Connaught Hall 2017-2018 official Facebook group

The only official Facebook group for residents living at Connaught Hall for the 2017-2018 academic year:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/connaughthall20172018/.

The group is open only to Connaught Hall residents for 2017-2017 and selected staff. We expect all users of the group to adhere to our Facebook group community guidelines: 

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLN240YUxBRXBWYmM.

Use the official Facebook group for getting to know other residents, asking questions, or sharing your own events that others might want to join in. The Hall staff and the elected students on the Residents' Club Committee will post important information and social events here as well, so you can stay up to date with what's happening at Connaught Hall.

PLEASE NOTE: We very strongly advise that it's best not to contact us about official queries or problems via Facebook or other social media, as this can lead to delays in our response. See note below for more information about this.

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLYUtienhnWFphRUE.

As your Warden, I have a very clear policy about Facebook friend requests. In summary, I will always accept friend requests from residents if you want to add me, but I will never send an add request to a resident. Full details here:

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLU2RCc3hsSWdTQ2M.

CONTACTING US AT CONNAUGHT HALL

We can help you most efficiently and effectively at Connaught hall if you contact us using our published email addresses:

• The Hall Management team: info.connaught@london.ac.uk
• The Warden: warden@connaught-hall.org.uk
• Suggestions, compliments & complaints: suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk
• Noise complaints: noise@connaught-hall.org.uk

We aim to reply to all emails within 3 working days of receipt, but we are usually much quicker than this.

If you try to contact us using Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, iMessage, or other media, we don't always see your message right away and this can cause very significant delays to our response (in some cases, where Facebook Messenger has put messages into the "filtered messages" folder, they have only been seen months after the message was sent!).

Our "How can we help you" poster is displayed prominently around the Hall and tells you the best way to contact us for pretty much any kind of query or problem: 

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLN1EzMHZzSTQ2RXc

There's more information about how to contact the Warden - and specifically how to arrange an appointment to meet - here:

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLeUo5eWdzRzVUVVk

Finally, please may we reiterate that it's best not to contact us about official queries or problems via Facebook or other social media, as this can lead to a delay in us responding to you.

As always, get in contact if you need any help or guidance. We depend on your feedback to help us get things right for you.

New - Hall Facebook group community guidelines published

The Hall Facebook group has been set up by the Warden to make your time in the intercollegiate halls safer, more enjoyable, better informed, and more sociable. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/connaughthall20162017/

We hope our residents will use the group for getting to know other residents, asking questions, or sharing your own events that others might want to join in. The Hall staff and the elected students on the Residents' Club Committee will post important information and social events on the group as well, so residents can stay up to date with what's happening at Connaught Hall.

Only current Hall residents and staff are allowed to be members of the group. We have just four very simple golden rules that you must follow when using the Hall Facebook group, plus some guidelines for how to make the most of it.

FOUR GOLDEN RULES

1. Be respectful.

Please help us ensure our online community remains a safe and welcoming space for everyone, of every age, race, religion, sexuality, nationality, disability, and gender identity.

It's ok to voice a complaint or disagree with another post, but please do so in a polite and constructive manner. Never violate the privacy or dignity of another person. Obscenities, sexually explicit material, personal attacks and defamatory comments about any person, group, organisation or belief will be removed.

2. Don’t post anything that is illegal or unlawful, nor which breaches the University’s Ordinances, accommodation Licence Agreement, or Hall Handbook.

In particular, Ordinance 17 (Code of Student Discipline) and Ordinance 21 (Equality Policy) – available at www.london.ac.uk/977.html.

You also must not post anything that might promote or encourage others to behave in a manner that that is illegal, unlawful, or in breach of the University’s Ordinances, accommodation Licence Agreement or Hall Handbook.

3. Don’t infringe copyright, data protection, or intellectual property rights.

4. Don’t spam, nor use this Facebook group for commercial purposes.

If you break any of these four golden rules, the offending post(s) will be removed and you may be suspended or permanently blocked from the group. Serious breaches will result in disciplinary action.

