Council debates move-out plans

Author: Annie Onishi

The Middlebury College Community Council met Tuesday to discuss policies regarding senior move-out after Commencement and to receive an update on the implementation of a quota system for the amount of paper allocated to students, faculty and staff in public College computer labs.

The first item on the Community Council Agenda was a discussion about the timeframe of the move-out for seniors after Commencement. Community Council member Andrea LaRocca '05.5 introduced the issue with an anecdote, saying that many of her friends who graduated last May were unable to successfully organize and move out in the given time.

At present, Commencement occurs on a Sunday morning, and all graduates are expected to be out of their rooms by 11 p.m. that night. Last year's move-out time was 10 a.m. Monday. This year's time has been moved up to accommodate the Reunions, which start the following Thursday, significantly earlier than last year. The new time will likely apply for the next three years, as these Reunions have already been scheduled equally early.

This amount of time can pose a problem for many students: family members expect to spend time with the graduate, transportation issues arise and the general spirit of Commencement is dampened by the task of moving four years' worth of possessions the day of graduation.

Last year, Council member Jimmy Hickey '05 proposed that the deadline be extended to Monday at 5 p.m., but that request was deemed logistically impossible.

The clean up effort creates a massive task for the facilities staff, as the dorms must be vacated and cleaned before the annual Reunion a week later. Assistant Director of Custodial Services Linda Ross was present at the Community Council meeting, and offered some insight to the Council.

Given that it is logically impossibe to change the move-out time, Dean of Student Affairs and Co-Chair of Community Council Ann Hanson moved to discuss other alternatives to alleviate the hectic nature of senior move-out. The Council discussed the possibility of holding a sale for large items such as furniture, doing early recycling and garbage pick-ups and better help with the student move-out process.

Tara Vanacore '06 thought the furniture sale would be a viable solution. "I would definitely participate in something like that. Actually, if I had stuff, I'd give it away. But I know a lot of kids come here without stuff and they have nowhere to put it, and I think the sale would be a good idea."

Hanson emphasized the importance of running a better campaign to encourage students to get organized earlier, and to drop of their garbage and unwanted items in the designated drop zones earlier. She also suggested in jest some more creative methods of facilitating move-out, like including "organizing and packing" on the Senior Week itinerary.

More serious suggestions included raising the fees for graduates who do not make the deadline. Ross reminded the Council that the fee was raised to $200 last year, and any higher would be unenforceable. Ross said, "I don't think setting this up in a punitive state is where we want to be."

The next order of business for the Community Council was the update on the process of implementing a quota system for the amount of paper students, faculty and staff use every year. Associate Dean of Library and Information Services Dave Donahue '91 addressed the Council on this issue.

According to Donahue, Middlebury bought software and hardware from Equitrac, a company that designs "document accounting" technology. Equitrac technology was installed last summer, and has been undergoing testing ever since. The system keeps track of how many sheets of paper each individual prints out on College printers. Eventually, the Community Council, in cooperation with the Environmental Council, hopes to instate a quota on the amount of paper allocated to all members of the Middlebury College community.

As testing progresses, the Community Council will continue to discuss the issue among itself as well as with the entire community. Donahue also said that at the earliest, the quota system would be implemented this spring. The suggested quota would be 750 sheets per year per student, faculty member or staff member. Each sheet after 750 will cost a nickel each, and an Equitrac swipe card will be made available.

Donahue said, "I think it's important to emphasize that it's 750 sheets, not pages. With double-sided printing, that's 1500 pages. This is not an effort to make a profit, this is an effort to reduce waste."

Donahue's ultimate goal is to also incorporate the photocopiers in the system and reduce waste all around. He also pointed out that after looking at other schools with paper quotas, 750 sheets is a generous amount. He said that it is more of a philosophical way to control waste: people will be more conscientious about double-sided printing, and people will be less likely to frivolously or haphazardly print off useless material. Donahue also added that special circumstances will be taken into account, and students will be able to get quotas extended or receive financial aid with special permission from a commons dean.