President's Room
 

I am an Advisor for a Chapter that last Spring voted to create a President's room in the Chapter House for this coming Fall. I just wanted to get some ideas of what you think are the essentials for a good President's Room.

We are getting printer for the chapter (chapter business only) that will be housed in the President's Room (and if anyone can recommend a good fax/copier/printer/scanner to meet the needs of a chapter), but what else do you think should be in there to not only make it her residence but also a place for resources.

Thanks!

Would she live there, or just use it as an office?

Either way, definitely filing cabinets, a phone book, an Alumnae directory, maybe some relaxing aromatherapy stuff?

People use phone books?

Reading lamps, a good working desk, copies of important chapter materials, ditto on the filing cabinets.

Would having the printer/scanner in her room be a problem if she's actually living there? I mean, she might not want to have people in and out for printing things.

If this is going to be her bedroom, it's a bad idea to have a printer/faxer in there, as these are items all the girls need on a daily basis, and it's not appropriate for them to just walk into her room at any given time, whether she's there or not.

I would definitely recommend a couch or two comfortable chairs so that the president can sit with chapter members to discuss issues or meet with people.

I'm wondering if this is more of a suite... with a sitting room or something and then a locked bedroom. Or a separate room altogether. But I have no house experience.

Why does that kind of stuff need to be in the President's room? Isn't there like a business office where yall have meetings and keep chapter stuff besides a ritual room?

Its an old home and no office/chapter room in the house. They have meetings on campus. Until this year, officers were not required to live in the house, so chapter resources are spead all over the different officers' dorms/apartments. One of the goals of the President's Room was to create 1 central place to locate resources. She would live in the room, but also have "office space" and I have suggested to her to create "office hours". Its a process-it won't be all done this year. But I wanted to be sure that the most necessary items were in there for this year.
I see what you mean about the printer. We may have to find another location for that.

Thanks for the ideas so far!

Ok that makes a lot of sense, and yes I think office hours are a good idea.

One thing to consider once you centralize all the resources is giving someone - house mom? - a spare key to her room in case she is absent.

Is she basically living as a single in what would normally be a double room?

I'm guessing you might not have a house mom so the VP should have a key - for emergencies ONLY. As long as the president lets people know that she's going to be gone there's no reason for everyone to be barging into her room.

Another idea is a loft bed for additional space, if that's doable.

For the printer, I highly recommend a solid color laser printer. They have much lower per-page costs compared to inkjets, are reliable enough to be shared, are robust enough to reliably print on both the thinest papers as well as cardstock, and can quickly spew out many documents (easily doubles as a light-duty copier). Aim for the $300-$500 range.

If the room is big enough, it might be nice to buy an inexpensive screen or similar room divider so that her sleeping/personal area is separate from the chapter business. This sounds like the one room that will hold important documents, so it could really become an impersonal space - kind of like living in your office.

Is there a closet somewhere that can be locked and hold chapter archives and other materials? I see the president getting a bunch of stuff dumped on her.

Otherwise, I agree with 33girl that lofting her bed would be a good idea.

I would HATE sharing my office with my living space if I were a sorority chapter president...since people tend to assume the president is there to serve them 24/7 anyway, it's unlikely they're going to remain respectful of office hours if all of the materials the officers need are housed in her room. She'll be pulling her hair out. I would keep the printer in a different room and keep files and other essential items in a closet with a lock or code on the door, for instance. She could hold office hours and have a couple of couches and chairs in her room to take care of meetings and a nice desk for her to use.

If you HAVE to keep the printer and other essential items in her room I would limit them to one corner or side and have her establish firm office hours...and make sure the President has the guts to lay down the law when it comes to her privacy and space. I would also only give ONE other officer a key to her room, stipulating it is for emergencies only, and that she is never to loan it out. Then an adviser could have a back up copy just in case.

I would contact the Housing Corp to see if they can help you, the directors are there to help with any housing issue like this. Your PP should be able to put you on contact with her if you don't already know her.

I don't know if you have a choice in the matter, but if you do, here's my opinion. Honestly, if it's just one room and not a suite, I wouldn't suggest housing office stuff in her bedroom. Can you designate one of the bedrooms as an office? Put all the files, equipment, a desk, etc. in there.

It's great to give the president her own room, it's 24/7 job and I think it will give her much needed space of her own. But I think that having people come to your sanctuary to make copies, send a fax, or print out reports would kind of suck.

Thanks for all the input.
With it being the first year officer have to live in house, I don't know if the chapters members will bug the President or leave her to her space. We also may discover that with 5 officers living in the house, we may have to create 1 room that is just an office and lower the residency again by 1. It is all a learning process. There is a Ritual Closet that is probably big enough to put a file cabinet in it. We can house files and archive kinds of stuff in there. The thought was to put resource binders and manuals in the President's Room. I think putting them in the Ritual Closet will just lead to people leaving that closet unlocked and something go missing.

ZTAmillz-I agree Housing Corp is a great resource. In fact we are having a major rennovation to the property. Unfortunately that budget was set before the chapter voted to make a President's Room. So we will need to wait until next year to request funds.

My main reason for the thread was to get some ideas of what some current President's Rooms are set up as or if you were a President what would you want in your room to make in both a room to live in and a functional President's space. And then be able to develop a wish list and timeline. This is a process and won't be done all in one shot. I want to make sure the room has enough this year to be functional. There is obviously a bed, dresser and desk as well as 2 closets.

Thanks for all the ideas. I will keep you posted as we get it going!

Do not leave your ritual closet unlocked. Never, never, never. Also, don't put other stuff in it. The ritual closet should be for ritual items only.

If it's a choice btwn this and putting the stuff in the President's Room, definitely put it in the president's room.

I am with you 33girl. I would rather not have anything but Ritual in that closet. That is the only other space-so we are back to housing everything in the Presidents room. As the year progresses, we may find that 1 bedroom needs to be just office space and rework the occupancy of the house.

As a former international director of housing for my GLO, I can tell you that I would never allow a chapter to have an "office" within a member's room - president or not. It could be a guest room - for visiting consultants, etc but never a full time live in. It's going to cause issues.

I like that idea. However it sounds like they may be stuck for this year unless someone has to move out for some reason.

ETA: If this is material that can and is used frequently, do you have a bookshelf that you can use in a public room for manuals and such? Bonus points if it has little doors on it or is less acceptable to visitors.

I agree. There is a second option, and that would be to wait a year until you have the space. Just because you've made the decision to get something done, doesn't mean you have to execute it, if the plan is not in place. It will be a big adjustment just to have the officers all in the house. Maybe officers could do office hours in the sister's room and if there is need for privacy, the officer can pick where to go. She could opt to go to her room, but could also take a drive or walk.

the president sharing her room might be an option, unless the officers all have single rooms, in which case two of them could share, to free up a room for an office. i think it would be better for the president to have a roommate, then for her bedroom to also be her office.

then next year, use one of this years bedrooms as an office and have one less person live in.

Great solution. In our housing we use our "guest room" as an office. So for about two weeks a year it's hard to get in the office, but officers can make arrangements for those couple of weeks. It's better than the president having people abusing her personal space. (Office hours WILL end up being selectively used...there's always someone who thinks their problem is more important than someone else's).