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.

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

The Facilities and Maintenance Office (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 dorm e-mail list before noon informing that a cleanup must occur.
• The dorm has until 4:00 PM the same day to accept or deny responsibility.
• The dorm may only deny responsbility if no one in the dorm claims responsibility.
• If the dorm accepts responsibility, it is the duty of the dorm to clean the area before the next business day. Otherwise, dorm attendant will be asked to stay overtime to perform the necessary cleaning. Overtime charges and any necessary supplies will be charged to the dorm.
• If the dorm denies responsibility, dorm 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 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 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 dormitory 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 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.

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

Approved by DAC 10/30/09