Title: Intern
College and major: I’m still enrolled at the University of Rhode Island. I got my Bachelors in 2011 in Communications and Art with a minor in Business, and now I’m working on my Master’s in Communications.
Job responsibilities: I deal with mainly our social media outputs, so that includes the blog, Facebook, and Twitter. I also research and compose the research reports we put out.
Favorite part of the job: There really aren’t resources out there for students that help them find an off-campus apartment, find roommates, or that help them make more informed decisions about off-campus living. I feel like JumpOffCampus fills that need, and it’s cool to be a part of that.
Favorite type of music: I’m really into RI local bands. I also listen to a lot of indie rock/pop stuff like Miike Snow and Does It Offend You, Yeah? Overall, I think my favorite, though, is Jimi Hendrix.
Favorite TV shows: I just finished catching up on Modern Family. I really like NBC shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Community.
Favorite movies: My favorite movie of all time is Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. I generally tend to like anything with those two in it. I also really enjoy the new Batman movies.
Hobbies: I like painting, drawing, and photography. I also really enjoy listening to music, finding new bands/artists, and going to see shows.
Favorite saying: I totally ripped Nike off, but I live by the saying, “Just Do It.” It really applies to everything.
Author Archives: katiemcgwin
MEET OUR UNIVERSITY PARTNERS!
Meet Greg Jones, Assistant Director for Operations and Off-Campus Housing at Brandeis University!
What are the benefits you see of using JumpOffCampus? How do you believe JumpOffCampus has helped Brandeis?
I think it’s been really helpful because the interactive map feature makes it easy to use for students and it’s easy to use for landlords. It’s really changed the ways that students are looking for housing in terms of the information that landlords are able to provide, the information that students are able to see and use, and the ease of searching for housing.
Where did you attend college? What was your major?
I went to Haverford College in Pennsylvania. My major was history.
What does your job entail?
My title here at Brandeis is Assistant Director for Operations and Off-Campus Housing. I run everything with housing assignments here, from running room selection, first-year assignments, new student assignments, and the opening and closing of buildings. With off-campus housing, I advise and support students who live off-campus. A lot of the time it’s about providing them with resources, sending them to the right places to find housing, and helping them out with issues and problems.
How long have you been working in community living?
I’ve been in this department for 5 years. I’ve been the assistant director here for the last 2 years.
How did you get into the field of university community living?
After I finished my undergrad, I got a Master’s in Higher Education Administration and Policy from Northwestern University. I really wanted to work in student affairs due to a lot of my undergraduate experiences at Haverford, including working with housing orientation and the first-year program. I went to work at Brandeis for many reasons; it’s location, student body, and the university’s mission of social justice. It’s been a great home for me these last few years.
What do you feel is the most important or difficult part of your job?
I think that the most important part is to make sure that everyone is getting what they need from housing and getting what they need from off-campus housing. Needs are really about safety, [meaning] that they have a safe place to live, that they feel comfortable where they’re living, [that] they feel like they have access to the resources they need to be successful at college, and that they are taken care of the way that they need to be.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part is working with students: having interactions with them, helping them out when they encounter difficulties, and helping them to find a solution for themselves. It’s a lot of fun interactions that you get to have with college students. It’s a really fun and interesting population. Everyday is always a little different and there’s never a dull moment.
What is your favorite college memory?
I don’t think I have a single day or instance. The connections I made at college, the people, the place, and the community, those were the things that were important to me then and that’s why I love my undergraduate experience. It has to do with the people that I was with and just being a part of that campus and that campus’s community.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Recently I’ve been mourning for Whitney, so I’ve been listening to her a lot. Some Adele, Aimee Mann is always on my playlist. I would say standard pop rock, little folk here and there.
What are your hobbies?
Love to cook: always in the kitchen, always cooking something new. Trying new recipes, things like that. I don’t know it’s a hobby, but just going to the beach; going out to the shore is always really nice. Trying out new restaurants: it’s a very expensive hobby but it’s one I enjoy very much.
MEET A MEMBER OF OUR TEAM: Vincenzo “Cenzo” Vitiello
Title: Intern
Job responsibilities: As the second technical guy, my job consists of doing all sorts of backend and frontend programming in conjunction with whatever project Kyle is currently working on.
Favorite part of the job: My favorite part of the job is definitely the environment. It is a blast to hang out and work with the small JoC team.
College and major: I currently attend Tufts University; I will be a senior in the fall. I am on track to graduate with a degree in Computer Science through the school of engineering.
