A Quick Guide to Getting Shit Done at Reed

Two great things about Reed: We have tons of cool resources, and you can usually find a person in administration who can help you with any questions or problems. However, you have to know what resources exist and who to talk to. Sometimes that's obvious, and sometimes it takes some digging around the Reed website. I have compiled a short list of resources, mainly focused on student clubs and events, that I think are under-utilized and/or super cool. I also included a chart of who's who in non-academic departments, which may be a useful reference. You can find all of their emails and office numbers on IRIS by searching their name in the “Campus Directory." Throughout the article, I mention people and programs by the names they appear under in the Campus Directory, their Reed emails, and on the Reed website. Ideally, you should be able to search for any term you are unfamiliar with using the Reed website search bar and find its webpage buried under five sub-menus. The main thing I hope you take away from this article is that you do not have to do this alone, whatever "this" is!

Link to the org chart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OH06YYuO0gW72n_QqIxvD2z2qbZAT62f/view?usp=drive_link  

You want to start a club

  1. Check to see if it exists already! On the Student Engagement webpage, there is a list of all the clubs on campus that Student Engagement is aware of and what they do.

    • Campus Life > Student Groups is not a complete list!

    • Campus Life > Clubs & Activities > Office for Student Engagement > Student Clubs & Organizations is a complete list, and this page has information you'll want to read before starting a club.

  2. READ THE SB INFO NEWSLETTER! 

    • SB Info is sent out each week by the student body president, and contains information on how to complete signator training (you must be a trained signator to run a club that uses school funds), when Treasury office hours are, how to add the Senate and Treasury calendars to your Google Calendar, and more!

  3. GO TO SIGNATOR TRAINING! 

    • IF YOU WANT MONEY TO DO YOUR OWN CLUBS OR EVENTS, do this training during the first week of school!

    • Especially if your club needs money and you are the leader, and if you want to host one event with student body funding, you NEED to attend this training. If you are a co-leader or officer of a club, this training is also nice to have because you can file your own reimbursements. This year, 2024, signator training is on September 5th and 6th (the first Thurs/Fri of classes) from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.

  4. Register for Funding Circus (you'll know what this means after you go to signator training). 

    • This will make your club exist and enter you in a popularity contest* for funding! Talk to the Student Engagement office at student-engagement@reed.edu to register your club if you don't plan to register for Funding Circus. If your budget is small (less than $300ish) you can get money later on, but Funding Circus could still be good PR. 

    • *Identity groups (ex. Black Student Union, Vietnamese Student Union, Out In STEM, Gender Minorities in STEM, etc.) do not have to win votes to get funding! At signator training, you will learn how to register an identity group. They will be funded by Treasury based on criteria other than student votes but can choose to enter Funding Circus if they want.

    • Budget tips: Be specific, check online for prices, see below and talk to Jim Holmes first if you are planning a movie night because movie rights for "public" screenings cost way more, consider whether you will need transport and look into borrowing a Reed van (see below). If you have any budget questions, ask money@reed.edu (NOT a treasurer's personal email!) or go to Treasury's office hours (listed in SB Info). 

  5. ADVERTISE! Tell everyone what you plan to do as a club, and encourage people to join. Avenues for advertisement:

    • Create a mailing list by filling out the Google Group creation form at https://www.reed.edu/it/help/protected/lists-googlegroups.html (also findable by searching "Google Groups" on the Reed website). This will allow you to add emails (Reed and non-Reed) to a list, and then email the whole list (ex. To: myclub@reed.edu) at once! This makes managing a newsletter much easier.

    • Email the Quest to get put on the events list or submit a new club profile.

    • SB Info has an announcement submission form. Announce your club's existence! 

    • Put posters everywhere.

    • Make an Instagram account for the club, follow all the other Reed clubs, and let the algorithm show you to people.

    • If your club is particularly relevant to a department, email the department head or administrator and ask if you can be put in the department newsletter!

  6. If you need more advice, talk to older signators, email the Student Engagement office, or email the student body treasury at money@reed.edu.

You want to organize an event

  1. If you need money and are not signator trained, contact money@reed.edu for advice.

  2. Plan the date and make a list of what you need ahead of time.

  3. If you need money and don't have club funding, go to the Finance Committee (Check SB Info for the time and Zoom link) and request a budget from the Treasury. Do this at least a week in advance of your event, preferably two weeks!

