Work

The current Work Survey can be found here. Since there are a few survey questions not directly related to shift assignment, ALL members must fill it out, even elected officers. If you move in after the start of a term, email the Work Manager when you complete it.

In addition to charges, each member is required to contribute work to the house. Work, also referred to as labor, generally consists of cleaning or cooking tasks and is broken into 3 different units. Failure to complete assigned labor will result in fines and, if continued, referral followed by expulsion.

House Chores

3 hours, and can take many forms. A member can cook, clean the basement or the kitchen, take care of the grounds or tech infrastructure, or hold an officer position. All members will be listed on the Work Schedule and must complete their shifts to avoid fines.

Suite chores

30 minutes to an hour, and include vacuuming common areas, cleaning the suite kitchens, serving as a Suite Manager, or sitting on the House Council.

Bathroom cleaning

Approximately 45 minutes, but each member need only clean their bathroom a few times per semester (there is one bathroom for every 4-5 rooms).

While most members will be placed on kitchen shifts, you may be curious what other roles one could have. Below you'll find all of the possibilities (so far) and their descriptions.

• Office Labor:

• ICC Member Assistance:

Typically consisting of 2-3 members,

• Tech Support:

Typically consisting of 2 members,

• Basement Cleaning:

Typically consisting of 3-5 members,

• Grounds Crew:

Typically consisting of 4-5 members,

• Maintenance Crew:

Typically consisting of 5-7 members,

• Member Assistance:

Consisting of 6 members,

• Board Representative:

Consisting of 3 members, Escher's Board Representative sit on the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC). They represent the house and vote on important proposals that affect all ICC members. A key duty of a Board Rep is to keep information flowing in both directions; that is, to frequently update Escherites on BoD-happenings and to frequently update the rest of the ICC on member opinions and concerns. Read more about them here and about the BoD [[1]].

• Officer Assistant Positions:

The amount and type of officer assistants will vary based on operational needs. In Winter 2023, we have 5 Assistant Kitchen Managers (commonly referred to as AKMs), 1 Assistant Work Manager, 2 Sustainability Assistants, 2 Health Coordinator Assistants, and 1 President Assistant. The respective officers are given the freedom to choose the members they see as the most fit for these positions. To provide descriptions of each I will be asking the folks currently occupying them to help me fill out info on their weekly duties, and adding it below as I get responses.

Assistant Work Manager:

Sustainability Assistant:

Health Coordinator Assistant:

President Assistant: Hello! I, Carrie, the (primary) voice of the wiki, am the President Assistant! One of my duties is to improve this wiki. In fact, it is how I got the job since I pitched my ideas for continuing my work on the wiki in this year's Work Survey. I was also President over the Summer of 2022, so my relevant knowledge has enabled me to assist the Co-Presidents with various duties. To give you an idea of the type of work I do, I'll copy and paste a segment of my House Council report. By the way, these are voluntary for assistants. The House Council is only required to collect them from officers - I simply opted to send one in one month (and have forgotten to ever since, haha). Anyway, here it is in small font to not take up too much space: "Hi Escherites! Carrie here, our President Assistant. The past month and a half (I started out on basement clean) I have been doing less of a consistent 3 hours a week-thing and more of a 2 hours one week, 7 hours Work Holiday week-thing:

   Updating and improving the wiki, which I plan to pick up again now that its loading issues have seemingly resolved (fingers crossed).
   Making posts for our Instagram (just 2, but still thought I’d mention it).
   Responding to routine emails in the President inbox.
   Taking minutes at an officer meeting (one time that the Secretary couldn’t make it).
   Sending emails to the house about our fire code, parking, and probably something else I can’t remember.
   Drafting the house pet roster form
   Aiding in a peculiar contract release process
   Helping finish a referral hearing process
   Giving advice and problem solving with the Co-Presidents
   Drafting new Discord rules (which will be updated soon)
   Working on instructions for the trunk room clean out and labeling to happen before November 20

There’s a few more small things, but I don’t want to overwhelm you diligent readers with too much unnecessary info. Please let me know if you have any feedback, questions, or just want my help with anything! I’m not as knowledgeable as some of our housemates, but I was President over the summer and learned a lot about how the house operates. Thanks for reading!" Anyway, you don't have to be a former President to get this position. I would venture to say that most President Assistants are not former Presidents. However, there are some helpful skills to have: - Google Docs/Drive Know-How, for creating agendas, voting forms, and more. - Creativity/ingenuity, for problem-solving - Flexibility, to be able to work longer hours some weeks than others (balancing out your contributions to at least a net average of 3 hours a week) - Detail-oriented, with an eagerness to be thorough in checking others' and your own work - Writing skills, which are helpful when drafting house-wide or other emails with lots of information So yeah, if it sounds up your alley, I suggest using the open-ended area of the Work Survey to make your case for being selected for the position. In coop, Carrie

Note: I am not including AKMs here since more info on their duties can be found in the Kitchen Training Resources.

Officer Positions: Officers are elected members who work in various domains to keep the house running. For in-depth info on all of the Officer Positions, click here.

'*' - About 72% of Winter 2023 Members work kitchen shifts.