2015 NACURH Outstanding Advocacy Initiative

Student Residence Fee Increase Initiative

Outstanding Advocacy Initiative Award University of British Columbia PACURH Region NACURH 2015 at North Dakota State University

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction to Residence at UBC.............................................................................. 2 Initial RHA Attitude towards Advocacy ..................................................................... 3 Introduction to the Problem ........................................................................................ 4 Typical Avenues for Advocacy .................................................................................. 4 Limitations to Advocacy .............................................................................................. 5 UBC RHA Approach ...................................................................................................... 5

GOALS Action Taken by the RHA ............................................................................................. 6 Measureable Success .................................................................................................. 7 Goals Not Achieved ..................................................................................................... 8

IMPLEMENTATION Process ............................................................................................................................ 8 Timeline ........................................................................................................................... 9 Involvement of External Groups ...............................................................................10 Meeting the Needs of Students ................................................................................11

EVALUATION Impact of Advocacy Initiative ..................................................................................12 Concrete Changes .....................................................................................................12

CONCLUSION Organizational Achievement and Growth .............................................................13 Future Initiatives and Focuses Moving Forward .....................................................14 Implementing Similar Initiatives at Other Institutions ..............................................14 LETTERS OF SUPPORT....................................................................................................15

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INTRODUCTION Introduction to Residence at UBC The University of British Columbia believes that residence experience is important and highly beneficial to students, both academically and socially. UBC has long been recognized as an outstanding provider of student housing in Canada. With a thriving student population of over 50,000 students enrolled at UBC, approximately 9,500 of those students live on campus in Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) operated residences. Despite a significant 50% increase in the number of beds available on campus offered by SHHS in the last 10 years, representing a 3000 bed increase, the waitlists keep on growing.

As of January 2015, the Vancouver housing market was ranked second least affordable in the world. Though this is a difficult pill to swallow for those looking to settle down in Vancouver, these prices greatly affect UBC students as the demand for on campus housing at UBC is slowly forcing students to weigh their off-campus housing options. The Vancouver region’s mean home price last year was 10.6 times the local median pre-tax household income, indicating someone earning $100 000 a year would typically pay $1 060 000 for a house. One can only imagine how large of a gap there would be for a full-time student with a part-time job trying to pay rent.

As the demand for housing on-campus at UBC increases, so do the waitlists and the frustration of UBC students. In 2011, upon opening doors to two brand new first year residence buildings, with a total bed capacity of approximately 800, UBC implemented their first year guarantee policy. This policy was put into place to ensure every first year student who wished to gain the experience of living in residence had the opportunity. In theory the idea is fantastic and though they did not reach full capacity in the policy’s first year, they soon did. The issue arose when SHHS was found to have more first year students requesting residence than they had room for in their traditional style residences, typically set aside for this student population. With market prices increasing and the demand for on-campus housing going up, this situation has left a large number of upper year students displaced and searching for housing off campus.

A lit up evening view of many of the residence high rise towers at UBC

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This year SHHS was unable to house all first year students in their two designated traditional style housing communities, Totem Park and Place Vanier, which represent a combined total of 3127 beds. The solution was to combine Ritsumeikan-UBC House with Totem Park in order to add another 200 beds to the first year community. Ritsumeikan-UBC House was established as a symbol of UBC’s academic partnership with Ritsumeikan University in Japan, and currently holds a mixture of Japanese and first year residents. This addition however was not enough to meet the demands, so first year students are currently living in Walter Gage Residence, an upper year suite-style residence consisting of 3 towers and apartment suites. Several floors of two of the towers have been designated for first year students to ensure they still have the experience of living among their peers.

At UBC there are two types of housing offered by SHHS, 8-month winter session residence contracts and year round residence contracts. Some residence areas are a mixture of both, whereas some consist of one or the other. Since many students wish to go home or travel over the summer, 8-month contacts are always in high demand therefore the waitlists are massive accordingly. In order to allocate housing for the 8-month residence contracts, SHHs has implemented a Residence Allocation Process (RAP) program which bases your chances of getting housing on a lottery process. Year round contracts however are allocated on a first come first serve basis, as SHHS prefers to have year round contacts confirmed early. Unlike 8-month contract holders, year round residents have the option to renew their contract yearly. During this past summer, the waitlist for housing on campus capped at 5200 students at its peak times leaving a large chunk of students unsure of where they were going to live come September.

Initial RHA Attitude towards Advocacy The Residence Hall Association at UBC is well known for its wide-spread programming, efforts related to student engagement and overall presence within the residence community. In past years, the RHA was not perceived to have a strong presence as advocates due to the nature of the issues at hand.