  4. Buy things and SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS!

  5. At least 5 BUSINESS DAYS (weekends or holidays don't count, aim for 7 days) in advance, go to IRIS > Student Events > Register a New Event to reserve a room and request any resources like folding tables, chairs, electrical outlets, etc.

  6. If food is involved:

    • Read the food safety guidelines! These will be sent to you after you register the event and are available on Reed's Environmental Health & Safety website.

    • If you need cooking or serving implements, email Commons and ask if you could please borrow some equipment. Give them at least 2 weeks’ notice if you can, and be specific about what items you want, how many, and what size. This is entirely free, although they keep track of the items and will charge you money if you lose things. They have all sorts of things, including a portable stove burner!

  7. If you need a sound system:

    • Contact Sound Kollectiv, a student group, for setup and running sound during an event like a dance. They need 2 weeks notice, and their booking form is linked to the event registration form.

    • If you plan to run your own audio, check out sound equipment from the PARC (the Performing Arts Resource Center, on the top floor of the Performing Arts Building)

  8. ADVERTISE! See the above (clubs) for different places where you can advertise your event. 

  9. Recruit friends to help run the event if needed.

You want to organize a movie night that is not in a dorm

  1. Talk to Jim Holmes in the IMC (found in the library basement or at holmesj@reed.edu) and student-engagment@reed.edu before budgeting.

  2. I'm not explaining copyright law, this article is way too long already, but trust me, it's a little more complicated than it sounds. If you advertise publicly (ex. social media) that you are hosting a movie night open to the whole school (note: events must be open to the student body to qualify for funding), someone will get worried about copyright and make you deal with it.

You want to borrow a board game

  1. Check out ARG (the Association of Reed Gamers)! They have a board game library you can check out games from. Their checkout methods vary, but you can generally locate their email addresses on the "Student Clubs & Organizations" page by clicking on ARG's link.

You want to revive a club or tradition that you heard about that died a tragic death during the pandemic

  1. GET SIGNATOR TRAINED! See above.

  2. Email some alums that were affiliated and ask how they ran things.

  3. Ask around at Student Engagement and Senate, see if that club's storage is still around here somewhere and you can dig out their old equipment or notebooks. 

  4. Talk to alums who work on campus!! Eliot Hall and the library are full of alums who will happily talk to you about Olde Reed traditions.

    • Talk to Gregory MacNaughton, the calligraphy guy. He knows many things.

  5. Acquire funding from Treasury, either from club funding or Finance Committee.

  6. Plan the event or start the club as normal. Don't worry too much about being precisely traditional, it's ok to put your own spin on traditions!

You want to borrow a Reed van to drive your student group/event somewhere

  1. Look at the Reed Vans webpage on the Sports Center website. 

  2. Budget for gas (see van website or ask Treasury at money@reed.edu for current rates) through your club or event budget.

  3. One option is to email the van drivers (van-drivers@reed.edu) and pay one of them to drive you, if you have funding for that. Another option is to become van-certified yourself. Go to the website several weeks in advance of your event, fill out the interest form, and get trained.

  4. Go to the Physical Plant (the building between Commons and the Sports Center, next to the canyon) and ask to reserve van time at the front desk. They will help you reserve the van and you can ask them more questions about the vans and the reservation process!

You want to go on a camping trip and don't own all the equipment

  1. Get at least one buddy interested. Do not go into the wilderness on your own.

  2. Pick a location and look to see if you need camping permits, park entry fees, etc. Buy and print at home (ask me how I know) these documents beforehand if needed. Consider the Reed ski cabin, Crater Lake National Park, Olympic National Park, and assorted national forests.

  3. Go to the Backpack Co-op webpage and check their schedule (they have odd hours).

  4. Go to the Backpack Co-op (in the Sports Center) when they're open and check out all the cool stuff you can borrow for free! The lovely people at the Outdoor Center run all kinds of workshops, and can give you tons of advice on exploring the wonders of the Pacific Northwest.

  5. Borrow the gear you need, buy some food, and have fun! Make sure to bring it back in good condition.

You want to do an art project

  1. Keep an eye out at the end of the semester for the Spring/Fall and Renn Fayre project proposal forms! You can get a lot of money for a temporary art installation through these.