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR HALL FACEBOOK GROUP

• Be careful not to allow others to use your Facebook login. 
• Think before you post and consider your audience. 
• Protect your own and others’ privacy, but be transparent and honest about your identity. 
• Be a valued member of the community and be accurate in your posts. 
• It is ok to complain about Hall facilities and services on the group, but please remember this is not a recognised channel for reporting problems to us. A member of staff might or might not see your post. If you want us to take action about something, please speak directly to a member of staff, email us, or use the dedicated systems for reporting maintenance or catering problems. 
• If you feel a post, photo, video, or other contribution on the group has breached these guidelines, please bring it to the attention of the Warden or a Senior Member as soon as possible.

THE SMALLPRINT

• The University of London cannot guarantee that your Hall Facebook group will be available at all times and cannot be held liable for any loss or damage (including consequential loss) resulting from or arising out of use or non-use of the group. 
• By posting any comments, links, or other material in your Hall Facebook group, you give the University of London the right to reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, remove, delete, create derivative works from and otherwise use your submission for any purpose in any form and on any media.
• Membership of the Hall Facebook group may include:
  the Warden, the Hall Manager, the Assistant Hall Manager, Senior Members, the Head of Residential Accommodation, the Deputy Head of Residential Accommodation, and members of the Housing Services and Accommodation Finance teams.
  Not all these staff groups may be members at all times, and not all will be regular users of the group. 
• We strongly recommend that you do not use the group to report problems in the Hall: your post(s) may not be seen by the relevant member of staff. Instead, use the channels of communication explained in your Hall Handbook for reporting any problems to members of staff. If we do see a complaint posted on the group about something in Hall, our usual action will be: (1) If the complaint is obviously about something very serious that clearly requires action, the member of staff who sees the post will copy & paste it into an email to the member of staff who would be responsible for dealing with that problem; he/she will then comment on the post to say they have forwarded it. (2) If the complaint does not obviously require immediate action, then we will comment on the post to tell you what you can do or whom you can talk / write to if you want us to act on your complaint. 
• We know that sometimes, you might feel frustrated by something that has happened and you simply want to vent your frustration to others, without necessarily wanting us to do anything or talk to you about it. That’s why we will give you the choice of whether or not to take up your complaint through an official channel. 
• Your Hall Warden is the chief moderator of the Hall Facebook group. Day-to-day moderating duties may be delegated to another member of the Halls team – usually a Senior Member. 
• In the event that there is a dispute about whether or not a post, photo, video, or other contribution is in contravention of these guidelines, the Warden shall be the arbiter of the matter and his/her decision shall be final. 
• Responsibility for any posts, photos, videos, or contributions uploaded using your Facebook login lies with you personally. We will not accept an argument that another person used your login unless this can be clearly proven to the satisfaction of the Warden. 
• We also draw your attention to the Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Data Policy, and Community Standards: www.facebook.com/policies.

Facebook group 2014-15

The only official group for residents living at Connaught Hall for the 2014-15 academic year: https://www.facebook.com/groups/connaught20142015/.

Information deficit?

We do try very hard at Connaught Hall to keep everyone informed of what's going on, and to provide high quality, accessible information about our facilities and services. Some of the responses to this year's survey, however, demonstrate that we are still not quite reaching everyone with the information they need.

When I first arrived at the hall, nobody told me that there was a good lift which I could use. So I lifted my own luggage to my floor (The lift only goes to the second top floor, but I live on the top floor). No guidance of facilities or introduction to the hall was provided, maybe because I moved in the second term. Still, I think every resident would like to receive helpful guidance and information upon their arrival. Besides, there were not many welcome arrangements.

More explanation about the hall, especially for overseas students.

The events have been thoroughly organised, although I think promotion could have been done further in advance (and not just on Facebook). 

