UC Establishes Partnership with Feedback Hotline

UPDATED: March 7, 2016, at 12:17 a.m.

The Undergraduate Council voted unanimously to grant $488 to fund and establish a partnership with Feedback Hotline, a new startup that seeks to establish a phone number students can text to provide feedback to the Council.

The grant to Feedback Hotline is the first usage of the UC’s new $30,000 Grant for an Open Harvard College, which allocates funds to students and student organizations who submit proposals for initiatives that address one or more of the Council’s four “compelling interests”: mental health, race relations, sexual assault and harassment, and social spaces.

Undergraduate Council President Shaiba Rather '17 and Vice President Daniel V. Banks '17 preside over a UC meeting earlier this semester. By Sidni M. Frederick

Under the Feedback Hotline program, students can text a phone number that passes along their feedback to UC representatives, according to a proposal by organizers listed on the meeting agenda, Akshar Bonu ’17, Bo Seo ’17, and John Q. Stubbs ’17.

“It’s the easiest way to give feedback, given that we’ve all probably sent an iMessage or a text in the last hour,” Bonu said.

UC Treasurer Samarth Gupta ’18 said Feedback Hotline will help improve the existing resources on campus and address the Council’s compelling interests by allowing students to provide criticism and suggestions to student leaders.

“There is a breakdown of communication on Harvard’s campus,” Feedback Hotline’s proposal states. Seo pointed towards undergraduates’ desire for anonymity and the current inconvenience of providing feedback to UC representatives as potential barriers to effective feedback.

“You want to have the legitimacy of people believing that they’re being heard,” Seo said while addressing the Council during Sunday’s general meeting.

According to Feedback Hotline’s current timeline, the hotline will be launched for UC representatives by the week of March 28. Feedback Hotline hopes to expand to allow students to provide feedback to leaders of other student organizations by April. The developers also have plans to allow students to use Feedback Hotline to connect with school administrators by next fall.

The UC’s Executive Committee considered five proposals for funding under the Open Harvard College Grant, and ultimately decided to fund only Feedback Hotline.

During the Council’s meeting, representatives also voted to pass legislation that calls for the “need for inclusivity and respect” of all students in response to concerns raised after many undergraduates criticized a broken gender-neutral bathroom sign in Eliot House last Wednesday.

“As Council members, we want to acknowledge the necessity of mandating gender-neutral restrooms in renovated houses,” the approved statement says.

Some Council members expressed disapproval of the legislation, suggesting that although its sentiments were well-intentioned, the Council’s response should focus on policy action rather than a letter of solidarity.

“Instead of responding with empty words that we’re going to post on social media, we should respond with directives,” Jacob R. Steinberg-Otter ’16 said.

Still, most representatives defended the letter. “They’re not empty words,” Nicholas Whittaker ’19 said. “They’re declarations of solidarity, and they really matter.”

During the meeting, the Council also announced the establishment of a Digital Commission, which will work on technical projects that can help address UC initiatives. Non-UC members may be invited to join the commission after a technical interview, according to a proposal distributed at the meeting.

As its first project, the commission will seek to automate the Finance Committee’s Completed Project Form, which student organizations must complete after receiving grants from the UC. Council representatives Neel Mehta ’18 and Nicholas D. Boucher ’19 will manage the project.

–Staff writer Brian P. Yu can be reached at brian.yu@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @brianyu28.