North Campus FAQ (Renaissance and O'Keeffe House)
Welcome to the North Campus co-ops: Renaissance, O'Keeffe, and the invisible house of Escher. We know you've already gotten a heap of information about work requirements and rules and what Dick down at the office will do if your payment isn't in on time, but none of that really tells you what it's like to live in the co-op. We wrote this faq to answer the real questions that fresh, young co-opers run into when they move into this strange new place. Believe it or not, we were once new here ourselves.
Also see the ICC Current Member FAQ.
Enjoy your co-op!
For prospective residents:
Stuff you need to know right after moving in
House Facilities
Running the House
Obligations and regulations
Miscellaneous questions
Useful information not in question form
It's all up to you. You can make friends with your entire suite, get involved in organizing co-op activities and creating useful stuff for the house, eat dinner surrounded by people every day, and chat with your housemates deep into the night. Or, you can do your work, pay your charges, and just get on with your life and your friendships outside the co-op. You'll need to be able to act civilly towards a large and diverse group of neighbors, but beyond that you're free to do as you please.
Like a lot of co-ops, we have a lot of shared space and a good, friendly community. But unlike a lot of them, we also have private space and are used to people who would prefer to keep to themselves.
Dinners, prepared by our much-touted professional chef and work crews of North Campus residents, are served every evening. Renaissance dinner runs from 5:30-7:00, and O'Keeffe dinner from 6:00-7:00. Over the summer, both houses eat in O'Keeffe from 6:00-7:00. Dinners always have vegetarian and vegan options for the main dish (entree), and there is a meat option almost every day. If you are unable to make it to dinner, you can request a saved meal by leaving a note on the save meal board in the dining room. There are also usually leftovers, available in the large metal refrigerators in the dining room.
For other meals, the dining rooms are stocked with fruit, cereal, milk, bagels, bread, yogurt, eggs, lunchmeat and cheese, salad items, and other such staples. These are available 24 hours a day in unlimited quantities.
Finally, you can purchase and cook your own food in your suite's kitchenette. Just make sure you label your ingredients, or they're liable to guff!
From time to time the kitchen will close for a day or two. These are usually holidays like Labor Day, and will be announced in advance. Most of the time you'll still be able to get guff, but there won't be any dinner and you'll have to take care of your own plates and silverware. For the last two weeks of Summer (August 16th-September 2nd) the dining room is completely locked up and members have to supply their own food.
See also:
The keyholder is a member who is elected to be the informal leader for their suite. The keyholder is the person who will give you your keys when you move in and help you get settled. The keyholder's name and room number should be posted prominently, or you can just ask anyone who lives in your suite.
All members are entitled to a clean room in good move-in condition:
- Clean (no trash on floor, no belongings left behind by previous resident)
- Walls are clean and free of holes (this also includes the room being painted a reasonable color)
- Floor is not missing tiles
- Lighting works
- Window blinds installed and in good working condition
- Window screen present
- Window opens and closes properly
- Door opens and closes properly
- Smoke alarm is installed and working properly
- Room has all appropriate furniture (see furniture section)
If your room is damaged (e.g., your floor is missing tiles, you have no window blinds, or your door does not lock), you should report this to the maintenance crew, who will help you fix it. You are allowed to make aesthetic changes, such as painting your room, putting up curtains, or putting in carpet. There may even be extra paint or carpeting left behind by previous house members that you can use.
The coop has a stock of standard furniture, which is somewhat dull, but functional, and reduces the amount of stuff you need to bring with you or deal with when you leave.
A single (large or small) should contain the following furniture:
- 1 dresser (short four-drawer thing)
- 1 armoire/wardrobe (big empty free-standing closet thing)
- 1 desk
- 1 chair
- 1 twin extra long bed (39 inches wide x 80 inches deep, or 1 meter wide x 2.05 meters long). This includes a bedframe frame with springs and a mattress but no sheets.
A double should have two of each of those things.
Extra Furniture
If your room is not equipped with the appropriate set of furniture, or if you don't want some of the standard furniture, speak with an officer. Officers can show you the furniture storage area in the basement where extra house furniture is kept, so that you can adjust the inventory of your room as desired. Please do not take extra furniture beyond the standard inventory listed. The house has extras of some items, but is chronically short on others (like dressers). If you have an extra, it probably means that somebody else who wants one and who should have one doesn't. Do not leave unwanted house furniture sitting around in the hallway, either outside of your door or in the basement; ask for help taking it to the furniture room if necessary. There are few better ways to build co-op spirit during your first weekend than helping to haul one of those armoires up or down two flights of stairs.
Mattresses
If you have a mattress that looks like it is thirty years old, it very well may be. (Is it white with blue stripes? If so, then you're a winner!) However, you don't have to put up with this. The house has a budget to replace a certain number of mattresses each year, so if you move into a room with a horribly old and disgusting mattress, you may be able to trade it in for a new one. Speak with maintenance if you think this is the case.
Personal Furniture
Obviously, you're not limited to the furniture provided by the house. You're allowed to keep basically whatever you want in your room, subject to the ICC's general list of banned items (guns, ammunition, explosives, internal combustion engines, dogs, cats in most places, waterbeds, etc.). If you and your significant other are sharing a double, you will obviously want to bring your own bed, rather than sleep "I Love Lucy"-style, and, in general, you are welcome to replace or supplement the provided furniture with whatever you bring with you. If you remove unwanted house furniture from the room when you move in, please make sure you replace it when you move out. If you want to get rid of personal furniture when you move out and it is in good condition, ask around to see if another member (or a suite lounge!) would like to inherit it, or leave it in the guff area of the laundry room.
U-M Property Disposition is not far away, and the Ann Arbor ReUse Center might have things that are less office-like.
The co-op itself is very safe. As a well-lit building with numerous people constantly around, it's a very poor place for any kind of violent crime. Theft is rare, although every couple of years someone does go around burgling unlocked rooms. We're 95% of the way to having a place where you never need to lock your door, but with the amount of member turnover we have there are always bound to be a few people who act badly. Locking is recommended. People will inevitably leave the external doors open for ventilation when the weather is nice, but it's important to keep them closed at night!
As for the area around the co-op, it depends...
If you come from a major metropolitan area such as New York City or Washington, D.C., you will find the area incredibly safe.
If you are used to an area where you can leave car doors unlocked, probably not. There are a few robberies and violent crimes in the city every year. The walk from a campus bus to the co-op is short enough to be pretty safe, but otherwise you should be cautious.
Normal caveats / precautions apply:
- Avoid unlighted areas at night. This includes the path across the woods from the bus stop to the co-op.
- If you must be out late at night avoid doing so alone. Do take advantage of the university's S.A.F.E.Walk program.
- Keep room door locked.
- Keep outside doors shut!
- If you have a bicycle, lock it, even if it's in the bicycle room
- If you have a car, lock doors and keep valuables out of sight.
- If you see an unfamiliar person in the building do not hesitate to ask who they are and why they are in the building
Please see the flier on the bulletin board in each hallway bathroom for information on the house email lists.
Typically these supplies are stored somewhere near your house dining room (for Renaissance, often near the closet near the bike room) or in the work managers' rooms, but over the summer things may be kept only in the back of the O'Keeffe dining room. This kind of knowledge is likely to change and your best bet is to ask an old-timer.
Our network now uses the 802.11g standard. Older 802.11b might work too. You can borrow network cards from the ICC office for a one-time fee that is refunded when you return the card.
There are public computers available for North Campus residents. Just go down to the study room, in the basement below Bag End suite. Your outside key will unlock the door to the computer room. The computers use the house wireless network and have a variety of software suitable for most purposes. (They also have a dial-up connection to U-M, although you will need a U-M uniqname and password for this to work.) There will also be a laser printer and a CD/DVD writer. More specific policies and instructions are posted in the computer room. Please be sure not to save passwords in browsers or leave personal information on these computers. It is not recommended to conduct electronic financial transactions there either because anti-virus software is not always key up-to-date.
There are many tantalizingly locked rooms in the basement. They contain useful community resources that we don't want to be completely open to anyone who walks by. Genreally, any house officer will let you in if you ask, though you may have to explain yourself if you want access to the boiler room or the electrical closet.
The North Campus Co-ops do not have a house sauna. No, really. No sauna here. Trust us.
Well, okay. There's a sauna. It's a little bit broken, though, and nobody's been ambitious enough to try fixing it. If you ever get really bored, though, consider that an invitation.
Shared Phones
Each hallway has a phone and an answering machine. If your hallway does not have these things, talk to your suite keyholder about getting them. The hallway phone is shared by the residents of that hallway, and each hallway phone has a unique phone number. If the incoming phone number is not posted by the phone, ask your hallmates what it is. You can give this number out, and callers will reach your phone and only your phone.
To make a call from these hallway phones, you need to first dial "9", and then the phone number. The phones will only make local or free calls, so you will need a calling card if you want to dial long-distance.
Room Phones
Many co-opers choose to use a cell phone or get by using the hall phone, but you can get your own line if you want it. Each comes equipped with a phone jack, which you can activate by calling a local phone company such as SBC or AT&T. Connection can take from 3 to 7 calendar days. Usually the phone company does not need access to the room to activate the phone line. A deposit is required, which is part of the first month's phone bill. Note that the room resident is responsible for all room phone charges. You do not need to dial "9" to dial out from a room phone.
Note that if you want a room line so you can dial up to the internet, it would be much cheaper to get on the wireless network. A wireless card plus six months on the network will cost about $80, while a phone line for six months will be at least $120.
See the interactive map.
Bicycle: Depending on the route you take (and your fitness level) this may take 10-15 minutes. The co-op has a bike room where you can secure your bike when not in use. The streets and sidewalks are kept plowed in the winter, so you should be able to bike year-round if you so desire.
Walk: According to people who do this on a regular basis it is a 30- to 35-minute walk -- 25 or less if you run.
Bus: See How do the buses work?
Drive: We strongly advise against driving: parking on Central Campus is a huge pain. It get a little better in the evening, and the meters are free after 6 p.m. Some parking garages are also free on Sundays.
See the interactive map.
Here's the short answer:
If you want to go to Central Campus (which is also close to downtown), there's a free university shuttle that picks up right outside the co-op every 5-20 minutes, depending on the time of day. Anyone who lives here can show you where it is. On weekends and during the summer, you may need to walk to the Pierpont Commons (near the Duderstadt Center), which is about 15 minutes away. Several buses in the Ann Arbor citywide system pick up nearby as well.
Here's the long answer:
The North Campus Co-ops are close to stops on both the University of Michigan's bus system and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's city-wide network.
The University's "Bursley-Baits" route stops at a bus shelter on Hubbard Road near the University's Baits housing--the buildings visible across the front parking lot from the co-op. To reach this stop, walk into the front parking lot and go to the right. A paved, lit path leads through the Baits housing to Hubbard, and the shelter will be directly across the road from you.
