OCASA

At the beginning of last quarter, the On-Campus Apartment Student Association underwent a change. They created two organizations. One, remained OCASA, while a new organization Association for Commuter Engagement formed.

OCASA has moved to 113 Riverknoll and a location in Colony as well. Since the split, OCASA has been working much more closely with the Residence Life. Their adviser is Brandon Kotler. They serve Colony, UC, Global Village, Perkins and RIT Inn. Their office offers free printing, free coffee and free tea and access to a microwave and  a refrigerator.

Their current e-board has been solidified and they’ve been working to get their organization reorganized and refocused on on-campus apartment students.

President: Shamoy David ocasapres@rit.edu
Vice President: Quinte Osborne ocasavp@rit.edu
Member at Large: Matthew Woodward ocasarep@rit.edu
Director of Finance: Jorge Sandoval ocasafin@rit.edu
Director of Communications: Corrine Newbegin ocasacomm@rit.edu
Director of Programming: Nick Gawreluk ocasaprog@rit.edu

Make sure to check them out at some of these events:

Chocolate on Ice 12/15/12
They’ll be hosting the photo booth table and the cupcake building table! Yummy!

Office Warming/Game Night 01/11/13
Learn more about OCASA, hang out and play some games

Ski Trip with ACE and ACA – no date yet.
Will be travelling to Bristol, NY. Their main goal is to make this affordable and fun!

If you have any questions, make sure to check out their Facebook, Twitter and RIT pages!

Association for Commuter Engagement

ACE, the second organization formed from the split focuses on students who are living off campus. Angelic Brown is the current president and Tamara Dressner is the vice president. They are looking to fill the following positions before break:

• Publicity Coordinator

• Financial Director

• Representative at large

ACE wants to engage the commuter audience and receive feedback about services and facilities for off campus students. However, ACE has no access to their addresses unless the students approach them.

To combat this, ACE will be holding an open forum to allow students to provide their information. The next forum is today (12/14) 10am-12pm. Check out more information via the Facebook event, here.

The office will be fully staffed and open from 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday starting in Week Four. They’re planning several events and services to help better commuter students experiences not only campus but in their housing communities as well.

Some of their tentative plans:

• Off Campus Community Initiatives Task force

• Drafting a letter to inform students about what ACE is how it can help.

• Meeting with public transportation to better target off campus students and provide better routes for them. They will be focusing on areas that have limited services provided.

• Looking for a tool that allows students to report where they’re living and approx. how popular each area is with RIT students.

• Landlord Panel 101 (February 2013) – landlords answer questions, comments and concerns of students.

Check out their Facebook page for more information and the Student Government Video Update with Angelic, the current president (c0ming soon!).