Our Residents' Handbook is the official source of information about the Hall: handbook.connaught-hall.org.uk. I wrote and designed the Handbook myself and update it every year. It does contain a large section aimed at international students. But it does not mention the goods lift: I will correct this for the start of the next academic year. We shall also put up directions to the goods lift in reception on the main arrival days next year, and provide instructions on how to use it.

There is alsway more information being published here on my blog (blog.connaught-hall.org.uk), on our Facebook page (facebook.connaught-hall.org.uk), Twitter (tweets.connaught-hall.org.uk) and more recently, Instagram, Google+, and our YouTube channel, ConnaughtTV.

It's clear, however, that information in the Handbook is often simply not read. Most of my blog posts only ever reach around 100 views, so are obviously not reaching most residents; not everyone is on Facebook (especially students from China, where Facebook is banned); and only a minority of residents follow our Twitter profile. Instagram and Google+ even more obscure. So how do we get information out? More emails are not the answer: most of us receive too many emails already.

So  today I have designed new "tweetboard" and "tweet-tips" posters:

These laminated signs will be prominently displayed in reception and frequently updated with very short updates, answers, tips, advice, and guides to our facilities. It's Twitter for people who aren't on Twitter.

During the first few weeks of term 1, the tweet-tips board will cover all the important rules and facilities in Hall - so if you see that board every day, you will barely even need to read the Handbook!

The advantages of tweet-sized bits of information are:

• more memorable and digestible than long passages of text;
• large text will be clearly visible so it's difficult to miss announcements;
• easier for us to update very frequently without designing a whole new poster each time;
• every "tweet" will be dated;
• once the initial outlay for the full-colour, laminated templates is made, the plain text signs will be very cheap to print.

I hope these new posters will help get information to those people who are currently missing out.

This is one of a series of posts responding to the results of the residents' survey. You can see all the posts here: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Survey%202013. 

Hall news at a glance

The Connaught Hall homepage has a new feature that allows you to see all our updates from the website, Facebook, this blog, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr, and Google+ all on one page.

The news feed automatically updates so you only need to visit www.connaught-hall.org.uk and you will be guaranteed to see the latest news from the Hall.

Email your suggestions directly via Facebook

I have noticed that very many residents like to complain about catering, facilities, or other matters on the hall's Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/connaught2012.13), but startlingly few of these complaints ever make it into an email to our dedicated suggestion box - suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk. 

I understand that sometimes people want to "vent" publicly about something that's irritated them. Facebook is good for doing that; and it's fine if they do not expect anything to be done on the basis of their "vent".

But I am concerned that residents might think that their Facebook posts will be seen and acted upon by halls management. They will not: halls management are not - and cannot be expected to be - members of every single page or group set up by or for residents, nor monitor them daily for new posts. The Senior Members and I do monitor posts and bring things to the attention of management when we notice posts about real problems - but of course, we don't know which posts are there simply for letting off steam, and which ones were posted seriously with the hope that things will change.

As you can see, this is not a robust system and people may well be disappointed that their post was not seen or acted upon. This is a pity, when the only thing preventing those people from sending an email might be that they forgot the suggestions email address, or did not have the time or inclination to formulate a nice email with "dear so-and-so" and all that.

So today I created a fictional Facebook personality called "Connor Tall" (get it?) and he has made a post on the main Facebook group used by hall residents:

Any comments made on this post will automatically be forwarded to suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk and therefore read by me, the Hall Manager, the catering company, and Residents' Club Committee & Senior Member representatives. This will ONLY happen for comments on Connor Tall's post. Other posts in the Facebook group will NOT be forwarded to the people on this list.

Please note we cannot reply to messages sent using this method, as your email address will not be included in the message (unless you include it in what you write).

I hope this will be a useful new feature and look forward to being able to use your comments to improve the service we provide at Connaught Hall.

Connaught Hall news

New content is being added to the Hall website at www.connaught-hall.org.uk all the time.

To make it easy to see what's new, you can go straight to news.connaught-hall.org.uk. Eight new items were added just today: