Another fall semester is history for the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA). The Charlatan spoke with RRRA president Will Verschuren to see whether the association kept up with their election pledges.
PROMISE: The current RRRA executive ran on a promise to lower or get rid of room phone fees charged to residence students.
YES: RRRA reached a deal with Housing and Residence Services on getting rid of phone fees this week.
“We wanted to basically make sure that students wouldn’t be charged for old phones that don’t cost the university anything anymore,” Verschuren said.
He estimated the cost of having a residence phone at around $230 per person.
PROMISE: Verschuren and his executive proposed to attract sponsorships throughout the year from businesses and campus partners for events, contests, and giveaways.
YES: RRRA has reached out to businesses such as Milano’s Pizza and the car-sharing company, VRTUCAR, Verschuren said.
“We raised over $135,000 in sponsorships for students,” he said. “It goes from free movie tickets to a couple thousand Milano’s Pizza vouchers. We gave out chocolate bars, Starbucks coffee, car rental discounts, and travel vouchers.”
PROMISE: The executive promised to partner with neighbourhood business groups, Parliament Hill, and Ottawa businesses to help get residence students jobs.
YES: The residence organization has partnered with various business groups, companies, and offices, most being new initiatives for this year, Verschuren said.
“We did end up partnering with the Glebe BIA, VRTUCAR, Carleton’s housing and residence life, and Parliament Hill offices,” he said. “We’ve had over 100 jobs for students.”
PROMISE: Another promise was to expand programming for students and to make it more diverse.
YES: RRRA has accomplished organizing and hosting 19 programs as of now and at least six more planned, according to Verschuren.
“That’s over five times more than last year,” he said.
Programs include events such as formals, speaking occasions, and open-mic comedy shows.
With an exponential increase in programs, Verschuren said the quality of these programs has not diminished.
“We spent a lot more money to enhance quality and as well as quantity,” he said.
PROMISE: The executives promised more variety in the Fresh Food Company residence cafeteria.
YES: Verschuren said the residence cafeteria have added more options this year, while also bringing back locally-grown food that is served on Wednesdays.
“This year, we managed to get a whole gluten-free pantry . . . more vegan options, more variety at the salad bar, eggs, sushi,” he said. “They’re [Fresh Food Company] really open to working with us.”
