until the first Legislative Council meeting of the Fall 2021 semester, which is tentatively scheduled for September 2021, during which elections for the position will be held and the Legislative Council will formally elect a successor to the position. It is my intent to appoint an interim who fully plans on and will commit to serving in the elected Director of Programming position for the entire 2021-2022 term, in addition to their role as an interim DOP.

Although, come Fall, the Legislative Council will formally and constitutionally have the right to elect a new successor to the position—different from the interim officer appointed—I strongly recommend and encourage that the Legislative Council treat the election as a confirmation, formally electing the candidate who was appointed as an interim and not another candidate who may run for the position. The situation that is before us—of a vacancy that must be filled by appointment while Legislative Council is out of session for at least four months—is unprecedented, and the organization will benefit from as little turnover as possible. Over the next four months, the interim Director of Programming that I appoint will receive comprehensive training, contribute hundreds of hours to the organization, and begin planning campus-wide programming for the entire 2021-2022 academic year. By the time elections are held in Fall 2021, it is my belief that there will be no better candidate for the position than the interim officer that has been appointed.

To fill the vacancy for the Director of Programming position, I will conduct an internal search for a successor candidate starting Monday, April 26, 2021. This internal search will last no longer than a week; if, after one week, an internal search has not yielded an adequate interim, I will begin an external, resident-wide search for a successor starting Monday, May 3. This external search is to last, at most, two weeks. If, by Monday, May 17, an adequate successor has not been identified, the search for an interim will be called off, and the position will remain vacant until further notice, with the Executive President fulfilling all duties and responsibilities of the position until election proceedings can resume, per the normal methods, once Legislative Council is back in session.

Respectfully signed,

Bryan M. Gomez, 2021-2022 Executive President