Housing Policies

Gender Inclusive Housing Policy

Gender inclusive housing is available to all upperclass students living on campus. This allows students to room with any person, regardless of gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, or sexual orientation.

All students participating in Room Draw will have the option to participate in, or opt out of, gender inclusive housing by placing a gendered or gender inclusive marker in the corresponding suite/corridor of the room they choose. Students can also submit a petition via the normal petition process to ensure that a suite in any residence hall is gender inclusive.

Gender inclusive housing will generally not be offered to incoming students. However, incoming students whose gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation affects their housing preference may discuss an appropriate placement with the Dean of Residential Life. All incoming students will be asked to indicate their preference for living in a suite in which a gender inclusive room may be present.

Approved by Senate, DOS, and F&M on October 31, 2008
Approved by HMC Cabinet on November 3, 2008.
Approved by HMC Board of Trustees on January 31, 2009.

Room Painting and Mural Policy

Students shall be able to paint their rooms so long as they adhere to the following guidelines.

Students may only paint previously painted wall surfaces in their rooms/common areas. Ceilings and exteriors are excluded here and will be discussed in another section of this policy.
Facilities and Maintenance (F&M) will provide the student with a list of recommended paints from which to select. These will probably be low-odor, latex paints. If the student chooses a non-recommended paint, they must receive approval from F&M before use. Students may also submit paints to be put on the list of recommended paints.
Murals and/or paint may not change the texture of the wall surface.
Wallpaper may not be used.
After review of the Room Painting & Mural Agreement (Google Form) signed by the students F&M will provide students with the following materials which can be checked out for up to two weeks:
- Drop cloths and painter’s tape
- Pans, liners, rollers, disposable brushes and roller sleeves
- Clean-up equipment and supplies
The student will have to purchase their own paint.
F&M will not provide ladders to students.
Clean-up of the paint must be done in the sinks found in the laundry rooms. All materials provided by F&M must be thoroughly cleaned and returned to F&M within two weeks of checkout.
All students who wish to paint their room or a common area must fill out the Room Painting & Mural Agreement (Google Form) and submit it for review by F&M, their Residence Hall presidents, and the RAL. For students painting common areas, the entire suite must sign the Room Painting & Mural Agreement by being listed in the form. Students who wish to paint a common public area, such as a hall lounge, do not have to acquire all of the residence hall residents’ signatures. However, they must give the hall’s residents a week’s notice to allow for any objections before approaching the Senate. The Room Painting & Mural Agreement will require a detailed description of the painting. The Residence Hall presidents of the residence hall where the mural would be painted will review the agreement and decide whether or not to approve the painting. The Residence Hall presidents, in consultation with F&M, reserves the right to deny any painting agreement for any reason. Students must provide clear digital photographs of walls after painting and submit them to Senate and F&M.
Room Draw
- Photos of painted rooms will be posted on the Senate website at least one month before room draw.
- During room draw, the rooms that have been painted will be clearly marked.
Should Senate find that the room was painted in violation of any of the above criteria or was painted in a sloppy manner, the student will be required to repaint it or F&M will charge the student to have the room professionally painted.
Bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms require high gloss paint. Therefore, the cost to repaint these rooms will be assessed individually.
After room draw is completed, students may request that their future room be repainted to a neutral color via a petition to Senate. F&M will provide neutral color paints for repainting to be done by the current residents before the day of graduation. If the student has a valid reason to delay repainting, a petition may be submitted to Senate. If the current resident does not repaint the room by the designated time, the cost of professionally repainting the room will be charged to their student account. Between the end of room draw and the assignment of all waitlisted students to a room, there will be no painting of rooms unless a student has requested that his/her room be repainted.
If there are students on the waitlist, doubles, triples, quads, and suites with open spaces may not be painted until those spaces are filled or all students on the waitlist have been placed.
Freshmen will be asked on the Roommate Matching Forms whether or not they are comfortable with living in a painted room.
Summer residents squatting their Fall rooms may paint during the Summer if they have a Room Painting & Mural Agreement (Google Form) approved by Senate.

Approved by Senate, DOS, and F&M on December 12, 2008
Approved by HMC Cabinet on January 28, 2009.
Approved by HMC Board of Trustees on January 31, 2009.
Approved by Senate, DOS, and F&M Spring 2010

Pet Registration

HMC Pet Policy

Cats and dogs are not allowed in the residence halls. Residents may keep small, caged pets such as fish or hamsters with the approval of their roommate and/or suitemates. Complete the pet registration form.

Damage to residence hall rooms or furnishings that result from pets will be billed to the resident responsible for the pet. All pets must be kept clean, healthy and in well-maintained living spaces.”

