Self-ops

Self-operated houses, or self-ops, are undergraduate houses in which student residents (and non-resident eating associates), manage the operation of the house's meal service and hire a house cook. The members jointly establish a board plan and coordinate house jobs and the budgeting of finances. Like co-ops, self-ops offer residents the opportunity to develop skills in management and self-sufficiency. Unlike co-ops, where students cook for themselves and clean the house, house cooks prepare all required meals in self-ops and University custodial service is provided. The kitchen is generally open to students outside mealtimes and students may be required to hash.

Self-ops establish a kitchen schedule which requires that each resident volunteer for a daily, weekly, or quarterly shift. In some houses, the residents choose to use house funds to pay residents for house jobs. Each student contributes toward the order of the house, whether he pays a fellow resident for the work or does the work himself. The structure of the self-op also forces residents to interact more frequently and cooperatively with one another; jobs are rarely done individually.

 Each self-op has Resident Staff members: Resident Assistants (RAs) and Program Assistants in non-theme houses; Resident Fellows (RFs), or Faculty Affiliates, and Theme Associates in theme houses. RFs and RAs work with residents to plan house programs throughout the year. Each self-op is unique, and the level and variety of social and educational activities varies according to student preference. For example, Roth is the only non-sorority on campus managed by and for women.