The Bursley-Baits bus runs on weekdays, starting at 7 am, and runs every 10 minutes until 6 pm. Between 6 pm and 12:30 am, the Bursley-Baits runs every 15 minutes. On weekends, holidays, and after the Bursley-Baits stops in the evening, the "North Campus" bus serves this stop every 20 minutes from 12:30 am to 2 am on weekdays, and every 20 minutes from 7 am to 2 am on weekends and holidays. During the spring/summer semester, the "Northwood" route serves this stop from 7 pm to 12:30 am; no University bus serves this stop during the day.
The Bursley-Baits route has stops at the following points:
- C.C. Little Building on North University Street (middle of Central Campus)
- Kresge Medical Building (medical center, north end of Central Campus; 2 stops)
- Commuter Parking Lot on Fuller Avenue (between Central Campus and North Campus)
- Pierpont Commons on Murfin (North Campus)
- Bursley Residence Hall (North Campus, near the NCRB)
- Baits II Residences (the stop near the Co-ops)
- Baits I Residences
Upon reaching Baits I, the Bursley-Baits waits for a few minutes, then travels back along the same route (but skipping Kresge, and stopping instead between the Power Center and the Modern Languages Building on Central Campus). You want to get on when the bus is on the return route.
For route maps and schedules for bus routes, see the U-M Parking & Transportation Services website and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority.
Mail Distribution
Each suite has its own mailbox by its front steps, as well as either by the front door or in the kitchenette, a set of mail cubbies, one of which belongs to you. All mail for the suite is delivered to the mailbox outside. From here, one suitemember collects the mail and sorts it into individual members' mail cubbies. These mail cubbies are considered to be private, and taking things from another member's cubby amounts to mail theft, not to mention being impolite. Only take things from your mail cubby.
If you receive something in your cubby which is not addressed to you, you should attempt to figure out who it was meant for. Often, it will be mail meant for the person who lived in your room before you. Ask your keyholder what to do with this kind of mail.
As an alternative to having mail delivered to the co-op, you might consider opening a USPS post office box at the post office nearest Central Campus:
1214 South University Avenue Suite S104
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
Or you can open a commercial post office box, at which you can receive mail from UPS, FedEx, and other mailing services in addition to regular USPS mail. Note that Independent Postal Services is located just a three-minute walk from the North Campus Co-ops but is called "Mail Express" on their sign.
When the time comes for you to leave the co-op, you will probably want your mail to follow you. The most reliable way to make this happen is to contact people who send you mail (your cell phone provider, your bank, your parents) and give them your new address. Due to the way the post office treats our building, we have to manually forward mail.
To forward mail, just cross out everything but the addressee's name and write the corrected information. Then leave it in the mailbox with the flag up. The post office will forward first class mail and periodicals only.
Each suite has its own mailing address. The addresses are of the form:
suite number Gilbert Ct. #room number
Ann Arbor, MI, 48105
USA
Your suite's number is as follows:
- Trantor-Mir: 1502
- Walden: 1504
- Sinclair: 1506
- Bag End: 1508
- Zapata: 1510
- Valhalla: 1512
- Russell: 1514
- Karma: 1516
- Falstaff: 1518
Your room number is on the door to your room, and is the first letter of your suite, followed by a number between 11 and 29. Thus, if Jake Danger lived in Karma in room K-23, his address would be:
Jake Danger
1516 Gilbert Ct. #K-23
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
If you want to buy something for your suite that isn't a permanent item (e.g., pretzels, beer, batteries), this will probably come out of the suite funds. Suite funds usually come from suite recycling money and are administered by the keyholder. If you are forced to make a purchase (e.g., a sewer pipe breaks over the weekend and there are no officers around), you should talk to the relevant officer (maintenance manager, kitchen manager, etc) to get reimbursed.
If you want to paint your room white, talk to the head of the maintenance crew for your house to get the paint purchased through the standing ICC account for maintenance.
If you want to buy something permanent, like a television or a piece of furniture, this will come out of house amenities money. You need house approval before making this purchase in order to be reimbursed by the treasurer. Ask your president or treasurer for details.
Soc-eds can submit receipts for party supplies directly to the treasurer without needing house approval.
Food for weekend cooking shifts can be ordered through the standing food account. Talk to Chef Lynn.
Alcohol cannot be reimbursed under any circumstances due to ICC policy.
There will be a house meeting in the first few days of the semester. After that, meetings are scheduled by the president, as needed. Meetings are announced at least three days in advance by postings in the suites and the dining room, and on the email list. After each meeting, minutes are emailed out and posted on the house bulletin board.
Suite meetings are called at the beginning of the semester and as necessary by the suite keyholder. These will be announced on the suite bulletin board, which is usually in the stairwell or outside the suite kitchen.
Please write your maintenance request on the list posted near your house's dining room. The maintenance crew will get to it in an order determined by urgency, ease of repair, and other obligations. If something critical (like, say, a drainage pipe) breaks, you should try to find a house officer and report it directly. In emergencies, you should call the emergency number posted around the house.
If a lightbulb burns out, you can replace it yourself. See the question in the FAQ on finding lightbulbs.
Who are the officers? Your friends!
Officers are elected for annual or one-semester terms at the end of the semester. You can find out who the officers are by asking anybody, by listening to officer reports at meetings, or by looking at the job listings. All officers have keys to basement rooms. They also tend to be seasoned, knowledgable co-opers who can answer any of your questions, or at least help you find the right person to ask. Don't hesitate to pull one of them aside.
