The Housing Activities Resource Council (HARC) has voted to implement a stricter attendance policy. Under the new policy, if a HARC representative misses two council meetings in a quarter, their dorm’s funding will be cut by 50 percent for the rest of the quarter. The previous policy motivated attendance using a different method: The council could expel a representative who missed three consecutive meetings, and the dorm could then elect a new representative.

HARC is a council of representatives from each dorm that manages a fund subsidizing student activities, such as house trips involving two or more houses from different dorms. The council votes on proposals for activities submitted by students and disburses funds to approved proposals.

According to HARC president Kabara Korth, “We don’t intend for the new policy to hurt dorms. It’s just to promote attendance.” Korth added that HARC representatives have the option of sending a proxy if they are unable to attend a meeting.

Some stipulations apply to the new policy. If a representative’s second absence occurs in the last two meetings of the quarter, the 50 percent penalty would apply to the following quarter. Also, a dorm that has lost 50 percent of its funding would revert back to receiving full funding after their representative attends two meetings in a row. Only the house with lagging attendance would lose funding in each multiple-house activity.

To receive funding from HARC, students must apply two weeks before their planned event. Applications can be found on the HARC website at ihc.uchicago.edu/HARC. According to Korth, HARC receives $2,700 each quarter, which rolls over from quarter to quarter.