Most of the issues within residence that the RHA has advocated on were small-scale issues such as dining hall hours and an increase in the accessibility of community transportation.

This year however, the RHA Executive Council had a different idea in mind. During summer training, Ponderosa Commons Residence Association (PCRA) President Jake Mullan presented a speech on advocacy. The presentation consisted of a personal story of Jake’s that included roadblocks and subsequent struggles he had faced while trying to Jake winning his award at RHA advocate on behalf of his residents living in August Training Ponderosa Commons. Phase 1 of Ponderosa Commons was recently opened at UBC to upper year students as a suite-style residence.

Not only was Jake’s perseverance inspiring, it also motivated other residence areas to put more of a focus on listening to residents needs and advocating on their behalf. Jake was named the RHA All-Star of summer training, which was largely due to the success of his 3

presentation on advocacy and the challenging questions he posed to SHHS administration during their visit to RHA training. Jake’s presentation was a great precursor for what was about to hit UBC; it provided the groundwork for all advocacy efforts the RHA was soon to embark on.

Introduction to the Problem This past fall, on October 6th, the Managing Director of UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services, Andrew Parr, attended the RHA Executive Meeting to present the University’s plan for Residence Growth and Student Experience. During this presentation, Andrew Parr, started by highlighting UBC’s Residence Life Program, stating the academic and social value the experience has for the students who partake. As a school, UBC benchmarked well against other schools of similar size, signifying the school’s commitment to offering a first class residence experience for their students. Parr then went on to explain the way in which UBC and Student Housing and Hospitality Services decides on their “Pricing Principles”; covering all costs associated with operating a residence area as well as keeping the costs at or below market rate. With UBC Residence growth occurring at an exceeding rate, changes had to be made to support the increase in beds and services necessary for the expanding program.

In order to accomplish this plan, the University was proposing a 20% fee increase in 8 month residence contract fees at UBC Vancouver, as well as a $285 increase to the meal plan Capital Improvement Fund. This would equate to a cost increase of $108 to $140 per month for each student residing in 8 month residence making rent in a traditional single room approximately $750 per month. Typically residence fees are only increased by 1% to 3% each year, so this drastic escalation in fees was shocking. This funding was allocated to be spent between three different areas; residence and food services growth, student support and financial aid. $2.4 million was to be allocated to residence and food services growth to help support the financing of 1600 new beds on campus by the end of 2016 and the introduction of one new residence cafeteria. $2.5 million was to be spent on expanding programs and services for students, including Residence Life and Student Development, to meet current and future needs. Lastly, $1.4 million was allocated for financial aid to support access to residence to low and middle-income students to ensure housing accessibility.

Justification included comparisons to market and comparable Canadian institution rates.

This fee increase was presented to the RHA and other student leaders on campus alongside a 10% increase in international student tuition. Unlike the formal consultation which is required for tuition increases, no formal consultation with students was designated for the residence fee increase.

Limitations to Advocacy In previous years, the UBC RHA has advocated on behalf of residents needs on minor issues typically facing the residents of a specific residence area. These problems were typically solved by working with the Area Residence Life Manager. In this way, the majority of advocating that had been done by the RHA had occurred as prepositions put forth to the RLM, who in turn, recognizing the needs of students, would encourage SHHS to act to resolve the issue. As an Executive Council, we had seldom been required to face an issue that required all residence areas to collaborate to speak on behalf of a problem which affected all residents at UBC. While the RLMs were supportive in our venture to lobby the University to provide appropriate justification for extensive fee increases they were not in a 4

position to advocate to SHHS or the University on the resident’s behalf. For this reason, the RHA’s typical avenues for advocacy were likely not going to be effective when facing the problem at hand.

As an organization we had not dealt with a long term, large scale issue on which the RHA had needed to take a stance. That being said, when the fee increase issue was introduced to the RHA, there were limited avenues in which the RHA could take action.

While the RHA had maintained a strong relationship with Student Housing and Hospitality Services, we did not have a working connection in which we were consulted upon decisions being put forth by the University. In order to bring a firmer bargaining voice to the table, the RHA would need to form stronger affiliations with the people making decisions on behalf of students at the University. Recognizing the limitations to how the RHA had been structured in terms of advocacy, we took it upon ourselves as a council to implement this changed view.

UBC RHA Approach With the realization that the University was under no formal obligation to implement a consultation period with students regarding residence fee increases, the RHA decided that they must act to ensure that resident’s opinions were not overlooked in this matter. As the elected members representing students residing at UBC, the RHA led the on campus advocacy effort on this issue.