Before you bring a pet to campus, consult your roommate and suitemates to see if anyone objects to the pet. If they do, do not bring the pet. You must register a pet within 7 days of bringing it on to campus. Any unregistered pet found on campus after 7 days will result in a fine of $50.00 (cats and dogs will incur a $100 fine), and subsequent DB charges will ensue if it is not removed.

All pets must be properly contained and well cared for. You will be held fully responsible for any damage caused by your pet. If your pet has fur, this includes steam cleaning of your room and possible carpet replacement. Facilities and Maintenance will make the determination of necessary cleaning and repair.

If someone objects to the presence, care, or impact of a registered pet on the physical space or community, they may bring the complaint to the Senate. The Senate will decide whether the pet may remain on campus, or if specific conditions will be added to the registration requirements.

This policy exists both to protect the welfare of the animals involved (a residence hall room is too small for a cat, dog or other larger pet to be healthy and properly taken care of) and to protect the welfare of students living in the same residence hall or room.

Please contact the Office of Accessible Education, at access@g.hmc.edu if you have any questions.

Residence Hall Meeting Policy

Overview

Residence hall meetings occur in order to discuss official hall-related business. Residence hall meetings may be held on weeknights and must end by midnight. Since many members of a residence hall are over 21, and are therefore permitted to consume alcohol, it is possible that a significant number of people will want to be drinking. Since meetings are rather large gatherings, any meeting where people will be drinking must be registered with DOS at which time an agenda must be presented. A maximum of two residence halls may sponsor a residence hall meeting with alcohol on a given night. Only those 21 or older may be served. In accordance with state liquor laws, no admission may be charged for any event serving alcohol; however, donations may be collected, but not in the direct vicinity of or inside the event. The following is a general guideline which will be used by the Associate Dean of Students/Director of Campus Life and the residence hall meeting sponsors when the meeting is registered:

Residence Hall Meetings

SIZE: Number of residents in the residence hall
ALCOHOL: Must be contained indoors – see equations
SERVERS: None required—organizer’s responsibility to monitor drinking
SECURITY: None required
GUESTS: Hall residents + affiliates
ADVERTISING: No advertising
REGISTRATION: Register with the Dean of Students Office by noon the day of meeting—one sponsor must be at least 21 (if alcohol will be present) and must stay sober for the duration of the meeting. Must present brief agenda at time of registration.

Equations

Number of 12 oz. beer cans = ounces of beer/12
Number of ounces of beer = n*(1/3)*(2)*16
where n = the number of people at the residence hall meeting,
(1/3) is the fraction of attendees 21 or over,
2 is the expected number of drinks per person,
and 16 is the number of ounces in a drink

Room Charges Appeal

All students are responsible for maintaining their room and the furniture in it in good condition. Significant damages to the room or furniture will result in the student being billed for the damage caused to the room. If the student does not feel that he/she is responsible for paying this charge or the damage has not been repaired by the beginning of the following academic year, then the student should contact a Facilities and Maintenance (F&M) representative to explain his/her view.

In the event that a mutually-suitable agreement cannot be made between the student and F&M, the student may appeal the room charge to the Senate via the Senate chair. The Senate will hear the appeal and will issue a recommendation to F&M. F&M will take the Senate’s recommendation into account and may either reverse the charge or let it stand. If the reversed charge also applies to the student’s roommates or suitemates then the charge will be reversed on their accounts as well. The Senate chair will notify the person who made the appeal of the outcome of the appeal.

Students may not appeal charges of less than $100 to the Senate. A charge to the residence hall of $100 or more may be appealed to the Senate by only the residence hall president, who will have no vote in the recommendation issued to F&M by the Senate.

Unanimously approved by Senate, DOS, and F&M on September 16, 2005
Changes approved by Senate, DOS, and F&M on October 6, 2006.

Fire Policy

Updated by DOS Aug. 7, 2014

When fire alarms sound in the residence halls, residents must evacuate immediately. Candles, incense, open flames and flammable liquids or gases are not allowed in the residence halls due to the hazards of fires. (Birthday and Hanukkah candles are OK if safely lit, constantly monitored and quickly extinguished.) Tampering with the fire safety equipment (i.e., fire extinguishers, smoke detectors or fire alarm boxes) in the residence halls is a felony in the state of California. Covering or disabling smoke or heat detectors is dangerous and unlawful and will result in Disciplinary Board (DB)/ Judiciary Board (JB) charges.

People who start a fire or participate in the burning of something outside the guidelines below will be referred to DB/JB. Fires on campus must be registered with and approved by the Dean of Students Office and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. To register a fire, a student needs to complete an event registration for the Dean of Students Office. After being approved by the dean of students office, the student must then take the form to the local fire station (Station 101) to obtain a fire permit, which fire station personnel may or may not grant. Upon receiving a permit from the fire station, proof of the permit (in the form of a copy) must be provided to the Dean of Students Office.