Favorite type of music: I don’t know if I necessarily have a favorite genre of music, but I do make killer alternative playlists and according to friends I “have a mainstream taste in alternative music”. Still not sure if that’s a compliment or not…
Favorite TV shows: Currently I have been watching a lot of the USA network show Suits. Other shows that I enjoy watching repeatedly are Psych, Scrubs, and Archer.
Favorite movies: Thanks to my dad I love comedy movies from the 80’s such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Midnight Run, and Dazed and Confused. I also enjoy all of Hayao Miyazaki animated works such as Castle in the Sky, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Porco Rosso.
Hobbies: When I got to college I picked up Ultimate Frisbee through which I have competed at college nationals twice with the Tufts team. Before college, I played ice hockey for fourteen years and I still enjoy skating whenever I can.
Favorite saying: “Laughter is the closest distance between two people” -Victor Borge
MEET OUR UNIVERSITY PARTNERS!
Meet Kevin Forti, the Director of Residence Life and Housing at Clark University!
What are the benefits you see of using JumpOffCampus? How do you believe JumpOffCampus has helped Clark?
JumpOffCampus is a powerful tool for those Clark Students who wish to live off campus. For upper-class students looking to move off campus for the first time, JumpOffCampus gives them a smart way to compare and contrast various apartment costs, locations, configurations, and amenities. JOC is especially helpful for incoming Graduate Students, especially those who are international and coming to Worcester for the first time. Gone are the days of trying to help these students figure out how far a paper listing was from Clark, etc. Now they can visualize and map properties, see photos of the actual rooms, etc. It does things that our old-fashioned paper listing never could!
Where did you attend college? What was your major?
I have a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Western New England University, and a Master’s of Education from Springfield College. My undergraduate major was Technical Management, and my graduate program was Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education.
What does your job entail?
As Director, I manage all housing, operations, logistics, budgeting, strategic planning, hiring, and day to day management of Residential Life and Housing at Clark.
How long have you been working in housing?
I have over 12 years of experience in the field, including 8 years at Clark.
How did you get into the field of university housing?
I applied to be a Resident Advisor my Junior year of college, was hired, and never looked back. From there I became a Residence Manager, an Area Coordinator, Assistant Director, and eventually Director.
What do you feel is the most important or difficult part of your job?
People don’t recognize that the summer is actually the busiest time for me by far. During the academic year there is a lot going on, but it is paced out reasonably, whereas come the end of May, the pressure is on to be ready for August. Take this summer. Right now I am in the process of hiring 3 professional positions, building a multi-million dollar addition to two of our halls in a 12 week window, coordinating Graduate, First Year, Transfer, and Returning Student housing assignments, reengineering a number of protocols and procedures, on top of answering around 100 emails per day, mostly from students and parents asking all about housing stuff. It is non-stop all summer long, and yet when I tell people I work at a University, they always think I must have summers off!
What is your favorite part of your job?
I love to re-engineer and improve on processes. I also love the capital improvement, reinvestment and management aspects of my job. Having a background in technical management, it makes sense that I really get a lot of joy out of renovation and improvement work.
Do you have a favorite moment from your work at Clark?
There are many, but I would say that the best ones are the times when I get to recognize the hard work and commitment that my professional and student staff put into residential living here at Clark. I am fortunate to work with amazing people with tremendous talents, and I love being able to celebrate that.
What has been the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is too short to dwell on the bumps in the road, so shake them off and celebrate the great things that come your way.
What is your favorite college memory?
No comment 😉
What kind of music do you listen to?
Everything! My iPhone has everything from Rap to R&B, Classical to Country, Techno to Theater. I love all types of music.
What are your hobbies?
I love to build things. I am a pretty good machinist and welder, and can make some pretty great stuff when I have the time. A few years ago I custom built a Model T go-kart, and am working right now on machining my own wedding ring out of titanium.
What is your favorite saying?
Not really, probably don’t sweat the small stuff!
Do you have awesome or ridiculous stories from working at Clark?
[No comment ;)]
MEET A MEMBER OF OUR TEAM: Rachel Goroff
Title: Marketing Intern
Job responsibilities: Marketing research, promotion, sales
Favorite part of the job: It’s interesting, I get to work on a bunch of different projects, and it’s fun to see the site grow!
College and major: Bryant University- Marketing and management
Favorite type of music: Anything but country
Favorite TV shows: Mad Men, Friends, The Office
Favorite movies: Pride and Prejudice
Hobbies: Traveling, Photography, Music
Favorite saying: Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cool Products for College Students
We love cool services and products and so we’ve scoured the Internet to find some really awesome products that may be useful for you in this upcoming school year.