The officer jobs are:
President: This officer sets agendas and runs meetings, acts as a tour guide and contact person for prospective members, and coordinated the activities of the other officers and the house in general. The president is the person to go to for miscellaneous problems that no one else can take care of. The O'Keeffe president also sits on the ICC board as a representative of North Campus interests.
Board Representative (Renaissance only): The board rep sits on the ICC board as a representative of North Campus interests.
Kitchen Manager: The KM works with the chef to keep the kitchen running smoothly, and handles training for new members in the ways of cooking and cleaning.
Maintenance Manager: The Maintenance Manager coordinates the maintenance crew, and is a liason with ICC maintenance when it comes to handling larger issues like housewide plumbing and wiring.
Member Relations (O'Keeffe only): The member relations chair deals with conflicts between members, recruitment issues, and the like.
Secretary (O'Keeffe only): The secretary takes minutes during meetings, and handles other miscellaneous tasks.
Information Steward (Renaissance only): Like a secretary, but also handles the institutional memory of the North Campus Co-ops
Soc/Ed: The social and educational officer arranges parties and other house activities, as well as education about all things co-op.
Treasurer: The treasurer tells members what they owe each month, collects charges, and brings them to the ICC office. The treasurer also handles certain bills and reimbursement issues.
Work Manager: The Work Manager assembles a work schedule at the beginning of the semester and is responsible for ensuring that people who don't do their work are tracked down and disciplined. The WM also plans Work Holiday.
House constitutions, house standing rules (which specify things that the constitution lays out in general), ICC rules, and minutes from every meeting ever can be obtained from the ICC office, either when you sign your contract or any other time you feel like it. You can also get them by asking the president of your house. They are also posted at random locations throughout the house.
The Renaissance, O'Keeffe, and Escher constitutions are available on the ICC website, as well, linked from the Renaissance page, the O'Keeffe page, and Escher page.
Any member can write a proposal for a house vote. Proposals must be delivered to the house president at least 24 hours before a meeting. You will be asked to present your proposal at the next house meeting, but the president will handle the technical aspects of the discussion (keeping track of who wants to talk, coutning votes, etc).
In order to give your proposal the best chance of passing, you should do some work beforehand and write it in a certain form. If you have an idea for something that you want done, discuss it with other co-opers before writing a proposal, and especially talk to any officers or work crews who will be responsible for implementation--their input and questions will help you refine and clarify your proposal, avoiding lengthy discussion during a meeting and improving its chance of passing (people don't like to pass proposals they don't understand). You may even find out, while talking to people, that what you want to do can be done without a house vote.
When you do write your proposal, you should have three main sections. A "background" section should discuss the situation you want to address or the problem you want to solve, and present the need for action. The "proposal" section is what the house will be voting on, and is the part that will become official house policy, if passed. This is the only required section, and should be as clear and concise as possible (unlike this documentation). The "considerations" section mentions pros and cons of the proposal: how much labor or money the proposal will cost (or save), for example, or what the long-term effects of the proposal might be.
Part of cooperative living is sharing the work necessary to keep the house running. Some of this work keeps our costs down (like doing most of our building maintenance ourselves), but in general the purpose is to employ division of labor to reduce the amount of work that everybody has to do.
In the North Campus Co-ops, each member is required to contribute four hours of labor each week, as well as a small amount of additional labor at various points (generally about ten hours per semester). Your friends might think that having to work for your house is a horrible arrangement, but you should ask them how much time they spend each week making dinner and washing dishes. In the co-op, you may spend three hours each week washing dishes, but you have other people making dinner and washing dishes for you every other night of the week. You may have to clean the bathroom once in a while, but it will be cleaned for you the rest of the time. Not a bad way to live.
Scope of Labor
There are three types of work a North Campus co-op member is expected to do:
- Work owed to the house
- Work owed to the suite
- Work owed to one's hallway
The total amount of work you do of these three types will come out to about four hours every week. Additionally, each member is expected to participate in Work Holiday (usually 4 hours per person) and the work manager may require house members to perform a number of rotational shifts each semester (usually 1-3 per person).
Work owed to the house
Members are expected to work three hours per week for the house. Each member will perform one of the following tasks as their three hour commitment:
- Cooking (3 hour shift, once per week)
- Kitchen Cleaning (3 hour shift, once per week)
- Maintenance (3 hours per week average on tasks assigned by the Maintenance Manager; variable number of members)
- Grounds (3 hours per week average)
- ICC Office (3 hour shift during business hours)
- ICC Committee (committee meetings plus committee-assigned tasks)
- Officership (semester- or year-long elected positions)
- Basement Clean (3 hours per week, flexible schedule)
- Lunch Prep (3 hours per week, somewhat flexible schedule)
- Parking/Pop Steward, Computer Steward, Recycling Steward (3 hours average, scheduled as needed)
Members are assigned to these tasks by the work manager, and keep their positions for one semester, though you may arrange shift swaps with other members for occasional scheduling problems. The work manager will pass out a work survey to each member at the beginning of the semester on which to indicate class or work conflicts and shift preference, and will generate a work schedule from the survey results. This schedule will generally take effect around the second weekend of the semester; labor during the first two weeks of the semester is by the "interim schedule". Sign-up sheets for this interim period will be posted, and each member is required to sign up for two single shifts.
Work owed to the suite
There are various suite tasks that need to be carried out, such as daily suite kitchenette cleaning, cleaning the lounge, watering plants, and so on. At the beginning of each term each suite holds a meeting during which suite members propose and sign up for these tasks. These tasks are generally weekly, but some (like feeding fish) have other schedules, and are expected to take 30-45 minutes per week.
