UHDS News

[Daily Barometer, July 11, 2012] — For all involved in a START orientation session at Oregon State University — from incoming freshmen, to parents, to the START leaders themselves — the process is tiring, anxious and exciting all in one.
For those who never participated in one themselves, or just forgot because it was so long ago, a START session  is a guide for first-time OSU students to get shown the ropes, and be comfortably acquainted to their new life in Corvallis.
A typical START orientation consists of “introductions, team-building stuff, going over information. They also have an academic presentation that they go to for their college,” according to ElyseLipke, a START leader.
On top of those things, there are also academic workshops, an information fair for clubs and groups on campus, tour of the residence halls, Dixon Recreation Night, and of course, registering for classes and picking up an ID card.

Cont. …

Read the full article by Warner Strausbaugh.

University Housing & Dining Services is seeking students enthusiastic about helping others to work with our customer service team. Please apply by July 15 for consideration.

Customer Service Representatives provide a wide range of support and services to students, staff, and parents through the UHDS Service Centers via telephone, email, and face-to-face interactions.

As a first stop for student housing and dining questions, the service center strives to be a “one-stop shop” for on-campus residents.  The service centers manage resident keys, mail, check-in, check-out, work order processing, and general customer service.  As a member of the Service Center Complex, Customer Service Representatives are expected to accomplish the primary objectives of UHDS to help create and maintain an effective living/learning community within the complex.

A personal and professional commitment to providing excellent customer service and creating inclusive environments is a core value of University Housing and Dining Services.

The Operations/Facilities unit of University Housing & Dining Services employs over 50 professional and student staff. We provide residential services for students including room assignments, resident contract management, service center operations, customer service, Residential Conferences, Building Services, and manage Orchard Court family housing. The majority of student staff positions are located at the Service Centers – Arnold, McNary, Weatherford, and West – and the UHDS central office. Some positions exist at the Facilities Maintenance Center and within the Building Services program which services the residence halls during the academic year and the Residential Conferences operation during the summer.

With over 150 full time employees and over 550 student employees, UHDS manages the Operations/Facilities, Dining, Marketing, Business Services, and Residential Education program serving over 3,000 resident students and managing 1.5 million square feet of space.

Operations/Facilities Student Application

Customer Service Representative Position Description – PDF

For more information, call or email: 541-737-4771 or uhds@oregonstate.edu

See more jobs: UHDS student job listings

Another academic year has come and gone at OSU, and with the end of the year came the annual Residence Hall Move-Out Donation Drive, an effort to encourage students to donate as much as possible as they move out of the residence halls. This year OSU beat last year’s record and exceeded our 20,000-pound donation goal by 122 pounds!

Donations collected included food, toiletries, bedding and linens, clothing, electronics, decor and other housewares. The 20,122 pounds collected was up from 17,558 in 2011 and 11,651 in 2010.

The material collected this year, by category:

• 7,932 lbs. of housewares
• 5,252 lbs. of clothing, linens and shoes
• 4,421 lbs. of reusable scrap wood
• 2,517 lbs. of food, toiletries and school supplies
• 571 lbs. of e-waste that was recycled (a new category of items that was accepted this year)

While a small portion of the donations go to the OSUsed Store to recoup the costs of the donation drive, the majority went to local nonprofits such as Linn Benton Food Share, The Cat’s Meow Thrift Shop, Love INC of Benton County and others. This helps the environment by keeping material out of our landfill and enabling perfectly good items to be reused, and it helps our community by getting materials into the hands of people who need them.

“We kept all the loose socks and a volunteer is in the middle of making sets. The men’s and women’s cold weather shelters always run out of socks. When you are homeless and cold it’s not so important that your socks are an exact match – it is more important that your feet are dry,” said Wilma Van Schelven, Executive Director of Love INC of Benton County.

The donation drive is coordinated by OSU Campus Recycling, Surplus Property, and University Housing and Dining. This year 27 volunteers put in 83 hours of work collecting and sorting the donations.

