In an email blast, the Office of Student Housing informed students of the special housing guest policy during the 2013 inauguration. For the period between Friday, Jan. 18 and Tuesday, Jan. 22, students are permitted to host a maximum of two guests, which they must register with the housing office beforehand.

The email includes a friendly reminder that, as always, subletting isn’t allowed.

They also suspect that students will want to “gather” in townhouses and apartments during the long weekend. Although Housing hopes student gatherings are “fun and safe,” party rules still apply.

Due to the long holiday weekend, we are expecting students will want to gather in apartments and townhouses. We want you to have a fun and safe gathering and to remind you that University policies remain in effect.

The University adopted a nearly identical policy during the 2009 inauguration, even though this year’s email doesn’t include the line “we reserve the right to limit the number of parties in a given area.”

The District is bracing for hundreds of thousands of visitors on Inauguration Day, though 2013′s affair is expected to be more subdued than 2009′s.

The full email is posted after the jump.

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Georgetown’s Vice President of Housing and Facilities, Karen Frank, is set to retire at the end of August. President John J. DeGioia announced that the search for her successor will commence shortly, in an email to members of the Georgetown community this afternoon.

Frank has held the position for over two decades and participated in several important initiatives to improve housing and construction projects throughout campus. “From the building for our School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar, to the ongoing work to complete the Calcagnini Contemplative Center in Bluemont, Virginia, Karen has ensured the ongoing safety, integrity, value and sustainability of Georgetown’s facilities,” DeGioia wrote in the email. “She has made a lasting imprint on Georgetown University both on the Hilltop and beyond.”

For now, Frank will be replaced by Interim Vice President for Facilities and Student Housing Frank Tiscone, who formerly held positions in the Department of Defense and with the Architect of the Capitol. She will also continue to serve as a senior advisor to Chief Operating Officer Chris Augostini during the search process for a new Housing vice president.

According to DeGioia, Frank has been instrumental in adding at least ten new buildings to Georgetown’s campus, “totaling more than 1.5 million square feet of new space.

Full email after the jump!

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While us undergraduates are battling it out on the sidelines for our compromised interests in the Campus Plan, we tend to forget that graduate students are affected by these provisions too. At tonight’s advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting on the campus plan, ANC Chair Ron Lewis mentioned that “graduate students will be parking ‘downtown’ in the next few years.” A cursory statement like that holds a lot of weight for these adults who live and study at Georgetown but also have families, children, and established lives.

For graduate students, on-campus housing is not provided as an option. Many students live in Foxhall and West Georgetown to decrease their commute, especially given Georgetown’s lack of access to a Metro station.

“Basically the first year of grad school I was on Connecticut Ave. and I would commute by Metro and shuttle bus and it really made it difficult to schedule time,” Alison Thomas (MSFS ’13) said. “You end up wasting a lot of time in transit or waiting for transit. This year, living near campus made a huge difference to my quality of life.”

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Last night, the Housing office sent residents of East Campus this uplifting message:

Dear East Campus Residents,

As you settle in after Spring Break, we would like to update you again on the progress of the courtyard construction work in East Campus. A substantial portion of the work is set to be completed as of this Wednesday, March 14, 2012.  We are happy to announce that this means pedestrian access between the Walsh lobby and the Nevils/LXR buildings will be restored as of 12 noon Wednesday.

This means that as of noon Wednesday, access to LXR and interior Nevils apartments will be through the normal doors–Walsh lobby or 35th St LXR lobby. The exterior security doors on N St and 36th St (temporarily accessible during construction) will be closed permanently and re-alarmed to be used in emergencies only. Handicap access to the complex will be available through the Walsh lobby.

While this means you may access the buildings as normal, there are portions of work still ongoing.  Continue to expect construction noise and work as these remaining projects are completed. Parts of the courtyard will remain fenced off throughout, and intermittent disruptions to pedestrian walkways may be necessary. We will provide updates on the progress of the remaining work as it is available to us.

