Making Your Residence Hall Your Home

Maintenance Needs
Residents should not attempt to repair damages to their rooms or common areas of the residence halls. To report maintenance concerns or to submit routine work requests, you may contact Facilities Services through CNAV by completing a work request in "My Helpdesk." In the event of an emergency such as fire, flood, lack of electricity/water/heat/air-conditioning, overflowing toilet and sinks and lost keys, which occurs during business hours, please contact Facilities Services at 717-337-6700 (x6700). After hours, please contact the Department of Public Safety at 717-337-6911 (x6911).

Room/Apartment Condition Reports 
Please pay particular attention to the condition of your room when you move in.  Your room has been inspected by Facilities Services and was found to be in at least satisfactory condition and all furniture present.  Please visit the Facilities Services webpage and complete the Room Inventory and Condition Form (RIC) or use the link in "My Housing."

If your Room Inventory and Condition Form (RIC) is not submitted by the required date, ayou will not be eligble for the damage appeals process at the conclusion of your residency.  Any damages that occur to your room during the time of occupancy will be charged to your student account by the Facilities Services Department.  If you should have any questions as to whether or not certain items are permitted, check with your RA, RC, CA, CL or the Office of Residence Life.

Common Area Damage and Vandalism
Any repair/replacement cost due to damage to common areas such as vandalism to lounges, hallways, bathrooms, fire safety equipment or vending machines will be assessed and charged to the entire floor or hall if the responsible individual(s) cannot be determined. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their hall either by claiming damage they may have caused, encouraging other students who have caused damage to come forward, or providing information to college officials about damage and who is responsible for it. Common area damage is assessed and billed at the end of the academic year. Once this type of charge has been billed, you are not able to appeal the charges unless you are able to provide new information as to who is responsible.

Room Damage
All rooms in residence halls will be inspected at the end of academic year and when room changes are made throughout the year. The Facilities Services Department will conduct damage assessments. Damage bills will be produced based on room conditions and time spent returning the room to the status that it was found upon the student's arrival. To avoid being assessed a damage bill, please follow these guidelines:

During Academic Year: 

• Complete your Room Inventory and Condition Form within one week of arrival to your room in August. Note any and all discrepancies and inadequacies on the form, which can be found on the Facilities Services webpage or by using hte link in "My Housing."
• Report all room repairs to the Facilities Services Department throughout the year as they occur. You may do this through CNAV by completing a work request in MY Helpdesk or calling 717-337-6700 (x6700).
• Use extreme caution when hanging items in your rooms. The use of tape, tacks and nails will cause damage to the walls, resulting in possible repairing and repainting of the walls at the end of the year. We recommend the use of white Poster Putty for attaching items to the walls. This can be purchased in the College Bookstore.
• Gettysburg College furniture may not be removed from your room. Students are responsible for all furniture that is in the room upon arrival. Students will be billed for missing or disassembled furniture.

Before departing your room for the year, please complete the following:

• Clean entire room including sweeping the floor, clean Micro-Fridge, clean out drawers; Apartment residents are responsible for cleaning kitchen cabinets, appliances and bathroom to avoid a minimum cleaning fee of $50.00.
  
• Remove all trash from rooms and take to designated trash areas outside of residence halls. Leaving items in the hallway could result in a minimum $50.00 removal fee.
• Remove all non-college furniture. These items can be taken to the College-provided recycling truck or designated trash area. Leaving items in your room/bathroom/hallway could result in a minimum $50.00 removal fee.
• Reassemble all furniture that was dismantled including beds, mirrors on dressers and closet doors that were removed to avoid a minimum $100.00 per room re-setting fee.
• Return all room keys. Any student who loses his/her key after May 1, or does not return his/her prior to leaving campus will be billed for a lock change.  For the Academic year 2009-2010 the fee is $100.00 per lock.
  
