Resident Life Handbook

Single Student Housing
Your Room

Use of Room

The Resident Life department grants you the right to use and occupy the room assigned and the adjoining bath area upon move in. You may also use the laundry room, computer room, Residential Living Lounge, and other public areas within the Residential Living area. You accept the Room “AS IS” and acknowledge that the room and its furnishings are in good condition and repair, except as otherwise specified on the Check-In/Check-Out Inspection Report, which is to be completed at move-in and move-out.

Keys

You will be issued a room key during check-in. Carry your key with you at all times. Make sure you keep your door locked. If a room key is lost, the privacy and security of occupants and belongings cannot be assured. Keys can only be issued by the Office.

Lost keys- $25 to replace a lost key. If the key is returned $20 will be refunded. If a lock needs to be changed, a $75 charge will be added to your student account.

Lock outs- Residents are allowed one lock out without penalty. After this, a $5 charge will be assessed for lock outs between the hours of 8:00 a.m and Midnight, and a $10 charge for lock outs between the hours of Midnight and 8:00 a.m. The charge will be paid up front to the RM or RA before the door will be unlocked.

Room Changes

It may be a different experience for many students to have to share a room. The ability to compromise is a skill that is needed in life, and it will probably be necessary for you to compromise with your roommate. If needed, your RA is available to assist in mediating your discussion. If the situation continues to be disruptive, we may schedule a meeting with the Resident Managers to see if a solution can be found. If the situation continues, a change may be addressed.

All room changes must be approved by the Office. When a change of rooms occurs the following requirements must be met:

1. There will be no room or hall changes allowed to take place during the first two weeks of each semester. This is a room freeze period, which allows us to confirm occupancy.
2. The Resident’s account must be current in order to change rooms.
3. If a Resident is granted a room that is charged at a higher rate, he/she must pay the difference before he/she can move into the space.
4. Room changes are made in order of priority. You cannot assume that another resident will be able to move directly into your space.
5. There is a $50 charge for unauthorized room changes.
6. Only one room change is allowed per semester.

Consolidation

Consolidation is the process of combining persons who are paying double rates into double rooms. If you are paying for a double room, and do not have a roommate, one will be consolidated to your room, or you to their room. Resident Life reserves the right to reassign rooms in the interest of order, safety, health, discipline, disaster or best use of facilities for the good of the Resident Life community, including, but not limited to, consolidation of rooms and floors.

All Nisson Tower rooms are double occupancy. However, single rooms may become available. If you would like a single room, you may make a request to the Office. If your request is granted, the Office will inform you of the cost of the single room and you will have 5 business days to pay the single room fee.

Any student who remains as a single occupant of a double room after being directed to consolidate will automatically be charged a single room fee.

Vandalism and Damages

The student understands that he/she is liable for damage to or the defacing of College property, including, but not limited to broken windows, damage to doors, bathroom locks, chairs, beds, etc. Damage charges will be assessed against individual student accounts.

Trash

Residents are required to carry their own trash to the dumpster. Do not leave trash outside your doors, or any other common area. Failure to dispose of trash properly will result in a disposal and/or cleaning fee.

Storage

The Residential Living Area does not have storage facilities. Resident Life and the College are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged items.

Condition of room and damage to college property

All residents are required to keep their rooms and apartments in a clean, sanitary and orderly condition. Residents shall not make any repairs or alterations to any room, its furnishings, or fixtures, the Residence Hall or the Apartment Complex without the prior written consent of the Office. Promptly report any damage to your RM or the Office.

Room Inventory

When you move into a room, you will be given a Room Inventory. Carefully survey your room and complete or add to the check-in side of the form. Both you and your RA will need to sign the form. When you move out of the room, you and your RA will complete the check-out side of the form. The purpose of this form is to determine any damages the room may have received and assess appropriate charges.

Personalizing your Room

We want your room to be your (and your roommate’s) home away from home. We encourage you to personalize your space. Many students have lived in your room before you arrived, and there will be many more living there after you leave. Therefore, we’ve developed some guidelines for you to use in personalizing your room:

• Please feel free to rearrange the furniture as you like, although you can’t remove any furniture from the room.
• Feel free to add to your room- TV, Stereo, fridge, microwave, computers, chairs, and pillows. However do not take lounge furniture to decorate your room.
• Decorate your walls- please use only materials that will not damage the walls. Do not use tacks, nails, tape other than scotch tape, contact paper, or wallpaper. There are strips that release from the wall when you pull down on them, we recommend you use this. These typically do not harm the walls. You will be billed for any damages.
• Remember to remove all belongings when you check-out. Do not leave your belongings behind. Students who leave an excessive amount of belongings in their room when they leave will be charged with an excessive trash fine up to $150.

Altering the Room

Changing the appearance of the residence hall is prohibited: this includes but is not limited to such things as painting, adding shelves or partitions, alteration of furniture, plumbing, heating or other structural changes, both interior and exterior.