Work owed to one's hallway
A "hallway" is defined as the hallway and cluster of rooms sharing a bathroom and shower room. Each resident of a particular hallway must take turns cleaning this shared space. The work manager will post a sign-up sheet in each hallway at the beginning of each semester so that hall residents can coordinate their cleaning. Hallway cleaning should be done each week, meaning that each member will be responsible for cleaning the shared space once each four to five weeks. This work is expected to take one to two hours each time it is done.
Rotational Shifts
In addition to the regular work schedule, members are required to serve a certain number of rotational shifts each semester. The number is usually 2, but may be more or less at the work manager's discretion based on the current vacancy level and condition of the house. Rotational labor is usually assigned to unpopular jobs, such as the cleaning shifts on Friday and Saturday nights or basement cleaning, so that nobody has to do these jobs every week.
The number of rotational shifts required and the shifts to be filled by rotational labor will be determined by the work manager in the process of creating the permanent schedule, and sign-up sheets for rotationals will be posted along with the permanent schedule.
What if I abhor doing dishes and cooking?
There are a few options for getting out of menial labor. You can try and get yourself elected into an officer position, (See the page of officers for details when someone gets around to answering that question) or you can do office work for the ICC. This might entail driving ICC mail around, or maintaining the webpage, or serving on a comittee. These jobs can count for your house labor but you are still responsible for suite and hall labor. Darn. However, some suite labor is non-cleaning related, forwarding mail, or holding keys. Sadly, that's where the outs end. If you live on North Campus you are going to have to clean the bathroom in your hallways sooner or later.
(Note: None of the positions mentioned above get you out of either work holiday or rotational shifts.)
Once a semester, the work manager and the other officers determine what big jobs need to be done around the co-op, such as painting rooms, waxing floors, and chasing birds out of chimneys. They select a weekend during which everyone in the co-op will sign up for one four-hour work shift, and a schedule is posted. People sign up for the job they want, typically a week or two in advance.
Work holiday can be frustrating, as various segments of house are declared off-limits for the duration of a certain task (the entire basement, for example, during floor stripping and waxing), but the reward is a sparkling house and a pizza and dance party Saturday night.
Don't worry that you might not notice work holiday. It will be announced in meetings and by email, and there will be a huge work holiday sign-up sheet posted outside the dining room. You'll know when the time comes. If you can?t make it, there will be make-up options to sign up for as well.
The best thing to do is to figure this out beforehand, and send an email to the list for your house asking if anyone wants to swap shifts with you. Usually it's not too hard to find a replacement. If you can't find someone in your own house, you can make arrangements to switch with someone in the other house.
If you forget to come to a shift or are otherwise delinquent, you will be fined by the work manager and assigned a make-up shift as well. If this is a persistent problem you can be expelled from the co-op for "uncooperative behavior."
Charges are the money you have to pay every month to continue living here. In this respect charges are like rent, but there are two important differences:
1) Rent pays for a place to live; charges pay for a place to live, food, utilities, community space, shared tools and appliances, fun parties, and all sorts of educational material and useful tools which are available through the ICC central office.
2) It's not rent because we own it! Rent implies that you're paying some landlord money, and they make a living by charging you more than the property is really worth. Here in the ICC, it's just us. We pay money to keep the place functioning, and the people who live off our charges are our employees, not wealthy folks who hold power over us.
Near the end of each month, the house treasurer will put a note on your door letting you know how much you owe. The base charge is determined by the size of your room (double, small single, or large single), plus any extras like charges for using the ICC truck or fines from when you set the darkroom on fire. Some months the treasurer doesn't do this personal treatment, in which case you'll just see posters telling you what you owe based on your room size. The note will tell you who to give your check to (usually the treasurer), and you'll have a few days to get it over there. If you're late, you may have to deliver your check in person to the ICC office.
There are lots of posters saying that the ICC will begin "eviction proceedings" if you're more than two weeks late. What this really means is that they'll put you on a kind of probation, and you'll be charged a late fee. At this point it is of the utmost importance that you talk to someone about it. Your house treasurer will be happy to help you come up with a payment plan (very happy, since this helps them know you're not planning to skip town without paying!). If you explain your situation and live up to your agreement, the house will usually accept the plan and there will be no further problems. Make no mistake, though... if you miss payments, and don't talk to anyone or lie about your situation, we will get angry and we will kick you out.
We realize that it can be difficult and embarrassing to tell someone else you're having trouble paying your charges. But if you don't, you'll make things worse for yourself and put an unfair burden on your fellow members. Your house officers are here to help.
Pets that are kept in cages or aquariums are allowed in all suites. This category includes fish, rodents, small lizards, etc. Keep in mind that the house has lots of space for loose pets to disappear into, and that some of your housemates may be from countries where pythons aren't small and cute, but large enough to kill people--pets must not be let loose in the house. Some suites have fishtanks in common areas; if yours doesn't, your suitemates will probably be willing to let you put one there.
Cats are allowed in large singles in Karma and Russell suites. Cats are often allowed to roam the grounds, and some rooms even have "cat ladders" that members have built from the courtyard to their windows. Like other pets, though, cats are not allowed to be loose inside of the house.
Dogs are not allowed in the co-op, nor are outdoor pets such as chickens or goats. (Don't think it hasn't been tried.)
You're not allowed to have firearms, ammunition, or other explosives anywhere on ICC property.
You're not allowed to smoke indoors except:
- in rooms S-21, S-22, S-23, S-24, and S-25 if you've lived there consecutively since fall 2005
or earlier
- in the smoking lounge in the basement under Trantor-Mir
Waterbeds are prohibited due to the potential for damage to the house.
