Rooms

HMC

Home > Administrative Offices > Dean of Students > Student Handbook > Housing and Residential Life > Rooms

Air Conditioning
Atwood, Case, East, Linde, Sontag, South and West Residence Halls are air conditioned. The use of personal air conditioners in North is allowed if the air conditioner is in good working order, connected to a power strip and securely mounted in the window. The maximum size of the opening in the windows in North is 23 inches in height and 28 inches in width. In the interest of sustainability, please use Energy Star units.

Appliances
Hot plates, hot pots and space heaters are not permitted due to their open coils and the fire hazard if left on and unattended. Refrigerators and microwaves are permitted if U.L. approved and in good condition. Refrigerators should be dorm-room sized and Energy Star-certified. Residents should use power strips equipped with circuit breakers, rather than extension cords or “octopus” plugs. Extension cords are not allowed by order of the Los Angeles Fire Department. See further dorm furnishing regulations and suggestions at www.hmc.edu/studentlife1/studentservices1/orientation1/packet41/dormfaqs.html.

Cable Television
Basic cable television service is provided free by Comcast in one lounge of each residence hall (except Atwood and Case). Dormitory lounge cable television converter boxes are kept by F&M; they can be picked up from the F&M office Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The dormitory president must sign out the converter box at the beginning of the academic year and return it at the close of the year. Loss or damage to the unit will result in the dorm being assessed charges for replacement. If the lounge service needs repair, call Comcast’s corporate account line at 888/872-2189. Tell them you’re under the Harvey Mudd College account and identify your dorm. They will likely need the street address of the dorm. These are available at www.hmc.edu/campusmap/.

If you want to purchase cable television, contact Comcast at 909/624-5566 to arrange an account. You should be sure to cancel the cable television service at the close of the academic year to prevent continuous charges. Unauthorized cable television is a violation of FCC Code. No rooftop aerials or satellite dishes are allowed at this time.

Cleaning
The building attendants sanitize dorm bathrooms on a weekly basis and clean rooms on a biweekly basis. Building attendants will vacuum the floors and dust furniture if possessions are picked up and the desk and dresser tops cleared off. Building attendants are not permitted to make beds, fold clothing or launder personal items. Arrangements can be made with Student Health Services if any student needs biohazardous medical disposal. Students who need to dispose of needles should contact Student Health Services about getting and disposing of their “sharps” containers. Building attendants are also instructed to lock the doors of rooms they have entered.

Excessive Cleaning Policy
(Approved by DAC, DOS and F&M on May 2, 2003
Revised and approved by DAC, DOS and F&M on November 10, 2006)

Students are expected to clean up after their use of public areas of dorms 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.

If a party is held on campus on a weekday night, we all agree that the party needs to be cleaned up by the following morning. If the party is over a weekend, it is understood that the area will be cleaned by the following Monday morning. There will be no need for a warning e-mail as detailed below. The area will be cleaned by the following Monday morning.

The Facilities and Maintenance Office (F&M) shall, upon observation of an area in need of excessive clean up, notify all residents of the dorm where the clean-up is needed by way of the dorm e-mail list. This procedure allows residents of the dorm an opportunity to take responsibility for the cleaning and to avoid additional cleaning charges. The e-mail must allow students 24 hours to clean the area. 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 promptly.

After 24 hours, F&M will determine if the area is sufficiently cleaned. If it is not, a building attendant(s) will be asked to stay overtime to complete the clean up. This overtime cost and any necessary supplies will be charged to the dorm.

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 dorm. Cleaning that requires specialized equipment (e.g. sticky floors) will be done for no charge by F&M, if residents of the dorm 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 dorm 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 dormitory presidents shall, upon receiving the e-mail from F&M, attempt to determine the responsible person(s) and shall report their findings to F&M via facilities@hmc.edu.

The dormitory presidents shall have two weeks to complete the investigation and report their findings. F&M will notify the Office of Student Accounts to charge the responsible person(s). If no responsible person is determined, the charges will be distributed equally among the dormitory residents. These charges will be deducted from the $150 damage deposit that serves as the deposit to enter room draw. Any disputes regarding excessive clean up charges, once placed on student accounts, must be pursued through the Student Accounts Manager.

Payment for individual charges can be made via check, made payable to Harvey Mudd College, and delivered to Student Accounts within the two-week time frame allotted. Charges having been placed through the Student Accounts Manager shall be cleared through that office.

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

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

Couches
Many residents bring or purchase couches for their rooms and outdoors (please refer to the outdoor furniture policy in the Dorms section). According to the Los Angeles County Fire Inspector, couches must be in good condition (no rips in fabric) so as not to accelerate burning in case of fire. Also, residents must remove their couches from their rooms, suites and lounges at the end of the academic year, unless they are staying as summer residents.

All non-college furniture left unclaimed at the end of the year will be discarded, unless tagged and stored according to regulations established by F&M and DAC.

Damage Deposits
Your $150 housing deposit serves as a damage deposit. New students pay the deposit the summer before they enter HMC. Continuing students pay the deposit by the beginning of March to be eligible to enter room draw for the following year. When a charge is billed to your student account, it is deducted from the deposit. You are then billed to bring the deposit back up to $150. After end of the year charges are deducted in June, the remainder of the deposit is refunded to you in July.

Room Condition Reports
Residents will have a room condition report completed by F&M for their room. You should carefully check the form to be sure it is accurate and add any changes. When F&M goes through rooms at the end of the year to assess damages, they will check the room condition report to see if a damage was reported when the student moved into the room. If it is, then a charge will likely not be deducted from the damage deposit. It is worthwhile to put as much detail as you can into the form. If you do not sign or return a form, you must accept the damage charges assessed after you move out.

