Dwight Hall Student Cabinet

Dwight Hall’s actions and priorities are directed by a cabinet comprised of representatives of each constituent group.  Each year, the Cabinet elects a Student Executive Committee to fulfill the day-to-day operations of Dwight Hall.  In addition to coordinating activities of the Hall, Cabinet acts as the moral and ethical deliberative body of Dwight Hall, voting in new Member Groups, debating service policy, and passing Resolutions.

Dwight Hall Student Cabinet is the largest organized body of students on Yale’s campus. 

Student Executive Committee 2024

The Student Executive Committee is elected by Cabinet each fall, and is charged with the management of all Cabinet activities and effective support of Dwight Hall at Yale as a nonprofit institution. ExComm meets weekly to determine and implement priority projects, provide ongoing support of student service and advocacy programs, allocate resources, make policy recommendations and initiate programs for the Yale and New Haven communities.

The Co-Coordinators facilitate day-to-day functions of the Student Executive Committee (ExComm) and work closely with staff to ensure quality management of ExComm programming and infrastructure. They support each member of ExComm in areas including but not limited to strategic planning, program implementation, and problem management. The Co-Coordinators present to the Board of Directors twice each semester and maintain a relationship with Dwight Hall’s institutional programs. Upon request, they help individual students navigate the community service and social justice landscapes on campus and in New Haven.

The Institutional Service Coordinator (ISC) helps to manage external relationships between Dwight Hall and local community partners. This is done through the planning and execution of one-time service opportunities (e.g. First-Year Day of Service, Spring Day of Service) and application and development of the community partner database with staff and the Volunteer Corps Coordinator. The ISC is also responsible for encouraging community member presence at general Dwight Hall events and service bazaars, as well as connecting relevant community partners with member groups and initiatives. Internally, the ISC coordinates with Dwight Hall’s institutional programs on a bimonthly basis to ensure cohesion and collaboration among all institutional programs in Dwight Hall. 

The Financial Coordinator creates the ExComm budget and handles reimbursements requested by members of ExComm. The Financial Coordinator assists with the financial needs of all member groups through office hours and Campus & Community Fund  (C&C) grants, distributed by application approval on a semesterly basis. Additionally, the Financial Coordinator may work to develop tools that help member groups track their group’s financial health, which may include budget tools, project management tools, or training for group financial coordinators and seek solutions to common financial challenges along with staff and other members of ExComm.

The Communications Coordinator develops the publicity strategy of ExComm, and is responsible for communicating the activities, opportunities, and vision of Dwight Hall and Cabinet to the rest of campus, the communities we serve, and the general public. This is achieved by compiling weekly newsletters that feature events hosted at Dwight Hall and member group campaigns, sharing student involvement reflections and stories on social media, and creative ways of external messaging.

The Engagement Coordinators facilitate community participation in Dwight Hall. They work closely with Dwight Hall staff and ExComm to advise and support the inception, planning, publicity, and execution of Dwight Hall programming. The Engagement Coordinators connect interested students to Member Groups and New Haven organizations, make the student interest spreadsheet accessible to support Member Group outreach, and work with the Institutional Service Coordinator on large-scale events and institutional service events.

The Membership Coordinators manage the structure and health of Dwight Hall member groups. This is achieved by distributing and reviewing member groups check-ins (Record and Review), holding regular office hours (e.g. in Common Room during open houses) as a space for member groups to speak with a Dwight Hall representative about planning and organizational management, promoting resources to member groups, and ensuring that member groups are following the Dwight Hall Method and mission. They are also responsible for participating in funding meetings with the Co-Coordinators and Financial Coordinator, providing member group activities to highlight to the Communications Director, and encouraging inter-group collaboration when helpful.

The New Membership Coordinator manages the membership status of all Dwight Hall at Yale groups that are not full members of a Network, including Associate Groups, Provisional Groups, and those applying for membership status, with input from Dwight Hall advisors. The New Membership Coordinator works closely with applying groups to develop a workable Logic Model and go through the Dwight Hall Method —a formal process for helping students/groups develop, refine, execute, and evaluate a theory of social change. The New Membership Coordinator evaluates whether Provisional Groups meet the outcomes they set through the Logic Model and communicates with ExComm and Cabinet whether they believe the Provisional Group should be voted into Member Group status.