The Coffee Joulie These little shiny metal beans cool down your coffee quicker and keep it warm longer. They actually trap heat inside until your coffee becomes a delicious 140°F (the perfect drinking temperature), and then they will slowly release all the heat back into your coffee to help it stay warmer longer.
WOWee ONE Speaker This speaker isn’t just any old speaker. It actually has special hybrid technology that hits mid to high frequencies, and even the low end bass frequencies, around 3 octaves lower than other traditional speakers. The cool thing about this is that it holds a charge up to 20 hours, so you can listen to your music uninterrupted. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod. http://www.woweeone.com
Hydros Filtering Water Bottle If you like the taste of filtered water, you’ll love this water bottle. It actually has a filter right in the bottle, so you can filter your water on the go. It also has fast filtering technology to make filtering your water easy. This bottle is BPA free, dishwasher safe, and it even has antimicrobial protection to help prevent odor causing bacteria. The other cool thing about this water bottle is that part of the proceeds goes to help fund a sustainable water infrastructure project to provide clean water to those in need. http://www.hydrosbottle.com
Yogi Support Pillow This pillow helps you to sit in a variety of comfortable positions. Especially when you have limited choices for studying spots, this helps making your bed a comfortable place to study.
We’ve got a new look and some new features!
Our development team has been working tirelessly to make our website into a one-stop-shop for off-campus housing and keeping it looking good too!
Not only do we have a new look, but we’ve also got a ton of new stuff! We’ve recently added a new roommate finder, where you can match yourself with other students. All you have to do is take our roommate-matching survey. This survey is based on research that we’ve conducted in relation to what students look for in a roommate and what universities tend to include in their roommate-matching surveys.
Once you’ve answered the questions and created a roommate profile for yourself, you can search through other students’ profiles who also attend your school. We’ll even give you a compatibility score for each of the profiles you view so you know how compatible you and that person would be as roommates!
Last, but not least, we’ve added a ton of new stuff to our resources page. You can view our blog entries and articles we’ve written that directly pertain to college students. These resources will help to inform you about some of the most important things to consider when it comes to off-campus living.
This isn’t the end of it either! We’ve got a lot of great stuff planned, so be sure to keep checking our website at www.jumpoffcampus.com!
We need your help!
We’re still looking for participants for our survey! Just clink the link below to take the survey! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGJqMjBHZjIyRGluNDlkbllsUFVQRlE6MQ#gid=0
ASK THE EXPERT: College Financial Planning, Part 5
For the last part of our college financial planning series, we wanted to know what students should consider when they are repaying their loans and what they should do if they have accrued a large amount of debt. We once again spoke with Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, to help us answer these questions.
The first thing Kantrowitz advises is that if a student can make the required monthly payments and accelerate their payment of the loan, then they should consider making extra payments on the loan with the highest interest rate (after making the required payments on the loan). While not everyone can do this, students who can will pay off their loan earlier, reduce the interest accrued on the loan, and ultimately save a significant amount of money.
If a student runs into financial hardship and is unable to make their monthly loan payments, Kantrowitz advises students to speak with their lender immediately to find out their options. For federal loans, in particular, there are a variety of options that will help them to continue to make payments without causing too much financial strain.
The first option for federal loans is a temporary suspension of repayment, such as a deferment or forbearance. Kantrowitz explains that this is an option best suited for those who experience temporary or very short-term financial hardship, which could include things like short-term job loss, mental leave, maternity leave, etc. The problem with this option is that the interest on the loan will continue to accrue on at least a portion of the loan, which will increase the size of the loan. However, Kantrowitz explains that this will not be a major problem should one require this assistance for only about 3 or 4 months, as not much interest will have accrued over that time. He advises that students not extend this type of assistance for much longer than that, and explains that this type of assistance will also have only a 3-5 year limit (depending on whether it is a deferment or forbearance).
For those requiring more long-term assistance on their loan, Kantrowitz advises students to choose an extended or income-based repayment plan. The extended repayment plan will reduce the monthly loan payment by extending the term of the loan. For example, if a 10-year unsubsidized Stafford loan’s repayment term is increased to 20 years, this will cut the monthly loan payment by one-third. However, Kantrowitz explains that this will also double the interest paid over the term of the loan, and will ultimately increase the total amount you pay on the loan. “The longer the term of the loan,” says Kantrowitz, “the more you’ll pay.”
The second long-term option for repayment would be the income-based repayment plan. This repayment plan will base the monthly loan payment on 15% of one’s discretionary income. According to Kantrowitz, discretionary income is defined as the amount by which one’s income exceeds 150% of the poverty line. Therefore, if your income is below that amount, your monthly loan payment would be $0. However, this option also extends the term of the loan and can end up increasing the amount you pay over time.