Furniture
Residence hall furniture provided by the college consists of a bed, mattress, desk, desk chair, dresser and window draperies for each resident. Suite furniture varies by building. F&M will inventory all furniture and draperies to insure that they are in good condition at the close of each academic year. Residents are responsible for maintaining the good appearance and function of their dormitory furnishings. While normal wear is expected, excessive damage and vandalism will be charged to the resident(s) on a prorated basis. Residents should contact F&M if their furniture is unsafe or damaged.

The furniture placed in each student room is intended to stay there throughout the year. Residents may choose to store unnecessary college furniture in the storage area provided in their dorm. Residents must clearly identify stored items with temporary tape and assume the responsibility of returning these items prior to vacating their room. Failure to return the furniture may result in charges. Residents assume all risk associated with storing college furniture and financial liability for replacement. Should loss or damage occur, residents will be billed on a prorated basis for replacement.

Keys, Card Readers and ID Cards
F&M will issue each resident a key to their room at the beginning of the year. Residents of rooms that open directly to the exterior of the dorm (East, North, West, Atwood efficiencies and column doubles and Linde and Sontag apartments) are required to return keys to F&M at the beginning of Winter Break and the end of the academic year. The campus is completely closed to students living on campus during Winter Break (except authorized intercollegiate athletes and a few others returning early). Since these rooms have direct access to the outdoors, the return of keys is necessary to insure the security of everyone’s possessions during break. Failure to return dorm keys will result in the resident being charged for the re-key of their room. The charge is $75 per missing key issued to the resident. For the safety of each resident, no exceptions will be made.

You should carry your keys with you at all times and report lost or stolen keys immediately to F&M. These keys may not be copied or transferred. Proctors have master keys to all dorm rooms in case of accidental lockouts or for emergencies. Summer residents are subject to the same regulations as during the regular academic year.

Card readers have been installed on a door in each suite and the Case entrances. These provide greater security for student living areas, along with 24-hour access to dorm common areas, the Linde Activity Center computer room, the Platt Campus Center, and the academic complex (via Parsons and Keck doors). Swipe authorization is coded on your student ID card, along with your dining plan and library access. The default is that only students living behind a door will be initially coded with access to that space. If you want to allow other students access to your suite, see www.hmc.edu/studentlife1/housing1/resources1/swipecard.html for how to add access for them.

If you lose your ID card, let F&M know as soon as possible. Your ID card will then be deactivated. You’ll then need to get a new ID card from the Claremont Card Center in the basement of the McAlister Center. The cost to replace an ID card is $10. The new card must be brought back to F&M to be re-encoded for housing access. If your ID card is damaged, you may take the pieces to the Card Center and get a new ID for free.

Lofts
Lofted beds are allowed as long as they are stable and freestanding. Mounting or drilling support holes in walls or cinderblock is not allowed. Residents must completely disassemble and store their lofts at the end of the school year whether or not they are returning to the same room the following year. Lofts remaining in rooms, hallways or lounges will be discarded and/or a fee charged to remove them.

Painting
The college’s goal is to provide each resident with clean, unblemished walls. Painting rooms is strictly prohibited. Any resident found painting her/his walls will assume full financial responsibility for the college returning the room to its original state. No chalk or other penetrating substance is allowed to remain on any interior or exterior walls after a time approved by F&M. Should this occur, the college will charge the resident or dorm the cost of returning the area to its original, unblemished state.

Room Charge Appeal Policy
(Approved by DAC, DOS and F&M on September 16, 2005
Changes approved by DAC, DOS and F&M on October 6, 2006)

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 an 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 Dormitory Affairs Committee (DAC) via the DAC chair. The DAC will hear the appeal and will issue a recommendation to F&M. F&M will take the DAC’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 DAC 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 DAC. A charge to the dorm of $100 or more may be appealed to the DAC by only the dorm president, who will have no vote in the recommendation issued to F&M by the DAC.

Telephones
Each room has an active telephone port, but students must bring their own phones. Local calls are made by dialing “9” before the number to get an external dial tone. Long distance calls can be made with a calling card (available from any long distance company) from any campus extension. All campus rooms are direct inward dial. People outside The Claremont Colleges must dial the student’s individual number. On-campus calls are made by dialing the five-digit extension. This extension is the last five digits of the direct inward dial number and distinguished by an “x” before the number. Voice mail, call forwarding and call waiting are available and may be obtained by contacting the Telephone Office at x72148.

Most students bring cell phones with them to HMC. If you bring a cell phone and decide not to install a phone in your room, please allow the college to use your cell phone as a contact number for you when on campus. That information will be collected on the Biographical Information Sheet distributed by the Registrar’s Office each fall and collected at Financial Registration.

Wall Hangings
Residents are encouraged to use non-damaging wall-hanging devices, i.e. Poster Mounts or non-abrasive putty. Poster Mounts are available for free from proctors and F&M. Nails are not permitted. Residents are liable for damages caused to walls, i.e. chipped or discolored paint or holes in the walls. Duct taping things to walls will cause damage requiring repair charges. Also, for fire safety, flammable cloth should not be hung over the center of a ceiling where it can light and fall on people. Similarly, cloth or other flammable materials should not be hung near lights, heat or spark sources.

Work Orders
During the day, residents may report a facility problem to their building attendant. If the repair requires immediate attention (i.e. overflowing toilet), call the F&M Office directly at x18226. If a resident wants to report a problem directly to F&M, he/she may complete a work order. See www.hmc.edu/about/administrativeoffices/fm1/hmconly/workorders.html for work order instructions.

The system will generate an automatic copy of your work order for tracking purposes and reply via e-mail to your account. Using this system will allow you to track the progress of your work order. At any time you may check the status of your work order by supplying the ID number provided.