Motorcycles may be parked in the front parking lot but can't be brought into the building.
Anything that's illegal under state or federal law should also be kept out of the co-op,
although we do not conduct room searches and will not invade the privacy of your room unless
you're causing disturbance or harm to others. (Maintenance sometimes has to go in for safety and
regulatory reasons, but they're uninterested in spying on you.)
If you have any other questions, look at the ICC standing rules, or ask an officer.
Yes. The ICC has a pretty liberal policy on guests visiting. They can also enjoy our food. If a guest stays for a long period, he or she must sign a short-term contract. Please see section 4.51 of the ICC standing rules.
There are two parking lots, one in front of the co-op just off Baits drive, and another behind the co-op off of Broadway. The back lot a University of Michigan Orange Lot. Co-op members can buy permits to park there from the University. See the U-M Parking & Transportation Services website.
The front lot is owned by the co-op, so manage our own parking enforcement. Parking permits for the front lot can be purchased at the beginning of the Fall and Winter semesters; details will be announced on posters and at the meetings. Obviously we won't tow you for parking here before we announce how to get a permit. Parking fees are somewhere around $30 per semester.
However, during recent Spring and Summer terms, there has always been enough parking spaces for everyone to have one in the front lot. Therefore, we don't bother selling permits or enforcing parking rules during that time.
At all times of year, do not park anywhere in the front lot except in designated spaces. All curb areas need to be kept open for emergency vehicles.
Guests may not park in the front lot during Fall/Winter because enough permits are distributed for every parking space, with no extras for visitors. Guests may park in the Orange Lot, or in the Yellow Lot between the North Campus Co-ops and the Sterns Building at any time except Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. They may also park on Broadway Street anywhere not forbidden by street signs.
Orange permit holders may not park in the front lot, and front lot permit holders may not park in the Orange lot.
Note: City regulations, U-M policy, and our own parking policy require all vehicles in our lots to be street-legal. If your car does not have current registration, you should either register it or park it elsewhere. Otherwise, it will be towed.
Please find the list of people and license plates posted by the laundry room or parking steward's room and try to notify the person. If you can't do so, you might send an email to escher.house.
- Return keys to keyholder or other house officer. (If you do not, a fine will be taken out of your deposit.)
- Inform the work manager at least 2 weeks before your date of departure that you are leaving, and which work shift will be vacant
- If you want to be removed from house email lists, email the house president with the date you want to be removed from lists
- Leave a mail forwarding address with suite keyholder
- Return your parking tag
- Return your wireless card if you were renting one from the ICC
- Do not just leave things behind. Clearly mark them as guff.
- Let the ICC know where they should mail your refund check
If you want to move out before your contract has expired, you will have to continue paying charges, find a replacement, or be excused by the membership and the Contract Release Committee. Call the ICC office for more details.
Michigan is cold in the winter. Even longtime residents sometimes have trouble dealing with it.
But in the end, everyone makes it through. The co-op is very well-heated (sometimes too well
heated), and it should always be reasonably comfortable indoors.
If it's too cold, make sure the top pane of your window isn't open! The top panes often slide
down when you open the bottom pane. If the bottom pane slides no matter what position the window
locks are in, you haven't really closed the window! Keep in mind that keeping windows closed saves
the house a lot of money in heating costs. We've received large refunds in recent years due to a
campaign to get people to close windows.
You can't really avoid going outside, but there are a lot of tips and tricks for getting by in a cold climate. As temperatures drop throughout the fall, you can expect it to be a constant topic of conversation and your fellow co-opers will be pleased to offer advice. Remember, nothing warms the heart like cooperation!
"Guff" can be used as either an adjective or a verb. "Guff" things are free for anybody to use or take. Anyone may eat guff cookies or drink guff pop. (Note: you're in Michigan. It's not soda.) As a verb, to "guff" something means to declare that item available for anyone who wants to take it.
Guff is a wonderful concept that allows items to move to their place of highest value -- rather than letting them clutter up your room or tossing them in a landfill, you can help them end up with people who will enjoy and appreciate them.
Guff Food
All of the food in the house dining rooms in the basement is guff (Exception: don't eat somebody else's saved meal); anyone may eat the cereal, peanut butter, salad fixings, lunchmeat, fruit, or leftovers found in the dining room.
Additionally, suite kitchens may contain some guff items, such as cooking oil or popcorn. Here, though, you should make sure that you only take things which are clearly labeled or well-known within the suite to be guff. As a general rule of thumb, things in suite kitchens which have migrated there from the main dining room are guff, while anything purchased by a suite member is not guff.
If you have privately-bought food that you wish to make guff, you should either set it out in plain view with a note declaring it guff, or (if it needs refrigeration), you should leave a note outside of the fridge describing the guff items (otherwise, nobody will notice it, and it can spoil).
Guff Clothing and Furniture
In the laundry room, there are areas for leaving different guff non-food items (clothing for donation, shoes, books, skis, etc.). Anybody may leave things here, and anybody may take them. Try to keep this area fairly neat, as nobody can find anything useful when it is messy. For more information, see the laundry room policy (posted in the laundry room).
Guff etiquette
When in doubt, don't use it. Even if your suite has a rule that unlabeled food is guff and you find an unlabeled steak or case of beer in your suite fridge, you probably shouldn't take it. If you have your eye on something that you think is guff, but that you aren't sure about, ask around until you're certain.