According to Kantrowitz, there are a few benefits to choosing the income-based repayment option. He first explains that this is a good safety net should one run into financial difficulties and become unable to make monthly loan payments. This option is also beneficial in that after 25 years of repayment, all remaining debt will be forgiven (a feature not offered by private lenders). In fact, a new version of the income-based repayment will reduce the percentage of discretionary income charged from 15% to 10%, and it will shorten repayment from 25 to 20 years before the remaining debt will be forgiven. Kantrowitz also explains that should one work in the field of public service [jobs such as a teacher, public defender, prosecutor, member of the military, city, state, or federal worker, or for any 501(c)(3) charitable organization], then all remaining debt will be forgiven after 10 years of repayment.
According to Kantrowitz, students should avoid defaulting on their loans as this can greatly limit their options. In fact, in many cases, it will actually get much more difficult to repay the loan as there are many ways in which the debt will continue to be collected. One way in which this is done is through a wage garnishment of up to 15% of total discretionary income. This can also be done through the interception of federal and state income tax refunds. On top of this, there will also be an increase of the term of the loan by almost 100%, in that 25% of each payment made (whether voluntary or involuntary) will be used to pay collection charges. Therefore, a student will not only have to pay off the principal of the loan and the interest, but also the collection charges that come with defaulting on the loan.
Overall, there are things students can do before they run into trouble paying back their loans. As mentioned previously, talking to one’s lender is perhaps the most important step whenever they are experiencing financial difficulties or hardship. While their options may increase the amount they pays on the loan, it will prevent students from both going into significant debt and forcibly making payments on their loans. By choosing to repay loans in these ways, students can greatly limit stress and misfortune by repaying their loans in the way that is right for them.
Standard Vs. Green Cleaning Products
Photo from http://green-officecleaning.blogspot.com
Walking down the aisle in the grocery store, you may come across the “green” cleaning section, where all of the packages proclaim their “all natural” and “environmentally friendly” qualities. However, what do we really know about these products and do they really work? We’re a little skeptical.
In an article we read by Nina Rastogi from Slate magazine, she explains that the EPA serves as the major decision-maker when it comes to deeming a product as a disinfectant or sanitizer that appropriately kill food-borne microbes. In fact, Rastogi observes that none of the larger green cleaning brands (Seventh Generation, Method, Ecover, or Clorox’s Green Works) offers an EPA-registered disinfectant or sanitizer. Why this is isn’t entirely clear, however, many other smaller companies like PureGreen24 offer EPA-approved products that are effective in disinfecting and sanitizing.
It appears that household remedies don’t appear to be as effective either. According to a 2000 study Rastogi cites, researchers tested some of the most widely accepted household remedies to cleaning, including the use of vinegar and baking soda. The study, in fact, found that vinegar was as effective as commercial household cleaners at killing salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (bacteria found in produce), but was not effective when it came to staph or E. coli. Baking soda seemed to have no effective on any of the pathogens.
So it may seem here there really isn’t a clear conclusion, however, in either case, it remains that standard cleaners are pretty scary. In an article we read by Andrea Thompson at Live Science, she explains that there are 80,000 chemicals in use and some of the toxicity of these chemicals has not yet been determined. In her article, she interviewed Tom Natan, a chemical engineer at the National Environmental Trust, who says that, “We are exposed, in the process of cleaning our homes, to more than the manufacturers projected.” In fact, he says that companies will often select ingredients to increase performance, but “a lot of the chemicals, we simply don’t know anything about.” Natan has had some experience with this, as he and his team recently found that a popular commercial cleaner they had tested caused damage to the reproductive systems of pregnant rants, even in small doses. That’s not comforting.
We can therefore determine that maybe using standard household cleaners is not the best choice. While green cleaning products, as we observed in our blog entry yesterday, are 67% more expensive than standard cleaning products, are they really worth it? As Rastogi also points out, many of these products are not yet efficiency approved by the EPA, so that means we aren’t entirely sure yet if they really kill harmful bacteria. So perhaps the best decision here is to stay (FAR) away from standard household cleaners. It appears here that the best alternative may be using EPA-approved green cleaners. Rastogi also advises that basic hygiene practices like hand washing, keeping cutting board separate from raw meat and poultry, and storing food at the proper temperature will help to keep things clean. You don’t need to douse everything in disinfectant every time you clean; instead you can clean by using simple soap and water to decontaminate many kitchen surfaces. She advises to use cleaning products in areas where you really need them, and to use them cautiously and only when you really need.
Off Campus Housing Blog 