• Do not move college furniture from one room to another within residence halls or from one apartment to another.  Extra furniture resulting from a vacancy in a room may  not be moved into the hallways or storage.  Missing or damaged furniture from your room could result in the following replacement fees:

Air Conditioning Requirements
If you are assigned to a non air-conditioned residence hall and are medically required to have air-conditioning, the college will provide a window unit for your room at the rate of $50 per year. Once you are approved for an air-conditioning unit from Residence Life, it is your responsibility to request the unit be installed by entering a work request in CNAV "My Helpdesk" or by calling 717-337-6700 (ext 6700). If at the end of your occupancy, the air-conditioner is not in the room a replacement fee of $200 will be charged to your student account. Privately owned air-conditioning units are not permitted in College buildings.

Room Decorating
When it comes to decorating your room, you may be as creative as you like. Posters, plants, and throw rugs are a few of the typical items used to enhance student rooms. Remember when attaching things to the walls or floors that care must be taken not to damage these surfaces with prohibited items, such as double-sided tape, tacks, nails, etc. Students will be charged for such damages. If you are uncertain as to what is permitted in the personalization of your room, ask your RC/RA/CA/CL or a professional staff member prior to initiating your idea.

Furnishings 
Rooms in residence halls and apartments are equipped with single beds, desks, dressers, closet space, window shades, mattresses, and one recycling container.  There are two types of bed sets in our residence halls; the type of beds depends on the residence hall and students are not able to request a specific type of bed.  Bunkable beds (with metal frames) allow students to stack their beds.  Loftable beds (with wooden frames) have multiple settings for the height of the bed and have an ability to place the desk and dresser underneath the bed.  Beds with metal frames can be bunked but not lofted while beds with wooden frames can be both bunked and lofted.   The additional pieces necessary to bunk or loft a bed will be available in the first floor lobbies of each residence hall on the day of move-in.   Please note that the College has a limited supply of the additional pieces to loft the wooden beds.

Residents may arrange furniture within their rooms in a reasonable and safe manner; providing that all furniture is returned to its original location when vacating the premises.  The arrangement of furniture cannot block or restrict egress from the bed/bedroom to the door.  Residence Life reserves the right to limit the number of furnishings in an individual room if the amount or location of furniture is excessive.  Furniture may not be moved from one room to another within residence halls or from one apartment to another.  Extra furniture resulting from a vacancy in a room may not be moved into the hallways or storage.  Furnishings provided for lounges, study rooms and recreation areas may not be moved into students' rooms.  The Residence Life Staff is authorized to return furniture to its proper location.  Unauthorized possession of College property could result in disciplinary actions and/or monetary fines.

Room, Restroom, Hallway and Lounge Cleaning
Each resident is responsible for keeping his/her room in a reasonably neat and clean condition at all times. Students will need to supply their own cleaning supplies. Trash must be taken to the appropriate receptacles and recycling to the recycling bins. At no time should a student place their room trash in the hallway or in a community bathroom. Any trash left outside a student room will be subject to disciplinary action including fines. Students who violate these policies create a hazardous living environment and may be relocated to new housing.

Community bathrooms, including showers, in our traditional halls (Rice, Stine, Paul, Musselman, Stevens, Hanson, Patrick and Huber) and many Theme Houses, are thoroughly cleaned each week. If you are living in a room/apartment with a private bathroom, Gettysburg College will clean these bathrooms between the Fall and Spring semester. Otherwise, it is the responsibility of the residents to clean and maintain private bathrooms.

Hallways, stairways, study rooms, and other public areas are to be cleaned weekly. However, common areas within suites, apartments and some theme housing buildings are the responsibility of the residents.

Expectations
Residents are expected to do the following: 

• Empty full and/or foul smelling wastebaskets and sweep dirt into appropriate receptacles
• Participate in recycling efforts by placing materials in appropriate receptacles
• Clean own room and its furnishings
• Upon vacating room for overnight or longer; close and lock windows, hook screens, unplug appliances, turn off lights, remove trash and lock door
• Turn off lights and fans in shower rooms when shower is not in use
• Avoid excessive use of hot water and excessive steaming in bathrooms which set off smoke detectors
• Clean up kitchen facilities after each use, as well as private bathrooms
• Contain all noise inside your room during courtesy and quiet hours (TV, Stereo, etc.)
• Avoid any wall or ceiling fasteners that may cause room damage
• Always keep room door locked when you are not present in the room or when you are asleep in your room