As an organization, the UBC While the RHA maintains a strong collaborative relationship RHA placed themselves at the with Residence Life Staff as demonstrated above, they do not forefront of this problem to tackle it head on through maintain a working partnership in which they consult with SHHS meeting attendance, administration documentation review, resident education and event organization. Given that University officials were the ones approaching the RHA proposing the fee increases, students alone were left to face this challenge. Together, campus leaders worked to bring a student voice to the bargaining table.

GOALS Action Taken by the RHA Once the shock had sunk in, it was clear that the RHA had strong opposing opinions on the proposed 20% increase. Though UBC RHA members represent a wide variety of financial situations, all members were passionate about the issue no matter if it directly 5

affected them or not. Once the entire council realized we were all in support of pursuing this advocacy effort, we worked together to create several attainable goals:    

To educate residents with the most recent and relevant information that had been provided to us, while ensuring this information was backed up with factual documentation To seek constant opportunities to further our knowledge on the subject matter while striving to collaborate with other groups with vested interests To publish a public statement that representing the RHA’s opinions on the increase as directed by the residents To build enough student and resident support to stop the increases from going through

Since we were not presented with all the facts up front, it became an ongoing process to gain more information on the 20% increase. We were constantly learning more information on the issue and asking critical questions to those who should have answers, determined to share all information with residents. In order to advocate on behalf of our residents, they need to know what is occurring to form their own opinions, which we can advocate on behalf of.

The RHA decided to host “Teach-Ins” where residents could come to learn about the increase, ask questions and ultimately voice their opinions. We elected to host three “Teach-Ins” on three consecutive nights to provide equal opportunity for attendance to as many residents as possible. Two took place in the first year residence communities, Place Vanier and Totem Park, whereas the third was held in Walter Gage Residence, an upper year suite-style residence which is housing a portion of the first year community. We targeted these three residences because the increase only applies to 8-month residence contracts, and these three areas house the majority of those students who would be affected. We also advertised and encouraged residents from the four other residence areas to attend one of the three Teach-Ins.

The banner the RHA used to advertise the Teach-Ins held in the various residence areas

Before these Teach-Ins were to take place, the RHA was determined to have a public statement published that represented the RHA’s opinions on the increase. A lot of time and effort went into creating this statement, as the RHA is not only representing those who sit at the RHA Executive meetings, but every single resident at UBC. We wanted the 6

statement to have a professional tone, be solely based on facts and not accusations, and ultimately stand up for the rights of residents. As mentioned above, not all the facts were provided at the beginning so as we learned more about the increase and where SHHS was planning to allocate the money, we had to constantly transform the statement to reflect the most current information. Finally, on November 12th our official RHA statement, reflecting the views of residents, was publicized on the RHA website.

Due to the large amount of documentation provided to the RHA in the form of housing demand studies, University budget distributions and increased funding allocations, one of the goals of the RHA was to determine that the figures aligned and there were no miscalculations made when determining average market value in the area surrounding the University. Much of the University’s justification was based on the idea that comparable housing off campus came at a significantly increased cost, therefore we wanted to ensure that the Housing Demand study they had provided to support this claim was accurate.

Through extensive review of documents, the RHA along with the University’s Student Government, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), were able to discover inconsistencies within the Housing Demand study provided to student leaders as justification for increased housing fees. Armed with this information, the RHA was able to ask critical questions of SHHS as to how they would be following their “Pricing Principles” provided the documentation they had used to compare off campus market values was incorrect.

Though much of our communication and advocacy efforts had been targeted at SHHS and the Vice President, Students at UBC, the Board of Governors (BOG) makes the final decision. Fortunately, the RHA was allocated a spot to present at the Board of Governors meeting on Thursday, February 12th to speak on behalf of residents. Our goal was to display the flaws and mistakes within the UBC Housing Demand study, commissioned to identify comparable market rates in the city of Vancouver, strike a chord with the BOG and hopefully sway their vote. Kaitlyn Melton, RHA President, The RHA President, Kaitlyn Melton, presented to the Board of along with Anne Kessler, Governors on February 12th UBC AMS Vice-President Academic and University Affairs, spoke on behalf of residents at this meeting and various RHA members and student leaders attended the meeting in support.

Throughout this entire process, the students that make up the RHA at UBC were leaders in creating and achieving these goals. With the undying support of our advisors, they put the driving wheel in our hands and really let us take ownership over this advocacy effort.

