The Residential Group Assessment Committee will submit its evaluations of selective living groups today to the body that will determine whether groups will be placed on probation.
Administrators said the scores’ role in the transition to and placement of groups in the house model in Fall 2012 is yet to be determined.
The scores reflect the completion of RGAC’s contribution in the inaugural year of the Collaborative Housing Process. Under the process, RGAC—made up of student representatives—evaluates residential living groups based on their contributions to campus, among other factors. The Approval and Removal Committee—composed of students and administrators—then uses the scores to determine if any group should be placed on residential probation. CHP was created last April, after administrators decided to end campus-wide shuffling of living groups.
The ARC will begin its process of evaluating fraternities and selective living groups today to ensure that groups are adhering to residential policies, said junior John Nelson, ARC student co-chair.
“RGAC scores will be released, and then after ARC will meet to determine whether or not action should be taken against one or more SLGs,” Nelson said.
Deb LoBiondo, assistant dean for residence life, said CHP is assessing the contributions campus living groups make to the community to determine if groups should continue to have space on campus.
“It is a privilege to have space in our halls and with that comes certain responsibilities,” LoBiondo wrote in an email Wednesday. “The generated scores [and] the assessment process will assist [RGAC] to determine what groups should continue to have space.”
RLHS officials said in March that RGAC scores will likely not be used to determine where groups are placed under the house model, using size and groups’ historical ability to recruit instead. It remains unclear, however, how exactly RGAC scores or assessments made by the ARC will affect groups when the house model is implemented Fall 2012.
“The house model committee has not discussed this particular question yet,” Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residence life, wrote in an email Wednesday.
Junior Zachary Prager, president of the Interfraternity Council, said he would not have a problem with RGAC scores being used for the house model if it ensures that only living groups deserving of space are extended the privilege.
“My understanding is that their goal is not to use RGAC for placement going into the house model,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing.”
Nelson said he could not comment on whether any groups may face disciplinary action. The ARC does not make decisions before data is publicly available in the interest of maintaining transparency, he said, adding that the ARC will make decisions holistically by analyzing reports submitted by residence coordinators, Residence Life and Housing Services and the individual living groups.
“We don’t have a bright-line distinction in terms of what scores mean [or how] you would or wouldn’t be on probation. We try to make sure every aspect of the SLG aligns with the Duke standard,” he said. “When the CHP was originally envisioned the idea was that a group could have good RGAC scores but... could [also] have a significant select instance that we would want to take into account.”
This lack of clear criterion to avoid probation was unsettling to some living group leaders last year.
“I’m interested to hear what the final process will be for probation,” Prager said. “I know they’re not trying to punish but more just making sure people are keeping up with things and they deserve a section on campus.”
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