Residence Life
Current Students - Residence Hall Student Code of Conduct
The following regulations are established to govern the conduct of individuals living and
visiting in the residence halls. They shall apply to all students regardless of class level,
place of residence, or group affiliation when they are in or around any residence hall.
1.0 Individual Responsibilities and Community Standards
1.1 No person shall cause or otherwise contribute to unreasonable noise in the residence
halls or areas immediately surrounding the residence halls.
- Noise from a student room is considered unreasonable when it can be heard at a distance of
two rooms from the source of the noise.
1.2 No person shall interfere with any student who is attempting to study.
1.3 No person shall interfere with another student who is attempting to sleep.
1.4 No person shall violate either minimum quiet hours (11 PM - 8 AM, Sunday -Thursday and
1 AM - 10 AM, Friday and Saturday) or extended quiet hours posted on a particular floor.
(Standards of quiet will be significantly more stringent during quiet hour periods)
- Noise during quiet hours is considered to be noise, no matter what the source when it can
be heard outside of a student’s room.
- During the period of Final Exams, 24 hour quiet hours are always in effect.
1.5 No person shall interfere with the free access of another to and from his or her own
room, or to and from any common areas within the residence halls.
1.6 The playing of athletic games of any sort in any common areas inside of the residence
halls is prohibited. (Hallways are included as common areas)
1.7 No person shall interfere with the safe or clean environment of others, or fail to
maintain reasonable standards of cleanliness in their own room.
1.8 No person shall allow an animal, bird or other pet to enter a residence hall. Fish in
an aquarium of twenty gallons or less are allowed. The disposal of fish by means of flushing
“toilet funeral” is prohibited.
1.9 No person shall fail to make an effort to discourage another person from violating a
regulation and/or to report a violation of which one has knowledge.
2.0 Alcohol & Drugs
The residence hall community is part of a larger community; therefore it is not only governed by
its own regulations, but by college policies and state law. The state of Georgia establishes the
age at which alcohol consumption is legal. That age is 21 years. College policy regarding alcohol
follows:
- Consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages on campus outside of the residence halls
is prohibited unless authorized by the Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services.
- Intoxication made manifest by disorderly conduct including fighting, boisterousness,
rowdiness, obscene or indecent conduct or appearance, vulgar, profane, lewd, or unbecoming
language is prohibited.
- Intoxication, which puts oneself or others in danger, is prohibited. Intoxicated individuals
who are either unconscious or incoherent will be transported by ambulance to a hospital
emergency room at the student’s expense. Additionally, if any laws have been broken
(Underage) the student will be cited.
2.1 Students who have attained the legal age may possess and/or consume alcoholic beverages
in their private living quarters. (Private living quarters is defined as a student’s assigned room.
No other area of the residence hall is to be included.)
2.2 Alcoholic beverages may not be consumed in stairwells, main lounges, TV rooms, or any
other public area including outside the residence halls.
2.3 The direct or indirect sale of alcohol is absolutely prohibited. (No admission or
assessment may be collected before, during, or after any event where alcohol is served.)
2.4 Residents who sponsor a party in their private rooms must abide by all regulations and
state laws. These include consumption of alcohol, noise, maximum number of people invited (State
fire codes allow up to 12 people in a room with the square footage of our residence hall rooms),
and responsibility for conduct of guest and clean up.
2.5 Kegs and other large common sources of alcohol (trash can punches, etc.) are prohibited
in the residence halls as they promote larger group involvement and excessive drinking.
2.6 Use and/or distribution of drugs (includes inhalants) prohibited by state law is
expressly prohibited within the residence halls at SPSU. Anyone in violation of these laws faces
criminal prosecution, removal from residence, and potentially, suspension or expulsion from the
University.
2.7 Unauthorized distribution of prescription medicines is also a violation of State Law
and will be dealt with as stated above in section 2.6.
3.0 Safety and Security of the Individual and Community
Fundamental to the protection of the individual is the maintenance of an environment that is
physically safe and predictable. As members of a group, individuals have a special responsibility
to ensure that safety hazards are eliminated, fire equipment is maintained, fire procedures
established and followed, and outside doors remain locked and secured at all times.
3.1 No person shall create, or help to create a safety hazard.
3.2 No person shall remove a screen from, or throw/drop anything out of a residence hall
window.