To help students contribute to the donation drive, every room was provided with a move-out kit – color-coded bags in which to sort and an instructional door hanger – and donation bins were placed in every hall’s lobby. Recycling bins were also placed in lobbies, and picked up more frequently to accommodate extra material.

“When all of these parties come together – students, OSU departments, volunteers and non-profits – it’s amazing how much we can capture that is no longer needed, and channel that to people who do need it. It benefits OSU and our entire community,” said Andrea Norris, Outreach Coordinator for Campus Recycling and Surplus Property.

For more information on the donation drive, visit http://recycle.oregonstate.edu, and check out this slideshow below for photos of the collection and sorting process.

Also mentioned on KEZI News 9.

New Student Programs & Family Outreach is collaborating with our campus partners to welcome new students at START – OSU’s summer advising, registration and orientation program. Students attend START to meet with an academic advisor, register for fall term classes, attend workshops on a variety of topics, meet current students and staff, and learn about campus resources. This summer orientation program aids in the transition process of OSU’s new students. A parent/family orientation program runs concurrently.

Please note that START dates this year are as follows:

• Monday, June 25 – Tuesday, June 26 – First-year START
• Thursday, June 28 – Friday, June 29   – First-year START
• Monday, July 2 – Transfer START
• Sunday, July 8 – Monday, July 9 – First-year START
• Wednesday, July 11 – Transfer START
• Thursday, July 12-Friday, July 13 – First-year START
• Monday, July 16 – Friday, July 17- First-Year START
• Thursday, July 19- Friday, July 20 – First- Year START
• Sunday, July 22-Monday, July 23 – First-year START
• Wednesday, July 25 – Transfer START
• Thursday, July 26 – Friday, July 27 – First-year START
• Monday, August 27-Tuesday, August 28 – First-year START
• Wednesday , August 29 – Transfer START

You will notice an increased amount of people on campus during these days and traffic to your department/office could increase. Usually our 2-day orientation program for first-year students involves about 800 participants (students and their family members). Our 1-day transfer sessions see about 375 participants.

Student unable to participate in START will be invited to attend new student orientation in September.

If you would like more information about OSU’s new student programming and/or START, please visit our web site: www.oregonstate.edu/newstudents . We are always looking for campus-wide participation in our programs. If you would like to be involved in any aspect please contact me.

Thank you in advance for your help in creating a welcoming environment for our new students.

New Student Programs & Family Outreach
Oregon State University
p: 541.737.7627  f: 541.737.6157

[The Daily Barometer, June 8, 2012] — For students age 20 and under, drinking in the dorms is a clear violation of both university policy and Oregon law.

Alcohol use is permitted for students of legal drinking age under certain conditions, such as not consuming alcohol in the presence of those under age 21. All guidelines can be found in the UHDS student policy and information guide.

In order to prevent citations or other disciplinary action, students should make sure they fully understand their responsibilities as residents. By reading through the UHDS contract prior to signing, and contacting their RAs or other staff members for clarification, students can avoid sanctions that result from alcohol use in OSU residence halls.

Read the full story by Mackie Swan.

Are you and your roommate still looking for a space to share on campus next year? There are fully-open double rooms available on the sixth floor of Callahan Hall (east side) and the first floor of Cauthorn Hall (west side).

To select a room you will need to reopen your housing application via MyUHDS, make sure that you and your roommate are a confirmed pair, and then select the room. Your roommate will get a confirmation email via their ONID email address and must act within 48 hours to finalize the selection.

If you have questions call or email our Assignments Office: housing@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-4771 or 1-800-291-4192.

Read other recent updates on room availability.

It’s a big day tomorrow. Friday is the day that room selection is open to all remaining students starting at 2 p.m.!