Windows

The Residential Living area is home and workplace for many people. All window decorations are prohibited except when granted explicit permission by Housing and Resident Life. Housing and Resident Life reserves the right to deny approval, request removal, or enter a room and remove at the resident’s expense any material that is offensive, inappropriate or demeaning, or could cause an uncomfortable or threatening environment for staff, employees, residents, or any member of the DSC community.

Cable

Cable comes free of charge to each room. Service is through Baja Broadband. For a current list of channels, please click here

Internet

Shiloh Hall and Nisson Towers: Each room includes internet service free of charge. To connect, the computer must have a network card installed. The computer can be connected to the jack in the wall with a CAT-5 ethernet networking cable. If you try to connect the computer to the jack with a regular phone cord, you will experience download speeds slower than dial-up – you won’t get any download speed at all. If you experience any problems with your internet, please report them immediately to your RA or RM.

Chancellor Apartments: Wireless internet service is free of charge. To connect, the computer must have a wireless network card installed. You will be assigned a user ID and a password to connect. Contact the Resident Life Office for this information.

Telephone & Voice Mail Instructions

Shiloh Hall and Nisson Towers

To connect a phone in your room you must first follow these few simple steps:

1. Fill out a request form at the Office.
2. Pay the fee at the Cashiers Office. There is a one time non-refundable connection fee of $25 to connect the phone.
3. Bring back the paid receipt to the Office so that your connection can be paged in. The phone will be connected within 24 to 48 business hours after the paid receipt is turned in.

Your phone will allow you to make local calls only. You may make long distance calls by using a calling card, collect call, or 1-800 calls. The Resident Life lounge has a pre-paid phone card machine.

Your phone includes voice mail. To access your voice mail please follow these instructions:

1. You must first dial your phone number from your phone or any other phone.
2. When the message starts playing, hit the * key.
3. When it asks you to put in your password, the first time you access your voice mail the default password is 1234.
4. If the password does not work, contact the Office to reset your password.

Voice mail comes with the phone numbers that have been pre-assigned to the rooms. Sometimes the voice mail, when activated, is still set up with the message from a past resident. Please make sure you go in and personalize the message for your room. If you are on the phone and someone calls you they will not get a busy signal but will be sent right to your voice mail. A stuttered dial tone means you have a message in your voice mail.

Chancellor Apartments

You are responsible for your connecting your own telephone service. This telephone service can be secured through Qwest. Their phone number is 1-866-946-6381.

Prohibited Items

Shiloh Hall and Nisson Towers

With the exception of microwave ovens, there is no cooking allowed in the rooms.

The following items are not permitted:

• Hot plates or an item that uses a heating/immersion coil
• Toasters and toaster ovens
• Coffee makers
• Grills - gas, charcoal, electric (George Foreman grills)
• Rice cookers

Checking Out

Before leaving, you need to complete the following Check-Out procedures:

Standard Check-out

• Contact your RA or RM to make an appointment for checking out.
• Remove all personal articles and belongings.
• Clean room and bathroom thoroughly.
• Rooms not cleaned will be charged the appropriate fee. For a copy of these fees contact the Office.
• Have your room checked and inventoried.
• Return key and any College equipment.

Express Check-out

• Remove all personal articles and belongings.
• Clean room and bathroom thoroughly.
• Return key and any College equipment.
• Turn express check-out form into your RA or RM.
• Your room checked and inventoried after you have left. You will be responsible for any cleaning
  or damage charges assessed by the staff.
• Rooms that are not clean will be charged accordingly. For a copy of these fees contact the Office.

Unless all of these items are satisfactorily completed, a proper check-out has not been executed. Additional rent or penalties may continue to be assessed and the deposit will be forfeited.

Maintenance Requests

If something in your room or a public area in the Residential Living area needs to be repaired, notify the RMs or the Office. Maintenance personnel work Monday through Friday 7:00a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Work will be done between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. If you have an emergency after hours or on a weekend, please contact your RM immediately.

Room Checks

You are responsible to keep your living space clean. This includes the bedrooms and bathrooms in Single Student Housing, and the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, and living rooms in Family Student Housing.

Health and Safety inspections will be done in our Single Student Housing (Chancellor Apartments, Shiloh Hall and Nisson Towers) on a monthly basis. You will be notified at the beginning of each semester as to the dates these inspections will fall. Rooms & bathrooms will be inspected to make sure that they are clean, the trash emptied, and the floors vacuumed/mopped. Rooms will also be inspected for safety hazards or rule violations. After inspection, your outside door and bathroom doors will be locked, even if they were not locked when entered.

You will be notified if your room does not pass inspection. If your bathroom does not pass the monthly inspection, you will be charged a fee and the Office will hire someone to clean.

You may check out vacuum cleaners, mops, and brooms from the Office, RMs or RAs. You must show your student ID card to check out items. You must provide your own cleaning supplies.