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Your Floor

Collaborate with your Returners

At the beginning of the year, make time to meet with your floor’s returners and discuss your need for their help and involvement on the floor, especially during the early part of the year. New Members will look to returners as role models and will learn the norms of the College through the returners’ actions.

The first floor meeting

Your first floor meeting will set the tone for the entire year. The more planning you do for it, the smoother your year will be.

Some of the aspects below will have already been covered in the online induction programme, but you should confirm the Members feel comfortable with the following and offer to answer any questions regarding:

  • The four C’s of St Margaret’s (give examples of each)

    1. Care (look after your own wellbeing and those around you)
    2. Courtesy (treat others respectfully like you would like to be treated)
    3. Consideration (be aware of how your behaviour will affect others in the community)
    4. Common sense (only do things that feel sensible, logical, and right)

    Spend some time talking about each of the four Cs and provide practical examples of each.

  • Introduce yourself by name, town of origin, and course of study, and get each Member to do the same.

  • Identify the College Leaders and Exec.
  • Floor kitchen and the policy on milk (they never go to the kitchen to collect it, you do). Milk is for hot drinks only, not for use with with cereal etc.
  • Explain Raftr, DiBS, and how keys and the intercom work
  • Where the laundry is and how it works. Time needs to be made for a practical demonstration.
  • Linen change.
  • Meal times.
  • Toast time.
  • Birthday meetings
  • Late meal procedure (submit a Late Meal request in Raftr before 3:00 pm) including acceptable reasons these may be requested.
  • Registering guests at meals and encouraging Members to introduce their guests to staff.
  • Dress code for Formal Dinner.
  • The procedure for booking overnight guests.
  • Completing the short-tern absence form on Raftr.
  • Completing holiday details forms when requested (without having to be chased).
  • Quiet hours.
  • Policy on parties and alcohol rules.
  • Maintenance requests.
  • Fire regulations and evacuation procedures.
  • Bike shed and keys.
  • Mentoring programme.
  • No parking of cars within the College grounds, the Clyde Street driveway/car park, or the three parks at the top of the front driveway – these car parks are for staff and authorised guests only.
  • Cars must not be parked on the University campus during office hours on weekdays, there are plenty of signs indicating the non-parking hours. Weekends and nights are OK.
  • Tell them about the College’s open-door policy and staff availability. If the door is open, they are welcome to knock and come in. If the door is closed, they are not to knock as she will be busy or away. All other College staff also operate an open-door policy.
  • Ask Members to notify you if they become ill, so you can arrange sick meals, a sick bathroom sign if needed, and so you can let senior staff know immediately, which you do via the Slack sickness channel.
  • Let them know you are approachable any hour of the day or night (in emergencies).

  • Sustainability initiatives:

    1. Food waste
    2. Rubbish disposal
    3. Recycling
    4. Energy savings (windows and heaters in rooms, etc.).

  • Explain that College Leaders are on duty in the foyer in the evenings for security reasons and as a contact person for anyone needing help. Share the Duty Phone number: 03 926 9699 (not the mobile number).

  • Remind them about the Members’ Handbook at handbook.stmargarets.college.
  • Health process (the flowchart in the Members' Handbook and posters in floor kitchens).
  • Theme for the year - 'Carpe Diem'
  • No phones at meals for the first month.

Getting to know your floor members

This is very important, particularly in the first few weeks. It involves spending time with your Members, being available, approachable and friendly, informal chatting with Members, arranging outings, answering questions, checking on how Members are doing, advising, helping, explaining, etc.

Orientation Week

This is a very busy time for College Leaders, but the time put in now means fewer problems later.

Please do not let anyone use the word “initiation”. This is not an initiation period - it is a period where we try to orient people to the place and make them feel welcome. Humiliating them does not do this.

If the Members go outside as a group for a College orientation activity, please ensure that a reasonable proportion of College Leaders remain in the College and some accompany the Members as appropriate. Be firm in all aspects of orientation but do not overstep into the Executive’s territory. As staff, your job is to observe and support Members, not to be involved in the running of orientation activities.

Be on maximum alert during University Orientation. Do not hesitate to call Campus Watch if there are difficult situations in the street outside the College or on College property.

Birthday Celebrations

One of the things that makes St. Margaret’s unique is the way we celebrate birthdays. While some Members may not wish to celebrate with the floor, others may have no one else to celebrate with. The simple task of decorating doors and cakes makes the College a homelier environment and eases homesickness, which can be especially prominent at times of celebration.

How you go about celebrating a birthday is largely up to you. Some floors use a birthday committee, while others get every member of the floor to be responsible for someone else’s birthday. Other College Leaders find it easiest to organise the birthday celebrations themselves. Whichever form you use, please ensure that those responsible for organising the celebration have remembered.

The College supplies balloons and streamers to decorate doors with. Tempting though it may be, please do not use too many balloons per door (remind your floor Members about this). It is not a good look for some to get many balloons while others get fewer. White-tack is the only medium to be used while attaching decorations to doors (other colours will leave a stain, tape rips wallpaper and removes the varnish on woodwork). Please do not allow Sellotape to be used.

The College also supplies all the necessary ingredients and utensils to bake a simple cake. These can be found in the baking box which should be kept somewhere easily accessible to all. Any perishable ingredients (milk, butter, eggs, etc.) will need to be sought from our kitchen staff, but please be considerate when doing so. If you plan to remove the baking box, please let the Birthday Baking Box Co-ordinator know and return the box once done. If you choose to delegate cake-baking duties, it remains your responsibility to ensure all utensils have been returned and that any ingredients have been topped up. If any of the ingredients are getting low, please inform the College Leader with the Birthday Backing Box Co-ordinator portfolio.

Floor appearance

As floor 'wardens', it is your responsibility to ensure that your floor is kept tidy and free from fire hazards. Balloons can be a problem if too many of them are left on the ground. People can trip over them and they are a fire hazard. No suitcases, bikes, or furniture should be left in the corridor. It also means ensuring things like shoes and umbrellas are not left outside doors.

Floor kitchens

You are responsible for ensuring that your Floor Members keep the kitchen clean and tidy. All washing up is to be done by Members. It is much easier to prevent the problem rather than playing catch-up afterward. Also, organise regular refrigerator cleaning or you may choose to do it yourself; ensure that Members know how to use the timers and switches for the stoves and irons; enforce no piles or “trophy bottles” to be left in kitchens.

Recycling

You are in charge of rostering recycling duty on your floor. Please ensure the containers have been emptied on the evening before they are picked up (or deputise a floor member to assume this role). Be aware that the yellow container may require occasional cleaning – please take charge of this yourself or roster this duty amongst your floor.

Floor dinners and outings

If you organise for your floor to go out for a meal, please let the kitchen know a day or so in advance so we do not have large quantities of leftover food.

Sunday Formal Dinners: pre- and post-dinner gatherings

The Head of College’s notice board and Raftr posts will list the guests invited to Sunday Formal Dinner. You will be expected to invite a Member from your floor to the pre-dinner gathering and encourage Members to sign up to attend the post-dinner gathering. Some Members are shy but it is your task to make them feel at home, encourage them to meet the guest and mix with others. It is a good idea to invite Members who have the same field of interest or study as the guests. You should try to invite first year Members of your floor to a pre-dinner gathering in the first instance.

Room inventory chat

Early in the first semester, you should arrange to have a room inventory chat with each of your floor Members and complete the Room Inventory checklist (see Appendix 11). This is also an opportunity for you to check with the Members how they are settling in, answer any questions they may have, provide advice, etc.

Meetings with floor Members

Before the first mid-semester break and again early in the second semester, you should schedule meetings (chats really) with each of your floor Members as a way of checking how they are doing, answering their questions, supporting them, showing that you care, etc.

A general list of topics and questions to use is available in Appendix 12. Feel free to select those you feel would be most helpful. There won’t be time to ask them all.