What is the Westgate Buddy Program?

Do you remember when you first arrived at MIT? When you didn’t know where anything was and didn’t have anyone to ask? Wouldn’t it have been great to have someone that you could go to with your questions?

We are currently seeking volunteers to act as contact points for new families arriving at Westgate over the summer of 2007. As a new student’s buddy, we will put you in email contact with them before they arrive so you can act as a personal point of contact for their questions, welcome them when they arrive and help them settle into the community. This is not a time-consuming commitment: just spending a short amount of time showing a new family around Westgate and inviting them to a free event like the Welcome Barbecue will go a long way to helping them feel at home in their new community.

We expect to welcome over 60 new families at Westgate in the Fall, so we ask you to consider joining this program and making a difference for one new family!

If you'd like to sign up, or you have questions or suggestions, please email Dana & Zachi Shemuly (Westgate Floor Representative Coordinators) at westgate‑rfro@mit.edu.

What’s required of a Westgate Buddy?

• Contact the student by email before they arrive at MIT
  Email the student as soon as possible over the summer to introduce yourself and welcome them to the community [We will provide a suggested email template to give you an example of what to write]. Tell them about collecting their keys from the Tang front desk and arranging to get an ID card from the Card Office. Encourage the student to ask questions and remember if you don’t know the answer, just ask Dana & Zachi Shemuly at westgate‑rfro@mit.edu and we will find out for you.
   
• Arrange to meet the student and their family the day they arrive at MIT
  This is very important to help the new student get settled and find where everything is located. We will provide welcome packs for the buddies to give to the new students containing basic supplies and local information. If you are not available to meet the new family please contact Dana & Zachi Shemuly at westgate‑rfro@mit.edu so we can arrange for someone else to meet them.
   
• Give a short tour of Westgate services and facilities
  Show the new family the facilities of Westgate on the day they arrive or soon after. A quick tour of the facilities and description of services should only take about 15 minutes, but feel free to spend longer if you wish. Plan to show them the main services they will need around Westgate:
   
  • Tang Desk services – movies, DVDs, board games, parcel pickup, cart loans, vacuum cleaner loans
  • House Manager’s office (in Tang Hall - maintenance, storage locker allocations)
  • The LA and MC keys (which doors they open and how to get into the buildings)
  • Westgate lobby: Athena terminal and Westgate printer, Westgate website, Westgate event calendar, online maintenance forms
  • Tell the student about joining Westgate mailing lists Westgate-act and Westgate-info (these are great ways to hear about the Westgate events and issues)
  • Directions to MIT Card Office to get MIT ID card
  • Mailboxes – first floor highrise and entryway for lowrise
  • Fitness room – first floor high rise (booking sheet)
  • Children’s Technology Center (first floor high rise)
  • Laundry washers and dryers and payment methods (TechCash and coins, high rise basement)
  • Westgate Lounge (high rise basement)
  • Storage lockers in the sub-basement (for 1 and 2 bedrooms) or on the same level of the high rise (for efficiencies)
  • Location of trash and recycling facilities on specific floor or entryway
  • Playground and BBQ pits
  • Parking Lot (and directions to the Parking Office to get access)
     
• Introduce the new family to others in the community
  Try to introduce the new student family to other student families in our community. Invite them along to a Westgate event, such as a hot grill night, coffee night or the Welcome Barbecue. People tend to settle in more quickly when they can establish acquaintances and friendships in their new community.
   
• Keep in contact with the student family
  Contact the family occasionally in the first month to check that they are settling in alright. Although being a buddy is not a long-term commitment, it’s good to keep in contact with the family.

Other things you could consider doing for your buddy

• Provide them with dinner on their first night.
• Take them grocery shopping soon after they arrive.
• You may choose to loan them something of your own (e.g. an air mattress).  
• Take them on a local tour around MIT, showing them the main facilities in the student center (post office, hairdresser, LaVerde's, MIT Co-op etc), MIT banks, etc
• Take them or direct them to the MIT Furniture Exchange to look around.
• Direct them to Craiglist.org for car and furniture advertisements, and to the MIT reuse and reuse-sell mailing lists
• Loan them a copy of "How to Get Around MIT"
• Anything else you feel would help the new family settle in.