3.3 No person shall posses or use fireworks, firearms, or any other dangerous weapons or
explosives inside a residence hall or on the university campus. Violation of this policy will
result in immediate removal from the residence hall as well as prosecution under Georgia Law.
3.4 No person shall posses or use in a residence hall, without proper authorization, any
chemical or other dangerous substance compound or container of such substances, which may injure
or cause damage.
3.5 No person shall set a fire in the residence halls or areas immediately associated with
residence halls.
3.6 No person shall falsely report a fire or interfere in any way with emergency services
or procedures, or fail to conform to established safety regulations.
3.7 No person shall fail to evacuate the residence halls during a fire alarm.
3.8 No person shall tamper with fire equipment, or use such equipment for other than the
prevention or control of fire. Fire equipment shall include but not be limited to fire alarms,
smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and boxes, and any other fire fighting or warning devices.
Violators of this policy and state law will face potential prosecution.
3.9 No person shall prop open or cause a residence hall door not to secure. Residence
hall outside doors and east end stairwell doors are locked 24 hours a day.
3.10 No person shall construct a homemade loft in a residence hall room. Residence hall
furniture may be lofted only if proper lofting procedures are followed.
4.0 Harassment and Intimidation
To succeed personally and academically, an individual must be able to live free from unnecessary
emotional stress caused by others. Physical or emotional harassment will not be tolerated in a
residence hall community.
4.1 No person shall harass any other person. This shall include harassment on the basis
of race, sex, or sexual preference.
4.2 No person shall exhibit behavior, which harms or threatens to harm another person or
another person’s property.
4.3 No person shall abuse or threaten any residence hall employee.
5.0 Personal and Community Property
The protection of one’s personal property is important to the well being of an individual.
Protection of community property protects the investment all residents make through the payment
of their housing fees.
5.1 No person shall tamper with or borrow without permission the personal property of
others.
5.2 No person shall without proper authorization remove any property from its assigned
place in a residence hall.
5.3 No person shall tamper with, damage, deface, or destroy any University Property.
(Please see the special section on Community Billing for a complete explanation of the policy.)
5.4 No person shall leave personal trash in hallways, bathrooms, stairwells, lounges, or
any other area that is used in common by the residence hall community. (fines apply)
6.0 Identification of Individuals
Certain privileges are extended to individuals by virtue of their membership in the residence
hall community. In order to protect the community’s welfare, the integrity of this
identification must be maintained.
6.1 No person shall permit others to use his or her college identification or room key,
for the purpose of improperly gaining access to a residence hall or residence hall room.
6.2 No person shall use the college identification or room key of another for the purpose
of gaining access to a residence hall or residence hall room.
6.3 No person shall refuse to provide his or her name and show appropriate identification
to a residence hall staff member when requested.
7.0 Visitors
All members of the residence hall community have the responsibility to help secure the
community’s welfare by communicating to visitors the expectations established through the
regulations contained in this document.
7.1 No person shall permit a non-resident visitor to remain in or use the facilities of a
residence hall, including one’s residence hall room, for more than three days during any given
week. (The intent of this policy is to prevent non-residents from being housed in our residence
halls on a continual basis. It is also meant to allow residents the right to have visitors
periodically. Residents who continually have someone staying in their room for three nights a
week, every week are violating the spirit of this policy. Misuse of the policy shall be
considered grounds for disciplinary action.)
7.2 No person shall fail to take responsibility for his or her visitor.
7.3 No person, if a non-resident, shall be a visitor in any residence hall without a
resident escort.
7.4 No male shall be a visitor on a female floor unless escorted by a resident of that
floor.
7.5 Anyone who will be visiting the residence halls after 10 PM must be registered at
the Housing Office (during its operating hours), at the Department of Public Safety (located on
the ground floor of Norton Hall) during times in which the housing office is not open, or with a
residence life student staff member (RA/RL). The guest/visitor must be registered whether staying
overnight or not. This may not be done by phone!
7.6 Any resident hosting a visitor overnight is required to file a Residence Hall Guest
Identification Form with a Resident Assistant or Resident Leader. The form must be filed before
10 p.m. on the night the visitor is to stay.
7.7 No person shall interfere with the entertaining of a visitor by another, unless the
visitor is infringing upon his or her rights. Visitors who infringe upon the rights of any
resident to sleep or study in their own room should be reported to a residence life staff member.
7.8 No visitor, guest, or resident shall enter or use a bathroom designated for use by the
opposite sex from him or her.
