Concerned dormers to revive alliance

Majalya Fernando


A group, which may have prevented the confusion and dissatisfaction of many dormers brought about by the Office of Student Housing's (OSH) hasty drafting and implementation of the new dormitory admission policies, is trying to get new members a semester too late.

The Alliance of Concerned Dormers (ACD), a group composed of house council members of each UP dormitory, was created to represent dormers to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (OVCSA). It is in charge of airing grievances of students regarding dorm-related issues.

The ACD was dissolved due to lack of participation last summer, the same time the Dormitory Oversight Committee (DOC), OVCSA and the OSH were drafting the 2007 Rules and Regulatons Governing Residence Halls in UP Diliman.

Ideally, a process of consultation between the ACD and other concerned parties must take place before a new policy concerning dorms is implemented. However, because the ACD was not around when the new rules and regulations were proposed, there were no dormers to review the proposal.

Under the general guidelines on accommodation to residence halls stated in section 2 of the new rules and regulations, only students with good scholastic standing and an academic load of at least 15 units are qualified to apply for residency. A point system is used to rank applicants according to their place of origin and STFAP or income bracket.

Unlike in the old accommodation procedure where the dorm managers decide whom to accommodate, the OSH and the Dormitory Admissions Committee (DAC) process applications based on the criteria stated in this year's rules and regulations.

Response to new rules

“I find the new admission policy better,” said Teresita Ngayan, Dorm Manager of Sanggumay. “It really gives a chance for the OSH to carefully screen the students. Since there are more heads screening those who apply, they can really study the income brackets and ITRs.”
The new accommodation policy lessens the work of the dorm managers. However, many find the process ineffective.

“Yes, it's more convenient for me when it comes to admission but there's a problem for residents,” said Luz Castro, Dorm Manager of Ipil. “They (OSH) don't see the actual student, they just base it on the papers. There are some behaviors they don't see.”

According to Castro, who was the former Dorm Manager of Sanggumay, some requirements for dorm admission under the new policy are unnecessary.

“For graduate students applying to the dorm, you cannot put basis on the ITR,” she said. “Before, 98% of residents in Sanggumay were scholars. But in the '90's, the number of scholars decreased dahil wala nang pera ang gobyerno. Most of those who apply to Sanggumay are fresh graduates who apply immediately for graduate studies. Nahihiya na silang humingi ng pera sa magulang nila kaya marami sa kanila ang self-supporting. Their parents don't pay for their education so the family income record is useless.”

Numerous students expressed their dissatisfaction mostly over the delayed information dissemination and initial implementation of the new accommodation policy.

“Kung aaralin mo, okay naman yung policies,” said a dormer from Yakal who chooses to remain anonymous. “Yun nga lang, walang nakaalam tungkol dito. Nilabas siya summer na. Siyempre maraming umuwi sa probinsya.”

Of the ten dorms that were operational during the 2nd semester of last school year, only residents of the International Center received information on the proposed rules and regulations. The remaining dorms received a written memo only in May.

ACD's response

There have been recent efforts to revive the ACD. Last month, some dormers from Molave sent out a memo to other house councils, encouraging them to select students who will represent their respective dorms in the ACD and proposing a new organizational structure.

Under the proposed structure, the ACD will be made up of a board of directors composed of house council chairpersons, a secretary general, and a representative each for the socials committee, marketing committee and sports committee.

There still seems, however, to be a lack of support from the house councils. In a meeting with the ACD called by USC Chairperson Shahana Abdulwahid on September 29, only representatives from Ilang-Ilang, Kalayaan, Kamia and Molave were present, not enough to form a quorum and make official decisions.

According to Ychel Rasco, Chairperson of the Ilang-Ilang House Council, it is difficult to get the participation of house council officers because they are already preoccupied with their own dorm activities.

Rasco also added that it is better for each dorm to just send representatives who do not hold any position in the house council but are willing to take on the responsibility of representing their resident hall in the ACD.

The ACD had a constitution during the previous semester however none of the former members or the OVCSA have a copy at present. If the revival of the ACD pushes through, its priorities will be to draft a constitution and begin planning for the coming semester.