The chiller, which operates the air conditioning for LXR, Nevils and Walsh is being replaced. This project is expected to be completed by early May. In the meantime, there is no air conditioning in these residences halls. The heat needs to remain on in the building, as during this time of year there can be great fluctuations in temperature. We recognize this can be uncomfortable for periods of time. We thank you for your patience as we complete this project.

Thank you for your continued cooperation with the Nevils project work.

Sincerely,

Offices of Student Housing

It’s lovely how Housing waits until the middle of the last paragraph to tell the residents of LXR, Nevils and Walsh that they will have no air conditioning until early May. But hey, at least East Campus will still have heating during one of the most unseasonably warm periods in recent D.C. history.

If the ANC was smart about getting students to live on campus, they’d sponsor a crash construction program to get this done in a week. Or buy East Campus residents giant fans.

Wednesday, October 12, Georgetown’s Chief Operating Officer, Christopher Augostini held the first “Hoya Roundtable” to ask students how Georgetown could best serve them.

New to the job, Augostini started the meeting by saying, ”The best way for me to orient my self to the issues to the student body was simply to ask you.”

There were only about ten or so student in attendance who were not affiliated with the Roundtables innitiative, and they were vastly outnumbered by administrators and staff who packed the room. Luckily, the Google Moderator questions ensured that the most pressing issues were addressed–well, they were at least mentioned.

Let’s go over the highlights:

Technology services

Kevin Murphy, interim Chief Information Officer, presented on behalf of UIS.

• They have ordered the antennae to give wireless for Copley lawn, and they should arrive in about 45 days. Similar wireless for Healy lawn are due to be installed next spring.
• Faculty and staff and being moved to Google mail, so they will have full access to apps like Google Calendar, Docs, etc.
• They are looking into programs like lecture capture and additional printing locations
• They are planning on changing printing to five cents per page. Murphy admitted that the cost was arbitrary and mainly intended to discourage students from printing “hundreds of thousands” of pages.

Facilities Management

• Work orders: annually, facilities gets 40,000-50,000 work orders, and they received around 2-3,000 work orders per week during the first month of school. They are looking into buying a new computer system to manage the number of orders.
• Facilities also addressed the state of some of the rest rooms on campus. They were in stark disagreement with one student in the audience about the state of women’s restrooms in the ICC.

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Georgetown announced changes to its 2010 Campus Plan yesterday, including plans to lower its main campus enrollment cap and add 250 beds either on-campus or outside of the area by the fall of 2014.

If the University goes the on-campus route, it must file an application with the D.C. Zoning Commission for “further processing of an on-campus residence hall.” It is unclear whether “further processing” means adding beds to current rooms or constructing more rooms on existing dorms. In May 2009, though, architects hired by the University identified spaces on campus that could potentially hold up to 800 beds — including North Kehoe, Harbin Esplanade, North Residential (an area past Darnall Hall), a small extension to Village C, and the walkway outside of Lauinger Library.

If not added to the main campus, the beds will be put in an “off-campus housing location outside of residentially-owned land within zip code 20007,” a boundary which covers the whole of the Georgetown, Foxhall, and Glover Park neighborhoods. While Georgetown owns property elsewhere in D.C. and also in Virginia, a pre-hearing submission filed with the Zoning Commission did not identify any specific locations.

Last December, the University scrapped plans to build the  “1789 block,” a housing complex for graduate students and faculty. The plan, which faced significant opposition from neighbors, would have included approximately 120 beds and 80 parking spaces.

The University also proposed to lower its main campus enrollment cap from 16,133 to 15,000. However, only 133 spots in the total enrollment will be eliminated; 1,000 students in the School of Continuing Studies will be relocated to satellite campus by the end of 2013. The proposed cap of 6,675 undergraduate students remains unchanged.

Other changes announced in the pre-hearing submission include one promise to work with the National Park Service to “minimize any slope changes and loss of trees and to provide appropriate screening” while constructing an on-campus loop road and another to not use a proposed Kehoe Field enclosure for convocations. The University also agreed to submit annual compliance reports with the D.C. Office of Planning and the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission about its enrollment and housing commitments.

