- Constitutional reform
- Create new position of “facilities coordinator” (name pending)
- Example of GCHC: “Facilities Chair”
- Merge two other positions
- Perhaps Webmaster and Secretary
- Rename GSG Representative to reflect the full scope of their responsibilities
- Example of Lakeside: “External Relations Delegation”
- Rename committee meetings to encourage public participation
- Example of Lakeside: “Town hall meeting”
- Create new position of “facilities coordinator” (name pending)
- Playground
- Old playground will shortly be removed [note – the playground has been removed by the time of the publication of these notes)
- This process has been in the works for years
- Possible improvements to the new playground
- Water pooling
- Old playground will shortly be removed [note – the playground has been removed by the time of the publication of these notes)
- Long-term solution: drill holes, could take time
- Short-term solution: place squeegees by playground
- Some residents want fencing, some do not
- Could speak to EHS to ask if they’d like to do an evaluation
- Chris Warkala, HRES Operations Manager, is considering the problem
- We can consider improving methods for feedback for major facilities renovations like this in future, but the long timeframes involved mean that often the students in a position to give feedback will not be the ones to use any resource, and vice-versa
- Yoga class times in the spring
- Monday-Thursday 6:30 or later [note – yoga has been set to 8pm on Mondays since the meeting]
- Laundry machines
- Possibility of getting change machines in?
- Michael Hebditch reports that the University (both the GSG and university administration) are looking into installing new laundry machines, which may have a different payment method
- For example, a phone app
- Possibly get a tablet to leave in the room in case people forget their phones
- “As soon as possible” – no real estimate
- Transportation Update
- Nothing to report
- Housing Update
- Composting program is officially up and running!
- Food waste only, no paper products (it’s for animal feed)
- Housing is monitoring the program to make sure people are doing it well
- Composting program is officially up and running!
- Social Events Update
- First event will be a screening of the Great British Bake-off accompanied by tea and cakes
- February 15th or 22th (Saturdays)
- Second event not yet decided
- First event will be a screening of the Great British Bake-off accompanied by tea and cakes
- GSG Update
- Primary topic of discussion at the last GSG meeting was how to improve turn-out for the upcoming GSG election (in order to get a quorum to change the GSG constitution)
- Things not on the agenda
- Idea: what to do with the space where the old playground was? A covered bike shed! (like the one next to Lawrence 1)
- This idea has been passed on to HRES!
- The playground location may be inappropriate due to golf balls, but perhaps another location can be found.
- One result of a recent housing survey was that Lawrence students feel a lack of community. How can this be improved?
- It should be a regular event so that residents can drop in when convenient without needing to commit to anything
- For example, a weekly coffee hour
- Idea: what to do with the space where the old playground was? A covered bike shed! (like the one next to Lawrence 1)
- Week day? Weekend? There’s concern that people aren’t around on the weekend
- There’s a pre-existing coffee connect program with various groups on campus, but attendance is always pretty low.
- If a regular event starts to gain traction, we can use some of our budget to buy coffee and cakes, and if there’s good attendance, we can start seeking money from other sources
- This led to a brief discussion about how much we don’t even know our neighbors on our own floors
- Kevin: the Office of the Dean is currently working on ways to gauge the success of various programming, including when is the best time for programming
- Schedules are very different among all students, so consider having an event that meets regularly (e.g. weekly), but not always on the same day or at the same time, so that all students are able to attend at least some of the time
- Can we consider surveying residents?
- There are concerns about low turn-out, but we should still offer people an opportunity to speak
- Roll:
- Amit Halevi, President
- Chadi Saad-Roy, GSG Representative
- Michael Hebditch, HRES
- Kevin Fleming, Office of the Dean of the Graduate School
- Chris Tokita, Vice President
- Alec Downie, resident