Don't take more than you need. If someone has left a plate of cookies out with a sign declaring them guff, take a few to eat and leave the rest for your housemates--don't take the whole plate. Similarly, if there are tasty and portable leftovers from dinner, like pies, leave them in the dining room so that everyone has access to them. Don't hoard house food in your room or suite kitchen; it may guarantee you a supply of that item, but everyone else will start hoarding in response, and you won't have access to anything but that which you've personally hoarded.
Make sure that things you guff are in decent condition, and that they will stay that way until they can be used. Wash clothes before you guff them. Don't leave guff food out in the open if it needs refrigeration. Guffing garbage only makes a mess--you should guff things that don't have value to you, but that will have value to somebody in the house.
This is a matter of co-op folklore. Ask those who have been around a long time.
The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan
(ICC) is the parent organization of the North Campus and Central
Campus co-ops. Most all co-ops in Ann Arbor belong to the
ICC, though there are some independant ones. The ICC's Board
of Directors handles business, financial, and legal issues
for us and sets large-scale policy on things that affect all
the houses. Each co-op house has a board representative to
share their house's opinion on potential rule or policy changes.
The board meets every two weeks to discuss proposals and the
meetings are open to all members. The first agenda item at
every meeting is "member time" so if you have something
to say be there.
The ICC office is the central clearing house for which rooms
are available where, receives your monthly payments, and handles
the everyday activities required to run a $2.5 million business.
You talked to ICC staff when you signed your contract, and
about half the charges you pay every month goes to the organization.
However, as a co-op it's important to remember that the ICC
doesn't own us -- we own them, and the people working at the
ICC office are employees we pay to help us run things well.
You might become involved with the ICC if you sign up for
office labor, or serve on a committee. Committees do things
like set membership policies, provide referrals and training
for conflict resolution and mental health questions, and oversee
purchases of computers and other big ticket house items. They
also have resources like the ICC truck, which any member can
sign up to borrow, co-op T-shirts, archives of house documents,
and more literature than you can shake a stick at.
The ICC was incorporated in 1944, growing out of one of the very first student co-ops, formed in 1932 by the University of Michigan Graduate Student Socialist Club!
The ICC website is http://www.icc.coop.
The office is at 337 E. William street, near central campus.
Feel free to drop by during the day. You can also reach them
at (734) 662-4414.
Escher House is an administrative structure uniting O'Keeffe and Renaissance that has certain powers dealing with mattes common to both houses. You can read about it on the bulletin board outside the laundry room. The Escher House Constitution is also online.
The cruel fates who doomed you to life in the North Campus co-ops.
For more specific complaints, there will usually be an officer with the appropriate
duties. Complain to the kitchen manager about food, the work
manager about someone who's not doing their job, the parking
steward about an abandoned car in the parking lot, etc. But
whatever you do, please be courteous! The officers are just
ordinary folks like you, and whatever happened probably isn't
their fault. Be nice to them and they'll do their best to
help you out.
You can also use the ICC staff resources such as the Director
of Member Services. That's what a Member Services person is
for, right? Call 734.662.4414 x102.
If you have a serious problem with another member, and you can't resolve it by talking to them (or if you're not even comfortable mentioning it), you can talk to a house officer or your suite keyholder. These folks tend to have a lot of experience resolving dispites, and may be able to intervene to help work things out. The ICC also has several options, if you find the problem too delicate to bring up within the house:
- The Living Well Team (LWT) (icc.livingwell@umich.edu) helps out with problems related to disability, mental disorders, and substance abuse. They provide mediation and conflict resolution for house problems. They've dealt with some very difficult situations before and helped bring everything to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
- If you have a problem with sexual harrassment, or otherwise being made uncomfortable in a sexual or gender-based manner, you may want to contact SHRT, the sexual harassment resource team (icc.shrt@umich.edu). They provide services similar to Living Well for people with sexual harassment complaints.
- If your problem is with ICC officers or ICC rules, the ICC has an ombudsperson. The ombudsperson's job is to investigate member complaints and represent the interests of individual members within the ICC power structure. The ombudsperson can also help you navigate official procedures and red tape when necessary. To contact the ombudsperson, call the office at 662-4414.
The Diversity Awareness Committee promotes diversity and supports those who experience racism or prejudice in the ICC.
For more information on these and other ICC-wide committees, see the ICC list of boards and committees.
Finally, note that these resources are not meant to substitute for the usual responses to situations which threaten your health or safety. While it is extremely unlikely that anything like this will come up, we do encourage you to leave the house and/or call the police if you feel you are in immediate danger.
In the summer, you may think to yourself, "Boy, could I use an air conditioner!" Bear in mind, though, that air conditioning is expensive--both houses have a policy of charging AC owners for their electricity use--and that our electrical system was installed 35 years ago, and can't handle everybody having an air conditioner, even if they wanted to pay for them. Also, note that until about 3 years ago, nobody in the building had an air conditioner. It's possible to remain at a pleasant temperature without one. Here's how:
- Keep your windows and blinds/curtains CLOSED during the day! Close them as soon as you wake up to keep out hot air and sunlight. If you have no blinds in your room, contact the maintenance crew.
- Keep your windows OPEN during the night! As soon as the sun hits the horizon, around 8 or 9 pm, open your windows to let the cooler evening and nighttime air into your room.
- Follow these guidelines in your suite lounges and kitchenettes also.
- The stairwells have no curtains, which is good for plants, but bad for this method of keeping cool. Keep the windows on the landing open for venting, and keep the stairwell doors closed to keep the warm air in the stairwell.
