It is hard to believe that we have been living through the pandemic for eight months! For some, it has been a roller coaster of preparing and then little or nothing significant happening. For others, it has been a series of “fire drills” and dealing with multiple issues. In either case, it has been a lot of work, and we are grateful for your determination to deal with this situation. I am hopeful that we are turning the corner, and we won’t see a dramatic rebound of cases later this fall. But if we do, I am confident your preparation over these past months will put you in a good position to deal with what may come.
In addition to our focus on COVID, I would like to encourage you to look toward the future as well. The Fraternity is weathering through this period, just as we have through wars, economic downturns and other big events throughout our 170+ year history. Preparing and looking ahead is as important as ever.
1. Be Well Prepared for Winter Break. Take time now to improve on your plan for upcoming extended breaks. Now is a good time to evaluate how you monitor the facility when residents are gone as more insurance claims tend to happen during break periods than non-break periods (and the damage/claims are significantly larger). Now is also a good time to think about possible maintenance, repairs, improvements and cleaning you want to do over the break period. Additional considerations are outline in the winter/fall break checklists.
2. Conduct a Rent Study. This doesn’t have to be tedious but take some time to find out what your “competitors” are charging – including other fraternities, residence halls and even area apartments. Charging a fair and reasonable rent is critical to giving your house corporation the funding it needs not just for current operations but future improvements.
3. Look at Your 1, 3, 5-Year Plans. If you do not have one of these, assign members of your board the task of writing one of these plans. This plan can include developing a maintenance plan, schedule for improvements, communications with graduates, starting or updating your reserve study and adopting various best practices.
Finally, 1848 Housing is continuing to expand our team and resources! If you would like to share your knowledge and experience with the rest of the Fraternity, contact me and we will get you plugged in! And don’t forget to check out the resources at phigam.org/Housing.
Best Regards,
Steve Bocher Chairman, 1848 Housing
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