Campus Safety and College officials will use these guidelines to determine if a courtyard fire is safe and non-damaging. The fire:

is fully contained (nothing hanging over the sides) in a barbecue grill fire pit that is elevated more than 6 inches off the ground and that is a maximum of 9 square feet in area and a minimum of 12 inches deep.
does not throw sparks or threaten anything nearby,
does not burn anything that gives off toxic gases, such as plastics or couches, or can explode, such as aerosol cans,
does not have wood or fuel for the fire that exceeds 2 feet tall,
is constantly monitored by a trained fire watch with the building’s fire extinguisher and a garden hose connected to a water supply.
is completely extinguished by the last person to leave the fire, and
is in compliance with the Fire Code, as determined by the Los Angeles County Fire Inspector.

Excessive clean up of fires will follow normal Senate/F&M excessive cleanup procedures. According to the fire inspector, only one container of lighter fluid per barbecue may be stored in a residence hall. College-owned wood pallets or other materials may only be used with permission from F&M.

Excessive Cleaning Policy

Students are expected to clean up after their use of public areas of residence halls so that everyone may enjoy the use of the space. Building attendants are employed to conduct normal cleaning and maintenance of the buildings. Sometimes, though, areas require extra cleaning that is beyond what is considered normal. Excessive clean up will be considered, but not limited to: vomit and/or other bodily fluids; large quantities of beverage and food debris; floors covered in sticky residue; broken furniture; and other damage.

Cleaning kits that include brooms, cleaning solution, and other cleaning equipment are available for checkout from F&M.

The Office of Facilities and Maintenance (F&M) shall, upon observation of an area in need of excessive clean up, adhere to the following guidelines:

College staff observe an area in need of excessive cleanup upon arrival at approximately 7:00 AM and notify the main F&M office at 8:00 AM.
F&M sends a message to the residence hall e-mail list before noon informing that a cleanup must occur.
The residence hall has until 4:00 PM the same day to accept or deny responsibility.
The residence hall may only deny responsibility if no one in the residence hall claims responsibility.
If the residence hall accepts responsibility, it is the duty of the residence hall to clean the area before the next business day. Otherwise, residence hall attendants will be asked to stay overtime to perform the necessary cleaning. Overtime charges and any necessary supplies will be charged to the residence hall.
If the residence hall denies responsibility, residence hall presidents must inform F&M of the people involved (if known).
F&M informs the people involved of the necessary cleaning. Cleaning must occur before the next business day.
F&M will photograph and maintain a log of the affected areas.

Suite lounges in South, Atwood, Linde, and Sontag will not be considered public areas for the purpose of this policy. F&M, though, will try to warn residents of a suite lounge problem that could incur additional costs at the end of the year if not cleaned soon.

F&M must immediately clean up safety hazards. Examples include, but are not limited to: broken glass and other sharp objects, areas that are slippery or impede entrance and exit paths, and biohazards such as blood, vomit, or rotting food. In addition, areas that will adversely affect visitors to a public event on campus will be immediately cleaned up. For both safety hazards and public events, the determination will be left to F&M and the cost of the cleaning will go to the residence hall . Cleaning that requires specialized equipment (e.g. sticky floors) will be done for no charge by F&M, if residents of the residence hall clean all other aspects of the area. F&M will photograph and maintain a log of the affected areas.

F&M will have seven days from the date the clean up occurred to inform the residence hall presidents of the circumstances of the clean up, its cost, and photographs of the area or lose the capacity to bill for the clean up. The residence hall presidents shall, upon receiving the email from F&M, attempt to determine the responsible person(s) and shall report their findings to F&M via facilities@hmc.edu within two weeks. Students responsible for the mess may self-report to F&M. The students will be charged no more than the cleanup cost.

If no responsible person is determined the charges will be distributed equally among the residence hall residents.

Disputes regarding charges must be presented in writing/email to facilities@hmc.edu prior to the two-week reporting deadline. F&M staff will respond to the dispute in writing/email within three business days.

If further resolution is necessary a written/email request must be submitted to the Chair of the Residence Hall Affairs Committee within one week of the final outcome of the original dispute. The Residence Hall Affairs Committee, Facilities and Maintenance Representative, and Dean of Students Office Representative will review the dispute request and their determination will be final.

Approved by DAC, DOS, and F&M on May 2, 2003
Revised and approved by DAC, DOS and F&M on Nov. 12, 2004 and Nov. 3 and 10, 2006

Approved by DAC Oct. 20, 2009