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Goals Not Achieved Throughout the RHA Advocacy effort it was at the forefront of our minds that one of our main goals was to educate as many residents as possible about the proposed fee increases. We determined the more presence we were able to build on campus for this issue, the greater likelihood we would have of more students becoming involved and speaking out about the injustice. While we did reach and exceed several of our goals of releasing a formally documented opinion, hosting several successful Teach-Ins and securing a spot to address the Board of Governors, we unfortunately were unable to bring about a positive outcome after the February 12th Board of Governor’s meeting where the fee increase was discussed. We were unsuccessful in eliminating or reducing the proposed increase. However, due to our strong presence this past year we were able to educate many residents on this prudent issue. In addition we were able to influence the Board of Governors and bring to their attention that UBC needs to find an alternative method to fund student support services other than through residence fees. The Board of Governor’s made recommendations to UBC that housing costs should only be increased by inflation for the next two years, at which point a better solution for funding should be determined.

Entering second semester, approaching the date for the Board of Governor’s decision, much of the RHA Advocacy effort was focused on preparing for the boardroom presentation and collaborating with campus partners, leaving limited time to engage with residents. While residents were still aware of the proposed fee increases, the UBC RHA did not take further steps to ensure it was at the forefront of their attention. This was due to the lack of resources and experience in dealing with such a large scale advocacy effort that required the majority of the RHA’s involvement. Given that many developments occurred over the winter holiday break it was difficult for students, both involved and not directly affected to stay engaged with the issue.

IMPLEMENTATION Process This initiative was implemented in several steps once the RHA was initially introduced to the problem. After the first meeting with SHHS, much of the following weeks were spent further investigating the exact details of the residence fee increase proposal. There were many critical questions that needed to be answered and justifications to be made by University officials. Given that the RHA was not provided with all the relevant documentation at the first meeting with University officials a significant amount of time was spent tracking down the appropriate documentation needed to help provide concrete figures. Once the appropriate documentation was retrieved, considerable effort was spent critically reviewing to find errors which could lead to an unjustified proposal by SHHS. The RHA was then able to form an opinion on the fee increase which could be formally supported by the RHA Statement. Teach-Ins were then planned, advertised and executed on campus in residence to inform students of the proposed changes. Throughout this time, the RHA executives continued to attend meetings with University officials and sit on working groups with other campus leaders. Finally, the RHA petitioned the Board of Governors to allow an address to occur by the RHA President at their official Board meeting on February 12th.

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Timeline of Meetings The following is a timeline of all the meetings, protests, presentations, open forums and discussions where the RHA has been represented over the past year: October 6 - Presentation from Andrew Parr at RHA Meeting, Fee increases proposed October 14 - I Am A Student Teach In - RHA speaks October 15 - Vice Presidents Students (VPS) Meeting  Residence Growth and the Student Experience: Program Services and Priorities  Intro to Housing Demand Study October 20 - Strategy meeting with AMS October 22 - Follow up meeting to October 15th meeting with VPS and Provost October 24 - I Am A Student Protest October 27 - Advisory and Working Groups formed (RHA has seat on both, alongside International Students’ Association (ISA) and AMS representatives) October 28 - AMS Annual General Meeting October 28 – University Town Hall held by President’s Office October 29 - First Advisory Group Meeting October 31 - University Town Hall held by President’s Office October 31 - First Working Group Meeting November 4 - Working Group Meeting November 4 - Meeting to review Housing Demand study (AMS and RHA) November 5 - Meeting with VPS, SHHS - Housing Growth Presentation and Student Services Presentation November 5 - University Town Hall held by President’s Office November 5 - AMS Council confirms support of AMS AGM motions November 6 - Advisory Group Meeting November 7 - Financial Aid Meeting Discussion (Ben Pollard, VPS Louise Cowin, RHA, AMS, ISA) November 12 - Advisory Group Meeting November 12 - Financial Aid Meeting Discussion (Ben Pollard, VPS Louise Cowin, RHA, AMS, ISA) November 12 – RHA Official Statement released November 14 - Housing Follow up with SHHS and VPS November 18 - Meeting with UBC President and Vice-Chancellor, Arvind Gupta November 18 - Second Quarter Budget Review - (Provost, Comptroller) November 18 to November 20 - RHA Hosted Teach-Ins November 20 - Financial Aid Discussion Meeting November 20 - Working Group Meeting November 20 - Advisory Group Meeting November 21 - Residence Contract Review Meeting (AMS) December 1 - Advisory Group Meeting December 2 - Board of Governors meets about Tuition December 4 - Advisory Group Meeting January 21 - VPS Students Meeting - Housing follow ups and final questions January 26 - Report submitted to Board of Governor’s January 29 - RHA speaks at I Am A Student Protest # 2 February 12 - Board of Governor’s Meeting

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Involvement of External Groups Throughout this process, the UBC RHA has expanded their view on advocacy in order to better place themselves in a position of power when dealing with the University on issues which directly affect residents. When dealing with the fee increase, one of the largest steps the RHA took was expanding their relations with other external groups on campus which had the power to influence decisions being made. This included fostering better relationships with the Alma Mater Society, the International Students Association (ISA), the University’s Vice Presidents, Students portfolio and Student Housing and Hospitality Services.

