Common areas include but are not limited to hallways, door exteriors, bathrooms, stairwells, lounges, laundry rooms, study rooms, utility rooms, storage rooms, kitchens, and TV rooms. Students are expected to help maintain these community areas. Furnishings in common areas must not be removed or rearranged. Roofs, ledges, and balconies of residence halls are always off-limits. For security reasons, outside hall doors may not be propped open. All residence hall space is non-smoking. The College will make every effort, within reason, to discover the individuals responsible for any damage or loss in the common areas of any residence hall. However, when the damage or loss cannot be attributed to specific individuals, the cost for damages or loss occurring in the common areas of the building will be shared equally by all students of that facility. Students can be held accountable for building damage if a connection can be made back to a particular residence hall facility.
When intentional and deliberate damage occurs in a common area (hallway, communal bathroom, social room, etc.) and no one claims responsibility for such damage, the RAs of the building will notify the residents of an impending Common Area Damage charge. If the individual(s) responsible cannot be identified, then the charge is equally distributed among the community members.
Each resident should feel as though they have an intrinsic investment in the residential community. As such, residents should feel motivated to hold each other accountable for their actions. If a student damages college property, they are bound to accept responsibility and report these actions to their RA. Damage to public areas often goes unreported. Failure to take responsibility for our actions and allowing members of the hall to pay for damage is a serious breach of our Honor System. If damage occurs accidentally, the student still holds the responsibility to report the incident to their RA honestly and promptly.
If damage occurs to an area outside of the residence hall, but can be connected back to a particular residence hall, the damage charge may be assessed to the residents of that residence hall.
Charges will often be assessed based on a standardized fine. Situations that require additional work from sources outside of the College will result in the fine plus the cost of the outside contractor. Damage fines can be incurred for the following but are not limited to: Vomit, excessive trash, damage to exit signs, damage to ceiling tiles, cracked or broken window panes. etc. Additional fines may be assessed for deliberate contamination of recycling bins.