  2. Talk to the Mural Committee! Their website isn't updated often, so for now I recommend starting with Janice Yang (yjanice@reed.edu) in Student Engagement if you want to make a mural in the Info Shoppe; Stephanie Snyder (snyders@reed.edu) in the library/Cooley Gallery or Gregory MacNaughton (macnaugg@reed.edu) if you have general questions; Student Senate (warroom@reed.edu) if you want to know who is on the mural committee; or Residence Life if you want to do a dorm mural. Any of these people can get the process kickstarted and many of them are busy with non-mural things all the time, so if you're getting ghosted, try emailing a different person on the list.

    • Check with someone at Facilities (Such as Zac at perryz@reed.edu) that your paint and primer will work with your target wall.

  3. Write a mural proposal with a design proposal (visual draft), materials needed (including estimated cost), facilities assistance requested, names of students who will do the mural work, timeline of work and when you expect to be done, and location.

  4. Submit the mural proposal to the committee (it may take a minute to figure out who to submit to. When in doubt just start emailing it to people until you get directed to the right place).

You need audio or lighting equipment for a class or personal project, such as a music recording session, concert, or film production

  1. Check out the PARC (Performing Arts Resource Center) and IMC (Instructional Media Center) websites, figure out which one has your equipment, and reserve it or go check it out in person!

    • Conflict of interest statement: I work at the PARC and love it when people find out about all the cool stuff we have for students to borrow. We also have sun lamps and a ghost-hunting kit.

You need a laptop or iPad for just a few days

  1. Check out the PARC and IMC. If you need a device for longer than three days, talk to CUS/Computer User Services (if the reason is that your device is broken), or STEP/Student Technology Equipment Program (if the reason is that you do not have a computer and you cannot afford one).

You cannot find a book or scientific paper online or in the Reed library

  1. Legally I cannot recommend the use of SciHub for these purposes. Instead, go to the library website and request the resource through Summit or Interlibrary Loan!

  2. If Interlibrary Loan is confusing or does not work, email a librarian! If it's for a specific class, find your subject librarian and email them, or click the "GET HELP NOW" button on the library homepage.

Computer troubles of any kind

  1. Go to the ETC (building in the corner between the library and biology building) and ask the CUS helpdesk (right when you walk in) for help. If they can't fix it, they can usually redirect you to someone who can.

You are struggling in a class

  1. Go to office hours - either the professor's or the TA's.

  2. Get a tutor! 

    • Students who have taken a class can get jobs as tutors. They are trained and available throughout the year to you as a resource!

    • You can book individual tutors through IRIS. The Office of Academic Support gives each student one hour per week of free tutoring per class, plus an hour of writing tutoring. Check out the Academic Support website for more information.

    • Most introductory classes, including HUM 110, have drop-in tutoring hours every week. The times and locations for these should be on the syllabus! You have unlimited access to these.

  3. If it's really not working out, reach out to Amaan Mohiuddin (mohiuddin@reed.edu), the Tutor Program Coordinator, for more support. He can help you with study strategies, grant you extra tutoring hours, and more.

Your professor has rejected your request for disability accommodations

  1. Deal with it quickly - if your accommodations are not working out, deal with it in the first month of the semester if at all possible.

  2. If the accommodation has been approved through DAR already, make sure your professor understands that.

  3. Talk to DAR (dar@reed.edu), and ask them to mediate a discussion between you and your professor about accommodations.

You want a job (*note: this instruction list assumes you do not have work-study)

  1. Make a Handshake account (linked on your IRIS dashboard) and search for jobs posted by "Reed College Student Work."

  2. Meet with a CLBR Peer Advisor to review your resume. They can sometimes help you calibrate your resume for Reed student jobs specifically, so I recommend a quick meeting even if you already have a resume put together.

  3. Apply for some jobs!

You want money for a career-relevant workshop or conference

  1. Check out the CLBR Reed Sponsored & Summer Grants webpage! You can apply for grants this way and get money to go to interesting events that will help your career.

  2. Ask relevant or favorite professors and staff for advice on picking opportunities and submitting grants. Many departments and the Undergraduate Research Committee have their own seminars on how to get money for things like this.

  3. Read the entire grant application instruction list and submit the grant application on time.

  4. If you are printing a poster for a conference, ask the biology department admin, Kristy (gonyerk@reed.edu) if you can print it on campus.

  5. SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS and have fun!

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