The Zoning Commission will hold its first hearing about Georgetown’s Campus Plan on Apr. 14.

After the jump, we’ve republished the pre-hearing submission and its proposed conditions.

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Remember Monday’s announcement that seniors living in Nevils Hall will be kicked out of their apartments during Senior Week? And how people complained about it?

Well, those seniors are getting some cash for the trouble. [Disclosure: I'm a senior who lives in Nevils. So, I'm getting paaa-aaaid.]

In an email sent yesterday evening, Vice President of University Facilities and Student Housing Karen Frank announced that each senior will be given $200.

“We have listened to your concerns, acknowledge the inconvenience and disruption, and understand that you may incur some unanticipated expenses as a result of this temporary relocation,” Frank wrote. “For these reasons, we will provide $200 to each graduating senior scheduled for relocation from Nevils in preparation for the renovation.”

The early move-out date, which is scheduled for May 16, is due to major renovations planned to begin during Senior Week. During the summer, the apartments will be outfitted with new lights, windows, heating and cooling systems, fire alarms, and remodeled kitchens and bathrooms. (If you’re living in Nevils next year, you’ll appreciate that last one more than you’ll ever know. Trust me.)

Frank added that the University will provide “moving assistance” for the displaced students, which includes “packing materials as well as personnel and trucks to move belongings from one location to another.”

“Please know that we worked closely with our contractors to delay closure as long as possible,” she wrote. “The work is so extensive that we must begin the work as scheduled.”

After the jump, we’ve republished Frank’s entire letter.

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10 a.m. update:

As of this morning the majority of the problems have been fixed, according to the following email from the University.

Dear Residents,

Pressure has been restored to residential facilities and Main Campus buildings.  There are still some Medical Center buildings being affected that are being addressed.  University Facilities staff will be on campus today to address clean up and follow up concerns.

If you encounters any water issues, please call Work Management at (202) 687-3432.  The Work Management Center will be open 10am – 6:00pm but Public Safety will be able to dispatch maintenance staff to respond until the office opens.

Thank you,

The Office of Studen Housing

The Office of Residence Life

Original post:

Earlier this evening a water main broke on campus causing water pressure problems in a number of residence halls.

Residents of New South reported to Vox that starting from around 7 p.m. onward the restrooms and sinks in the building have had minimal water pressure.

University Facilities is currently responding to the incident and the Office of Student Housing sent an email to all residents to encourage them to use the restrooms on the lowest level of their buildings. Residents of New South are encouraged to use the restrooms in Lauinger Library, McShain Lounge, or in the classrooms located in Reynolds.

The University has not given an estimated time for when the problem will be fixed.

Read the full email sent from the Office of Student Housing:

Dear Residents,

Earlier this evening, a water main break occurred on the north end of the campus.  Water pressure is significantly reduced in a number of buildings.  University Facilities is working to repair the damage and resolve as quickly as possible.  Please use restrooms on the lowest levels of your buildings if there are problems in your building.

New South residents are encouraged to use Lauinger which is open 24 hours or the restrooms near McShain Lounge and the Reynolds classrooms.

We apologize for the inconvenience.  We will update you with more information if the problem continues.

Thank you,

Office of Student Housing
Office of Residence Life

George Washington University will introduce gender-neutral housing options during the 2011-2012 academic year, according to an announcement made yesterday. Male and female students who hope to live together will have to request the option, which will be offered in every one of GW’s co-ed residence halls.

“I credit our students with identifying the need and urging our administration to take an in-depth look at these issues,” Peter Konwerski, GW’s dean of students, said in a news release.

The push for gender-neutral housing in Foggy Bottom began last year, when students organized an effort that led to student government support and a University-led review committee.

Last month, the Georgetown University Student Association passed a resolution that encouraged discussion about gender-neutral housing that drew the ire of the Cardinal Newman Society. Despite the attention, neither GUSA nor the University have indicated official plans to change the on-campus housing policy.