Sessions students want noise and cleanliness rules enforced

This archived article was written by: Carli Jensen

Students living in Sessions Hall had a mandatory meeting on February 19, 2004 for the residential life staff to address a number of issues including noise level and cleanliness of the hall.
Visitation and quiet hours were discussed. The hall director and RAs issued a reminder that all non-residents must exit the lounge areas at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on the weekends.
Most residents appeared to be aware of this policy and were more concerned over what appears to be a more strict enforcement of quiet hours, when no noise should be heard outside any rooms.
Students were instructed that disciplinary actions would be taken for talking on cell phones in the halls during quiet hours. Kara Smith, a resident in the hall, raised a question about those who try to be courteous by speaking quietly while talking on their cell phones. Nonetheless a new policy was implemented that those residents who want to talk outside their rooms after hours need to keep conversations confined to the common area or outside the building. All conversation must momentarily pause while traveling from rooms to the common areas.
RAs claimed to have been getting complaints from the residents about the noise level during quiet hours. Students in attendance vocalized their opinion that rules were being too strictly enforced, and that more consideration should be made for the fact that Sessions is a college dorm with close living quarters. The RAs responded by saying that they don’t want to limit fun, but they want to make it quiet for residents who want to sleep or study.
“The RAs need to realize that this is a college dorm and should thus treat the residents as such,” stated DeLon Lee concerning quiet hours. Mike Dimick, another resident said, “RAs act too much like parents.” Some of the residents who lived in Sessions last year said that this year is a lot different than last year. They claim to be making the same amount of noise, but are currently being told to be quiet all of the time. Another concern from some students in the CEU Ambassador program that live in Sessions is how are they supposed to get prospective students excited about living in the dorms when it isn’t any fun?
Jeremy Jones, an RA, said, “The rules are the same as last year, but every RA enforces them differently.” He also said that the reason for the meeting was because of the increasing number of complaints in the last few days. The RAs said that some of the reasons why noise levels are tending to be high are because it is a new semester and the students that don’t have early classes are staying up later.
Residents also wanted to know specifically how much noise would be tolerated, and what disciplinary actions would result. For instance one resident wanted to know exactly what number on the volume of the TV would be permissible. The RAs explained that the noise level that would be tolerated would be defined by other residents and their complaints.
Three RAs in Sessions can document students who violate policies and turn their names into the hall director. The hall director then reviews the document and, if valid, she gives the party in question a verbal warning. After a verbal warning, a resident gets a written notice. The third step taken when a policy is violated is they are put on housing probation. If a resident is “written up” four times they will be evicted, and still have to pay a contract penalty.
The other topic that RAs and residents discussed was the cleanliness of the building. The residents asked that more attention be focused on the bathrooms. Some of the suggestions made were that residents clean up after themselves. A lot of the residents did say that the bathrooms have been cleaner lately, but still needed work.
The RAs asked if they would like to compose a list of rules for the bathrooms but the residents didn’t respond to them with much enthusiasm about making more rules. Suggestions were made on how to keep the bathrooms smelling and looking clean. The RAs said that they would look into getting air fresheners. They also asked the residents to notify them of any problems so that they could get fixed.
The residents were also concerned with the paint that is coming off of the doors. They don’t want to have to pay money at the end of the semester because of it. The RAs said that they are making paint available to the residents to repaint their doors.
Overall they want the dorms to look better for the residents and their guests.
It was announced at the beginning of the meeting that students who failed to attend the meeting would be documented. All of the students not present at the meeting had contacted the RAs and made previous arrangements. According to the residential life procedure and policy handbook, documentation indicates that a residential life or CEU policy has been violated; however, documentation doesn’t automatically assign guilt, and can be appealed.