8.0 Electrical Appliances and Food Preparation
It is the intent of the administration of SPSU to provide as much latitude as possible regarding
the use of electrical appliances by students within their rooms. Certain community standards as
well as state safety and fire codes must be maintained, however.
8.1 Residence Halls have definite limits on the capabilities of their electrical systems.
Overloading these systems can present a fire and safety hazard. Where multiple appliances are in
use a power strip of 15 amps with either a fuse or breaker is required. No more than one power
strip per outlet is permitted.
8.2 All electrical appliances must bear the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) or equivalent
trademark.
8.3 Microwave ovens are the only cooking appliances permissible for use in a residence
hall room. No other appliances may be used. There is a twenty-five dollar fine for anyone in
possession of an illegal appliance. All such appliances are subject to confiscation by the
Department of Residence Life and Judicial Programs.
8.4 Outside of the use of a microwave oven in a student room the only area that it is
permissible for a student to cook is in the kitchen located in Norton Hall.
8.5 No resident shall clean dishes, utensils and other equipment in sinks other than
those designated for that purpose.
8.6 No resident will dispose of grease improperly. Proper disposal of grease requires
that it be cooled in a can and thrown away in an appropriate disposal unit. (Outside trash
dumpster only.)
8.7 No resident shall dispose of food waste and trash in any location other than the
dumpsters located outside of the residence halls.
8.8 No resident shall posses a refrigerator with a capacity greater than four cubic feet
and only one refrigerator of this size is permissible in a residence hall room. Residents
desiring more than one refrigerator in a room may only have them if the combined total cubic
foot capacity is equal to or less than four cubic feet.
9.0 Administrative Policies of Residence Life and Judicial Programs
The policies and procedures listed in this section pertain to those areas that are more
administrative in nature.
9.1 No resident shall move out of the residence halls without properly checking-out.
9.2 No resident shall damage or deface any college property. Each occupant of a residence
hall room has a room condition report completed for them that indicates the condition of the
room at the time they first occupy it. The student has the right to review that report at
anytime, however, the room condition report may not be challenged after the student has occupied
the room for more than seven days. Any discrepancies may be addressed with the Assistant Director
of Residence Life . Charges will be assessed for damages done to the room. The room condition
report will be the basis for assigning charges. Normal wear and tear will not be charged to the
resident.
9.3 The use of residence hall facilities and furnishings are for residence hall students.
Furnishings in lounges, kitchens or any other public areas are strictly for the use of students
in that area and are not to be removed to student rooms.
9.4 College regulations require that two fire drills per academic year be conducted for
each residence hall. All occupants in a building must take part in the drill and leave the
building. The purpose of the drill is to acquaint occupants with a fast and orderly means of exit
during an emergency.
9.5 No resident shall paint their room or alter it in anyway.
9.6 The college reserves the right to have its duly authorized personnel enter student
rooms for the purposes of inspection, improvements, to reclaim college property or to control the
rooms in the event of an epidemic or emergency which jeopardizes the well-being of the occupant
or other students in the hall.
10.0 Other Policies
10.1 No resident shall fasten antennas to any exterior roof or interior surface. Antennas
are not permitted out of windows or on sun ledges.
10.2 No resident shall ride bicycles, use roller blades or skates, use skate boards or any
other wheeled device (other than a wheel chair) within the residence halls.
10.3 No resident shall be involved in gambling on state property. Residence hall rooms are
considered state property in this instance.
10.4 No resident will engage in, or allow others to engage in solicitation and/or selling
within the residence halls. Permission may be granted through the Director of Residence Life and
Judicial Programs and/or the Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services for those
desiring to do so. Research may be conducted in residence halls with prior written approval from
the Director of Residence Life and Judicial Programs. For the protection of the residents,
salespersons are not permitted in the residence halls.
10.5 No resident shall exit their room onto a sun ledge or use a sun ledge for storage of
personal items. The sun ledges are not designed to bear human weight.
10.6 No resident shall use a water mattress in his or her room. Due to stress to the
building from excess weight, waterbeds are not permitted in the residence halls.
10.7 No resident shall fail to respond appropriately to the reasonable request of a
residence hall staff member.
10.8 No resident shall use candles or incense within a college residence hall.
10.9 No resident shall smoke cigarettes, cigars, etc. inside any residence hall.
University policy prohibits smoking within any building on the Southern Polytechnic State
University Campus.
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