- Electrical devices generate heat. Make sure they're off when not in use. You don't need to have all four lights in your hallway on in order to see, for example.
- Follow these simple steps, and your room and suite will remain at a pleasant temperature, your house charges will remain low, and your summer will be that much more pleasant.
The heat's on, but my room's (or the stairwell) is too cold (or too hot). What can I do?
There are thermostats in all large rooms. They control the temperature in that room and in the adjacent small room. In the L-shaped corners of the building, things get a little trickier with adjacent rooms, but it's basically the same. Note that the thermostats are usually turned all the way down (to the minimum temperature) over the summer, so when the heat is turned on, you will need to turn your thermostat up to a reasonable temperature. In order to save money, a maximum thermostat temperature may be enforced.
In stairwells, the radiator has a knob underneath. It might be very hot (so don't touch it without gloves!) but it can be used to adjust how much heat the radiator radiates.
To get to Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), the closest major airport, you can:
The ICC has a pick-up truck that members can use for local trips, such as moving between houses or buying furniture. Members must acquire a truck permit at the ICC office before using the truck, and the truck is usually kept at the ICC Ed Center.
For more information, see ICC Truck.
As the North Campus Cooperatives provide basic food (dinner cooked every night, plus food available for breakfast and lunch), members don't have too much need to shop for groceries. The exceptions to this are holidays, such as the Thanksgiving and Fourth of July weekends; University of Michigan breaks, whether between semesters or Spring Break; alcohol; and luxury/specialty food items. The following stores are accessible by bus, bike, or foot from the co-ops.
- The Peoples Food Co-op: on 4th Ave near Catherine in downtown Ann Arbor. PFC is a member-owned cooperative, like the ICC, and carries organic and conventional produce, bulk organic staples, organic/free-range/vegetarian-fed/etc meat, cleaning and beauty supplies, fair trade coffee, and similar items. Anyone can shop there, but members receive a discount (a lifetime membership involves a $60 purchase of shares, refunded when you leave the food coop). PFC is about a half-hour walk from the co-op or a ten minute walk from Central Campus; the #2 AATA bus route that runs along Plymouth will take you very close to PFC.
- Bello Vino: on Plymouth, just past Nixon Rd. Bello Vino is a locally-owned specialty grocery that has approximately 83 million types of wine, as well as a wide selection of microbrews. It also has a butcher's counter, expensive chocolate, coffee, and other high-end goods. Bello Vino is a little over a mile from the co-op, and is on the #2 AATA bus line. The university's Northwood bus route also passes within 100 meters of Bello Vino, but it takes a little bit of investigation to find that way.
- Northside Foods: at the intersection of Broadway and Plymouth, a block from the co-op. Northside Foods is basically a liquor store. Beer and wine are more expensive here than at stores further from campus, so if you have the time/energy to get to Bello Vino, do that instead. Liquor, on the other hand, is the same price at every store in Michigan, due to state regulation, so Northside is a fine place for that. Head out across the back parking lot and continue up Broadway; Northside is in the strip mall next to the Shell station, and faces Plymouth.
- Kroger: on Plymouth, just before Nixon Rd. Kroger is the upper midwest's incarnation of some national supermarket chain that I can't remember the name of. If you're looking for basic consumer goods, like spaghetti or hot dogs, Kroger is the closest place to acquire those. Kroger is at same intersection as Bello Vino, but on the opposite side of Nixon.
- Other area grocery stores and food suppliers include Busch's, Meijer's, Zingerman's, Hiller's, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's.
For more information, see the interactive map and the groceries section of ArborWiki.
Anybody! We're a friendly bunch. The worst that will happen is that the person will tell you the name of an officer who will be able to help you, or that they won't know -- in which case somebody else probably will know.
Please do! Contact the Renaissance information steward or the O'Keeffe secretary.
Guff is something that has been left out and can be taken by anybody. Our tradition of guff allows us to avoid throwing away things we no longer want, preventing waste and letting others enjoy snazzy new stuff. However, it does mean you should be careful about what you leave lying around. Food which is not clearly labeled is often considered guff, and clothes left in the laundry room for more than a few days tend to migrate to the guff bin as well. On the other hand, people won't consider your backpack guff if you accidentally leave it in the kitchen overnight.
Guff can be a noun, an adjective, or a transitive or intransitive verb.
- "Someone moved out without taking their food, and now there's all this guff in the fridge!"
- "That girl scout moved out without taking her food, and now the fridge is full of guff cookies!"
- "Yeah, the scouts on the street reported that no one was buying the new cookie flavors, so I guffed them when I moved out."
- "I need to go down and label my new box of Sea Slug Creme Surprise Cookies, or they're liable to guff."
Sometimes there's really just nothing that looks edible in the house. You may be one of the few people here over winter break, it may be the end-of-summer famine spell, or you might just think dinner was really not your thing.
You'd be surprised what desperate co-opers can come up with, though.
Viking Quesadilla
Ingredients required:
- One whole wheat pita
- Four(ish) slices mozzarella, or other mild white cheese
- Salsa
Cut around the edges of the pita to separate the two layers. Cover the bottom layer of pita with the mozzarella cheese. Slather liberally with salsa. Replace top layer of pita. Microwave.
For bonus points, you can use a skillet to heat your quesadilla instead of a microwave.
Invented by Valhallan Rob.
If you have trouble connecting to the house wireless network, consult the information posted outside the O'Keeffe and Renaissance dining rooms.
Back to Main North Campus Page
This FAQ was originally written by Michael, Murph, Yong-Mi, and Elizabeth. It has been revised by house officers since then.
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