Over the past several months, the RHA has actively engaged with AMS to take a strong stance to oppose the impending fee increases. Together the RHA and the AMS have researched provided documentation, met to discuss an action plan and have worked to write and present a submission to the Board of Governors. As student leaders elected to speak on behalf of the students and residents we represent, Student Housing and Hospitality Services provided us many documents justifying the supposed need for the fee increase, allocation of increased funding and the demand study which provides insight into the current campus housing situation. Along with the AMS executives, the RHA executives researched over 200 pages of documentation and survey results to determine if there were any inconsistencies present in the university’s justification for the fee increases. This working collaboration allowed the RHA to be paired with a very strong organization representing the student voice on campus and put the RHA in a better position to advocate on behalf of residents.

As the University presented this fee increase two-fold, affecting both residents and international students, the RHA was also able to collaborate with the ISA as they represented their constituents. The ISA worked with the RHA and AMS in many of the same consultation sessions to determine where the funding was going to be spent and why it was necessary. Similar to housing increases, the ISA was reviewing documentation regarding the international tuition fee increase and was able to share knowledge with the RHA. As well, as the population of UBC residence has a large component of international students, the ISA was also working with the RHA and AMS to represent their students on both issues as they both related to international students. Working with the ISA gave both the RHA and ISA a stronger voice when expressing concerns to the University officials.

At UBC, the Vice President, Students portfolio is responsible for overseeing the direction and operation of Student Housing and Hospitality Services, in addition to several other Student Services units. As the news of the fee increases was revealed there were many meetings held with the UBC Vice President, Students, Louise Cowin, and the rest of the Directors who work under her. Typically these meetings are reserved for attendance by the AMS Executives and Faculty Representatives only, however as the RHA saw this as an issue which directly affected our residents, we fought to be included in these meetings.

Through attendance at these meetings we were able to gather additional information which helped to clarify many of the questions we had, as well as ask questions directly to the University officials who put forth the plan to increase residence fees. This allowed us much greater access to speak on behalf of residents as we were able to request immediate responses to questions we had, as well we were able to express the opinions of our residents in an open forum for discussion. This put us in a position of strength when advocating as we were given direct access to the discussions where negotiations and justifications were going to occur. The VP Students Office additionally consulted with the RHA on how to best format 10

the structure of the financial aid component from the fee increase. This allowed us to represent a resident voice in how financial aid is allocated so that University officials were able to best distribute support for housing costs.

While many officially recognized and elected student groups, such as the RHA, ISA and AMS, played a large role in the effort to publicize and oppose the fee increases there was also a grassroots organization which emerged from the necessity to create public opposition on the issue. The “I Am A Student” movement group was composed of many students who were involved on campus and were invested in opposing the increases to international tuition and residence fees. Unlike the RHA, AMS or ISA, they were focused on the creation of a mass movement of students to educate other students on the matter.

They held several protests and focused much of their efforts on an advertising campaign, postering all areas of the school and residence areas.

The I Am A Student movement can largely be credited for the success of meeting student quorum at the AMS Annual General Meeting where students voted for the AMS to officially oppose the fee increases and take action against the Students’ turnout to protest the increase in residence fees University.

Meeting the Needs of Students The fact that the University had no formal obligation to consult students on the housing fee increases put students in a very bad position to have any say on major decisions which affect students at UBC. This movement was initiated by the RHA to give students the voice they would not have otherwise. Having a position of leadership on campus gave the RHA Executives an additional advantage as they were able to interact and communicate with campus officials making decisions on behalf of students. This movement aimed to meet the needs of the student population through education of residents, listening to resident’s opinions, rallying support and speaking on behalf of those who do not have the power to do so. Through the tireless efforts of the RHA, the executives worked to meet the needs of students on this issue. While the Board’s decision was in opposition to the outcome the RHA was hopeful for, the hard work put forth in this advocacy initiative will help to prevent future situations similar to this as per the Board’s recommendation to find alternative funding sources.

