When Evan Wishes Upon A Star...

His dreams come true

Evan Thrailkill | RHA President of the Year

University of Alabama at Birmingham

SAACURH No Frills 2011

-About Evan…………………………….Page 2

-Goals for RHA ……………….Page 3

-Presentations………………………….Page 3

-Conferences Attended………..Page 3

-Programming…………………………..Page 4

-Campus Involvement…………….Page 5

-Letters of Support…………..Page 6

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Table of Contents

About Evan During the past three years that Evan has attended the

University of Alabama at Birmingham, he has immersed

himself in many of the diverse organizations that UAB has

to offer. The Residence Hall Association at UAB quickly

became Evan’s favorite organization.

He started his RHA career by becoming President of a Freshman Residence Hall

Council. Throughout his reign, his Residence Hall won first place in a Homecoming

Decorating Contest, held a Mardi Gras party (which had the largest attendance

of any Freshman program), and the Hall Council had over one hundred floor

delegates who attended meetings regularly.

His sophomore year, he decided to become a Resident Assistant, but because his

heart still remained with RHA, he became a RA liaison. This job entailed working

closely with the Hall Councils and attending Hall Council meetings regularly.

In May of 2010, Evan was inducted into the Residence Hall Association as the

President. He was voted into the position by his fellow RHA members. The members

noticed that Evan was a strong-willed, dedicated, and passionate person. The RHA

members knew that he would be perfect for the job.

Evan has yet to prove the RHA members wrong. He has shaped the Residence Hall

Association into an organization that people are thrilled to become a part of.

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Conferences Attended

South Atlantic Association of College and University

Residence Halls (SAACURH), University of Georgia at

Atlanta, November 2010

South Atlantic Association of College and University

Residence Halls (SAACURH), the University of Kentucky,

November 2009

Resident Assistant Drive in Conference of Alabama

(RADICAL), Auburn University, October 2009

National Association of College and University

Residence Halls (NACURH), the University of Arizona,

May 2009

Alabama United Residence Halls (ALURH), the

University of Alabama, January 2009

South Atlantic Association of College and University

Residence Halls (SAACURH), Clemson

University, October 2008

Evan has presented numerous

times at various conference on the

local and state level. Evan has

presented on how to host effective

meetings at the ALURH conference.

Evan also presented at Resident

Assistant training two years in a row

about UAB’s RHA and how RAs can

help support it. Finally Evan has

presented numerous times to the RHA

General Body on various topics such as

programing, advertising, and OTMs.

Presentations

Goals At the beginning of the fall 2010 semester, the University of Alabama at Birmingham

RHA Executive Board decided on goals that they wanted to accomplish for the 2010-2011 school

year. These goals included the following:

To increase the size of the UAB delegation at the SAACURH Conference.

To attend the regional No Frills conference and bid for at least two awards.

Start a programing committee and plan 3 campus wide programs per semester.

Have a formal SAACURH application process.

Publicize RHA programs in every residence hall on campus.

To present programs at the regional conference.

To have effective on-campus training program for Hall Council Officers.

Work closely with the Assistant Director of Housing and Residence Life to continue to make sure

RHA grows at a steady pace.

Work with UAB Web Communications to obtain a dedicated web space.

Use social media (Facebook and twitter) more effectively in publicizing RHA and programs.

Work closely with other student organizations to provide effective on-campus programing for

residents.

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Programming Evan has taken it upon himself to guarantee

that RHA is involved in the students’ lives on-

campus. While the Programs Committee was

still getting on its feet, Evan took it upon himself

to create programs for the beginning of the

year. The goal from the beginning was to get

people interested and involved in RHA.

Because of this, Evan put a huge effort into

this year’s elections and retreat, ensuring that

everyone left with a clear idea of what it

means to be a member of RHA, the tools they

would need to be effective Hall Councils, and

a strong sense of community within RHA. Evan

also created the event, Cereality, a night

before fall semester final exams with a cereal

buffet and vintage cartoons. The event was an

overwhelming success with a flood of students

happy to relax with Tom and Jerry and Lucky

Charms all thanks to Evan’s efforts.

As the year moved on, Evan organized RHA

involvement in the Homecoming festivities.

This included a hall decorating competition,

where each hall council had to work together

with their residents to best represent this year’s

theme. Evan also developed an online voting

system for a Mr. and Miss Hall competition

sponsored by RHA. The winners of these

elections, several of whom are members of

RHA, were then featured in the Homecoming

parade, showcasing RHA’s dedication to

UAB.

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Programming

Campus Involvement

Evan’s dedication to supporting RHA is also shown in his efforts to hold

fundraising events. These have included Candy Cane Grams and

Carnation Sales for students in the residence halls. Students were able

to purchase candy canes during the holiday season and carnations

near Valentine’s Day for themselves and others and were also able to

send messages to the recipients. Evan planned both of these events

and created an online documentation and pay system to help

streamline the process. He has also been greatly involved in obtaining

a booth at the basketball game tailgate to provide food and items of

school spirit to the residents of UAB. All of these events had the

significance of helping support RHA, but have served a much greater role in helping

advertise RHA’s involvement on campus. Evan’s part in everything that has occurred during

his time as President has been essential to making sure RHA is the best that it can be.

Evan is involved in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s USGA as the current

Travel Grants Coordinator. This job entails processing travel grants, contacting

travel grant applicants, and working closely with other USGA members to

coordinate travel funds.

He is also the Springfest Committee Chair for UAB’s University Programs Council.

Springfest is an outdoor program that is open to all UAB students. At the program,

students enjoy live music, bounce houses, cotton candy, and many more

entertaining festivities. This position requires event planning skills, and working with

vendors to book attractions and bands.

During the 2008-2009 school year, Evan was involved in the Alabama Hands-On

Activity Science Program. For this program, he taught basic science experiments to

elementary school students .

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