Here are some important updates about room availability and pricing:

• If you have already chosen your roommate and are hoping to live on the west side, be advised that there are NO vacant double rooms remaining in those halls.
• If you want to remain with your chosen roommate we encourage you to find a third roommate and look into the triple room options in the Buxton, Cauthorn, Hawley or Weatherford halls. Bottom line: If you want to be on the west side, you need to find a third roommate.
• The good news is that we have just significantly reduced the rates for triple and quadruple rooms in an effort to make them more affordable to our students. Please see our rates page for updates.
• If you are flexible about which area of campus you live in, there are still many openings on the east side (Callahan, McNary, Wilson) and the International Living-Learning Center (south side).
• Also, the International Living-Learning Center is now allowing pairs of domestic roommates to live together in the same room. Of course, individual domestic students are still encouraged to take the option to share a room with an international student assigned by the INTO OSU program to gain a cross-cultural experience.
• We recently opened a wing of McNary Hall themed for upperclassman and transfer students. Residents in this wing are not required to purchase a dining plan. (rooms 201 to 221). Assignment here is only made by request to housing@oregonstate.edu

We hope you find these updates useful as you select your new home on the OSU campus. If you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to contact our Assignments office at housing@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-4771 with questions. Or, check out the live chat on the front of our webpage.

P.S. Here are a few places you can look for roommates:

1. Roommate Matching Network through your online housing application at MyUHDS.

2. OSU on Facebook. All incoming students were emailed an invitation to join this private network in Facebook. Look for the group for the hall you wish to live in or join the “Finding Housing” group.

3. Post a message on the official UHDS Facebook page.

Do you have the following skills: conflict management, customer service, initiative taking, flexibility, independent thinking, strong administrative skills, and the ability to work in a professional setting? Then we’re looking for you to work in the UHDS service centers beginning Fall 2012! Responsibilities include: sorting mail, providing excellent customer service, checking out and inventorying keys, and data management. For full consideration, your application and resume must be submitted by May 9th.

The full position description and application are available online. Please contact Kathryn Magura with any questions.

On the following days University Housing & Dining Services UHDS will remain available via live chat and telephone until 7 p.m. to assist new students with the room selection process.

May 10

May 14

May 15

May 18

May 25

CONTACT INFO

University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS) at Oregon State University (OSU) seeks candidates for one full-time Administrative Program Specialist.
 
This position provides administrative support to the financial business objectives and marketing and promotional project coordination/management for multiple projects at different stages of completion, working directly with department clients, ensuring that their objectives and goals are reached.  A fundamental working knowledge of campus housing and dining operations is vital to the effective customer service required of this position.

This position is set up in a dual report structure. Approximately .50 FTE is supervised by the Assistant Director of the UHDS Marketing, Assessment, and Communications (MAC) unit. The remaining .50 FTE is under the supervision of the Assistant Director of the UHDS Finance and Business Services (FABS) unit.

Marketing, Assessment, and Communications seeks to enhance and support the brand image of UHDS by developing targeted strategic communications / market planning, advertising, direct marketing and market research for department operations. Financial and Business Services oversees department finances and purchases in collaboration with the Auxiliaries and Activities Business Center and department units.  
 
University Housing & Dining Services recognizes the importance of learning both in and out of the classroom, and supports the concept of education as an individual as well as a community experience. Our primary focus is service to OSU students. We strive to provide our students, faculty, staff, and guests with safe, economical, on-campus living and dining options that are convenient and comfortable. We offer a variety of living and dining options in fourteen residence halls, four cooperatives, three dining centers, two coffee shops, a market, and a limited number of family apartments and houses. Our Department is an auxiliary enterprise which is funded solely by customers who use our services — we receive no State or tax dollars. We work to maintain the highest educational and service standards for our customers. University Housing and Dining Services is committed to an appreciation for diversity, and fosters an open respectful and enjoyable living, learning atmosphere.

A personal and professional commitment to providing excellent customer service and creating inclusive environments is a core value of University Housing and Dining Services.

Pay range $2521-$3619/month
For full job description and qualifications, and to apply visit
http://oregonstate.edu/jobs/  Posting #0008983
Closes May 11.