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EVALUATION The success of this initiative cannot be solely measured on the Board of Governor’s decision to go through with the proposed fee increase. While residence fees will be increasing for the upcoming year, the Board’s endorsement to only increase residence fees by inflationary rates in upcoming years signify that this advocacy effort had an impact on the future of funding for student services, residence growth and financial aid at UBC. The RHA was able to successfully educate residents and determine some level of achievement based on how many other goals Record attendance was achieved at the AMS AGM where the were accomplished RHA NCC can be seen sitting in the third row through this initiative.

There were many residents present at the Teach-ins hosted by the RHA where the RHA directly educated students on the vital information gathered about the fee increases. There was also a significant presence of RHA membership present at the AMS AGM helping to reach quorum and asking the Student Union to take a strong stance against the proposed fee increases. The RHA was also able to locate factual inconsistencies in documentation as well as release an official statement opposing the fee increases.

Impact of Advocacy Initiative This initiative has had a significant impact on the structure and goals of the RHA Executive Council in changing the way that they think about advocacy. As mentioned, before this problem arose the UBC RHA was not structured in a way to strongly support a campus wide initiative that affected all residents at UBC. Through the work completed over the past year, the RHA is in a substantially stronger place to truly speak on behalf of residents faced with a significant change implemented by University officials without consultation with students. While we are aware the short term impact from our efforts on this issue has not been able to decrease residence fees, in the long term the RHA is in a much better position through their improved relationships with external groups and their increased publicity as an influential organization on campus.

Concrete Changes Based on the significant efforts of the RHA Executives working on this initiative the RHA has secured a relationship with the Vice President, Students office, the official campus platform overlooking the direction and leadership of Student Housing and Hospitality Services. The fact that the RHA was given the opportunity to sit at the table for many of the 12

discussions with these decision makers signifies change in the way the VP, Students office views the RHA as an organization. We are no longer only event programmers, but play a valuable role at the University in negotiation on issues which affect residents. Due to the increased visibility of our organization and relations with external groups, the RHA now has a better connection with the Vice President, Students portfolio and has continued to partake in consultations surrounding residence financial aid models.

While the UBC RHA has always maintained a strong relationship with Student Housing and Hospitality Services, SHHS Executives had not seen the need to consult with resident leaders when making large decisions affecting all residents of UBC. Recognizing that this was a problem in the way in which our working association was formed, the RHA has advocated to SHHS to involve the RHA Executive Council more in decision discussions. SHHS has made a formal commitment to a consultation plan in which they will present to the UBC RHA four times each year as follows: 1.

2.

3.

4.

August Training: Introduction and welcome orientation September Meeting: Review of projects and other fiscal objectives Late November: Rental rates and budget review Early March: Contract changes and project progress reports

This already be seen this year as SHHS consulted with the RHA when it was time to review the Residence Contract. The RHA has also been present at several meetings where new project developments have been discussed and input has been requested. This symbolizes the continued growth in this working relationship and shows SHHS has already made a commitment to change based on our advocacy efforts.

The RHA has made a much larger presence for themselves as an organization on campus as a result of the work conducted on this advocacy initiative. Whereas, student government failed to recognize the RHA as a legitimate organization with any ability to represent residents on campus, the RHA is now included in working groups of student leaders within student government. The AMS recognizes the RHA’s ability and strength to work on issues directly affecting residents as we have connections within our residence halls that the AMS is unable to form. The AMS has reached out to the RHA many times over the past year to determine our opinion or ask about the best way to go about an initiative connecting with residents. Because of the work put into this initiative the UBC RHA is now a much more influential organization at UBC as a resource or for collaborative efforts.

CONCLUSION Organizational Achievement and Growth The RHA’s growth as an organization could indubitably be the most valuable achievement accomplished by this initiative. We went from a council with strong programming and essentially very limited advocacy efforts to an influential campus organization and resource through our work on this initiative. Shaping a new attitude towards how changes should be made in housing and working to ensure that the RHA is consulted in the future has put the organization in a much better place to speak and negotiate on behalf of residents. We are now approaching advocacy as the forefront of 13

our organizations mission realizing as elected leaders it is our duty to serve residents in this way. Improved relations with external groups has put the RHA in a much better position to fulfill this duty in the future.

Future Initiatives and Focuses Moving Forward The UBC RHA plans to continue to advocate on residence fee increases to ensure that future RHA’s don’t face similar situations. The AMS and VP Students Office have both voiced their support in helping the RHA draft legislation which limits future rent increases to that of the British Columbia Residents’ Tenancy Act. The University’s official policy on consultation is also under review. Through this review it is the expectation of the RHA that the University will modify their consultation process to include formal consultation with students regarding residence fee increases.

Though many members of RHA tend to stay within the association for 2-3 years, in the past it has been a challenge to maintain consistency, particularly related to issues and projects the RHA has addressed. This year’s RHA has identified some areas for improvement.

