Georgetown’s Office of Residential Living will restructure their residence hall offices (RHOs) in the 2020-2021 school year, according to an email obtained by the Voice. The message was sent on March 5 by Director of Residential Services Bill Huff.
Currently, the RHOs distribute packages and keys to students living on campus. According to Huff, over 180,000 packages come through RHOs annually, with that number rising. Next year, the school will move away from package distribution and instead towards the smart locker system common amongst peer institutions.
“The reality is the current structure of the RHOs does not support the increasing needs of students regarding package deliveries. The management and distribution of packages is currently a manual process that takes hours to complete each day,” Huff wrote. “Through these improvements, carriers will be able to deliver more efficiently, students will receive timely notifications regarding their deliveries, and on-campus traffic will decrease substantially.”
The RHOs will be consolidated at the end of the summer, and room 104A in Harbin Hall will manage key issues, in association with two annex rooms on campus. A team of student assistants will work under a manager to staff the key rooms.
The restructuring brings changes for current student staffers. The RHOs currently employ between 15-20 students at five offices across campus. Next year, the school will employ 40-50 students total, according to the FAQ document attached to the email. However, Huff anticipates being able to rehire most, if not all returning staff members, according to the email. He also promised to give priority to current student staffers and students with federal work study.