Through individual transition reports written by RHA Executives to their successor, our RHA President, Kaitlyn Melton, has embarked on a history project to trace back as far as she can to UBC’s RHA and the various efforts and initiatives that have been worked on in the past.

Our hope is that this will serve as a major public executive report that will be passed down and added to for years to come. This report is an attempt to solidify RHA’s work and ensure that unfinished business and traditions are properly communicated and remembered by future RHA councils.

Within this project there will be a portion dedicated to this year’s RHA advocacy efforts. Since an advocacy effort this large in scale had not been attempted by the UBC RHA in quite some time, there was no example for us to work from. With any first attempt at something, there are always areas of improvement.

Implementing Similar Initiatives at Other Institutions While residence fees are a major concern at many institutions, faced with similar challenges, other RHAs could follow our lead to carry out a similar advocacy effort for their students. By working closely with external organizations and University officials we were able to gather information which we then used to educate our residents. Given the opportunity this could also be completed at other schools. Based on the institution’s organizational structure, resident leaders would also be able to form stronger relationships with the portfolio tasked with making decisions on how residence fees are increased and allocated.

This year UBC's RHA grew to understand the importance of maintaining open and honest lines of communication with SHHS, and the extent to which it could further our capacity to advocate on behalf of our residents. This has been a valuable lesson for us, and something that other school's also have the potential to benefit from. Our success on this initiative was contingent on ongoing communication with Student Housing and Hospitality Services being professional and constructive. It was because of this that SHHS continued to negotiate with our organization and has committed to approaching us in the future. If we had lacked the emotional control to exhibit this behaviour, it is likely SHHS would not want to deal with the RHA as an organization.

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Letters of Recommendation:

!!!!! !

February!7,!2015!

Dear!PACURH,!

I!am!writing!to!share!my!support!for!the!University!of!British!Columbia!Residence!Hall!Association’s!bid! for!the!Outstanding!Advocacy!Initiative!Award.!The!RHA!has!been!working!tirelessly!since!early!October! on!the!issue!of!the!proposal!of!a!twenty!percent!fee!increase!for!a!portion!of!residence!students!at!UBC.! !

When!the!members!of!the!RHA!first!became!aware!of!this!proposal,!they!capably!processed!their!own! thoughts!and!feelings!related!to!the!issue,!sought!the!opinions!of!their!peers,!and!were!able!to!quickly! formulate!an!action!plan,!identifying!key!leaders,!outlining!goals!and!outcomes!and!planning!a! thoughtful!and!constructive!response.! !

As!indicated!in!the!bid,!UBC’s!RHA!hasn’t!really!had!the!need!or!opportunity!to!provide!significant! advocacy!for!residents!in!recent!years.!However,!when!this!polarizing!issue!presented!itself,!this! important!aspect!of!student!governance!became!necessary.!The!way!in!which!the!RHA!leaders!have! approached!this!issue!and!conducted!themselves!has!been!outstanding.! !

While!the!RHA!President,!Kaitlyn!Melton,!has!taken!on!the!majority!of!the!responsibility!for!this! initiative,!she!ensured!to!engage!other!members!of!her!executive!team!in!attending!meetings,!writing! proposals,!educating!residents!and!representing!the!RHA!at!campus!events.!It!has!truly!been!a! collaborative!effort!that!required!teamwork,!excellent!communication!and!aligned!values.! !

The!RHA!has!professionally!focused!on!the!issues!at!hand,!worked!collaboratively!with!other!student! organizations,!most!notably!the!Alma!Mater!Society!and!the!International!Students’!Association!and! maintained!a!positive!relationship!with!Student!Housing!and!Hospitality!Services.!At!every!step,!the!RHA! carefully!considered!the!impact!of!their!efforts!and!whether!or!not!it!was!achieving!their!intended! outcome,!they!did!thorough!research,!both!in!reviewing!documents,!meeting!with!key!stakeholders!and! asking!important!questions.!They!have!had!very!thoughtful!discourse!in!numerous!meetings!discussing! this!initiative!that!has!become!a!major!priority.!! !

There!have!been!several!outcomes!of!this!initiative,!most!notably:!the!intentional!education!of!residents! via!“TeachVIns”!to!ensure!everyone!who!chose!to!could!be!aware!of!the!issues!at!play,!the!release!of!an! official!statement!by!the!RHA!asserting!their!position!on!the!issue,!solidifying!their!voice!as!the! representative!of!residents!through!attendance!at!meetings!with!key!decision!makers!and,!the! opportunity!to!address!the!Board!of!Governors!related!to!this!issue.! !

It!is!with!respect!that!I!write!this!letter!of!recommendation!for!the!UBC!RHA’s!bid!for!the!Outstanding!

Advocacy!Initiative!Award.!I!believe!that!this!group!is!absolutely!deserving!of!recognition!for!their! endeavours.! !

Sincerely,!!

Kate!Murray! !

!

Assistant!Director!Residence!Life!and!RHA!Advisor!

Student!Housing!and!Hospitality!Services,!University!of!British!Columbia!

15

UBC Residence Hall Association Student Housing and Hospitality Services Office | Marine Drive Building 6 University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus rha@mail.housing.ubc.ca To Whom it May Concern, It is with great pride that I write this letter of support on behalf of the RHA’s efforts and initiative to oppose increases in Student Housing Fees. This year marked an incredible change for the RHA in their attitudes towards advocacy, and I believe it will be regarded as a landmark year for the RHA in the future.

In one of the worst housing markets in the world, housing affordability needs to be a top priority, and is definitely a major concern with students, which is something the RHA recognized very early on this year. The past several months have been an exercise in building both the understanding of what it means to advocate on a larger a scale, as well as increasing our own capacity to do so. This meant putting ourselves in a position where our voices would be heard by those who needed to, which can be challenging on a campus with tens of thousands of people.

Overall, the representatives who attended meetings on behalf of the RHA were remarkable in their professionalism yet critical approach to everything that was brought to the table. Throughout the process a number of different University Administrative staff remarked how good it was to be seeing RHA involved in the process and actively participating on that side of things, and that they were glad to be able to work in close consultation with us.

Beyond meetings, building the capacity to advocate meant also building an understanding of how decisions were made on the administrative level, and what the best avenues were to influence that. This is where the increased connections between RHA and the student government, the AMS, become instrumental, and a major takeaway that will continue into the future. Both groups have access to connections and resources that are strengthened when shared with each other, a valuable lesson that has played a huge factor in RHA’s influence throughout this entire process.

A number of different RHA members have been fully invested in this initiative since it began in early October, and I am more than confident these same people will continue to be invested in ensuring that resident’s voices are being heard and represented on the University level, particularly as things move forward with the review of policies on consultation.

I wholeheartedly support this bid for UBC RHA’s Advocacy Initiative, regarding the Student Housing Fee Increases, as I believe it is overwhelmingly reflective of the capacity that students in leadership roles have to influence their campus and positively benefit the students that they represent. The need for advocacy exists on many different levels, and this year, UBC’s RHA discovered how it was possible, and often necessary, to explore beyond your current abilities and seek to expand the scope of your advocacy. Thank you for taking the time to both read this letter, and consider recognizing the UBC RHA in their efforts to advocate.

Sincerely, Kaitlyn Melton Residence Hall Association President The University of British Columbia | Vancouver kaitlynmelton@alumni.ubc.ca | (778) 871-6384 16

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE HALLS, INC. Pacific Affiliate

April 6, 2015 Danielle Hall Regional Director

Mark Cordova Assoc. Director of Admin. & Finance

Georgina Harrison Assoc. Director for NRHH and Recognition

Mason Margotta Northern RCC-­‐‑RR

Kaylin Murray Southern RCC-­‐‑RR

Michael Daniels Presidential Resource Coordinator

Francis Chau Regional Technology Coordinator

Russell T. Jones Regional Advisor

Dear NACURH, On behalf of the entire Pacific Affiliate, we are pleased to support the University of British Columbia as the nominee for this year’s Outstanding Advocacy Initiative Award. This bid was selected among many at our PACURH No Frills 2015 at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. The NCCs, NRHH Reps, and Presidents of PACURH put incredible time and energy into their review of bids and choosing the best submission. We’re incredibly proud of the hard work that our member schools are doing and are excited to introduce them to the rest of NACURH. PACURH was really impressed with UBC’s bid and the action that they are taking on campus. Their bid was very well put together in both presentation and content. UBC’s RHA took measures to educate their residents on the fee increases that are present on their campus, and worked with other organizations such as the International Students Association to protest these fee increases. PACURH is also pleased to see growth in UBC’s RHA chapter. This initiative was not only beneficial to the student body, but also to their organization; it provided them with the opportunity to expand their influence and effectiveness to advocate on behalf of their residents, instead of just focusing on programming as most RHAs do.

Thank you for all of the time and energy spent reviewing bids. We are thankful for the opportunities NACURH presents for recognition and trust that this decision is in good hands.

Sincerely, The Pacific Affiliate Board of Directors

“Student Voice in the Residence Halls”

Pacific Affiliate