Facilities

Housekeeping and Cleanliness

Each resident is responsible for keeping their 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 conduct action, including clean-up fees. Students who violate these policies create a hazardous living environment and may be relocated to new housing.

Community bathrooms, including showers, in traditional-style halls (Hanson, Huber, Musselman, Patrick, Paul, Rice, Stevens, and Stine) and College Houses are cleaned by College Housekeeping Services. Students living in a room, suite, or apartment with a private bathroom are expected to clean and maintain these spaces.

Hallways, stairways, study rooms, and other public areas are cleaned by housekeeping staff on scheduled days. Common areas within suites and apartments are the responsibility of the residents.

Furnishings

Residential rooms are equipped with single beds, desks, desk chairs, dressers, book shelves, closet space, window shades, mattresses, and trash and recycling containers. Residents may arrange furniture within their rooms in a reasonable and safe manner; providing that all furniture is returned to its original location when the space is vacated. The arrangement of furniture cannot block or restrict egress from the bed/bedroom to the door. College staff 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. Unused furniture resulting from a vacancy in a room may not be moved into the hallways, common areas or storage. Furnishings provided for lounges, study rooms, and recreation areas may not be moved into students' rooms. College staff are authorized to return furniture to its proper location. Unauthorized possession of College property could result in conduct action.

When vacating a room, remove all non-College furniture. Failure to do so will result in a removal fee.

Maintenance Needs

Residents should not attempt to repair damages in 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 their online reporting system which can be found on the student landing page of the College website (“Facilities Helpdesk”). During business hours, in the event of an emergency such as fire, flood, lack of electricity/water/heat/air-conditioning, overflowing toilets/sinks, and lost keys, please contact Facilities Services at 717-337-6700. After hours, please contact Campus Safety at 717-337-6911.

Room/Apartment Condition Reports

Pay particular attention to the condition of your room when you move in. When students first arrive on campus, they are asked to fill out an online Room Inventory and Condition (RIC) Form within the first week of moving into their space. The link to the RIC can be found online in “My Housing Self-Service.” Students are responsible for listing a furniture inventory and all damages that are found in the space. Students may be held accountable for damages and/or missing furniture that they do not list. It is important that students thoroughly check all areas of the room/suite/apartment (including common areas in suites and apartments) to avoid charges at the end of the year.

If the Room Inventory and Condition (RIC) Form is not submitted before the end of the first week of classes of the semester that you move into your housing, students will not be eligible for the damage appeals process at the conclusion of residency. Any damages that occur to the room during occupancy will be charged to the student’s account by Facilities Services.

Keys and Lockouts

Any student who is locked out of their room may call Campus Safety and request to be let back into their room. The following instructions and expectations apply:

The student should call Campus Safety at 717-337-6911 and let the dispatcher know that they have locked themselves out of their room. The student should tell the dispatcher their name, residence hall, room number, and current location.
An officer will be dispatched to the student’s room to admit them as soon as they are able. Lock-out responses will be prioritized based on other community needs and could result in significant delays.
Once admitted, the student will be required to show the officer their room key and ID. Failure to show your room key will result in an automatic lock change at the student’s expense. See “Lost (and Unreturned) Keys)."
The first three times that Campus Safety admits a student to their assigned residential space due to a lock-out will be free of charge. After three lock-outs, the student will be billed $25 for each additional lock-out.

Lost (and Unreturned) Keys

If you lose or break your key during business hours, you must contact Facilities Services at 717-337-6700. After normal business hours and during weekends, you should contact Campus Safety at 717-337-6911. Until your lock is changed, you may borrow the “bar key” from Campus Safety. Once your lock is changed, you will find a notice on your door. The notice will direct you to Campus Safety to pick up your new key. Your roommates will also need to go to Campus Safety to pick up their new keys. In order to pick up your new keys, you will have to return the “bar key,” and your roommates will have to return their “old” keys.

A student’s first lost key will result in a charge of $150, second lost key is a charge of $250, and third or more lost keys is a charge of $350 each per key. These charges also apply when a key is not returned by a student when changing rooms or moving out of the residence halls. This includes students who withdraw or take a leave of absence at any time during or at the end of a semester. Lost key charges are billed automatically to student accounts.

Room Decorating

When it comes to decorating rooms, students may be as creative as they would 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. Students will be charged for such damages. If a student is uncertain as to what is permitted in the personalization of their room, they can ask their student or professional staff member prior to initiating decorating.

Room Damage

All rooms in residence halls will be inspected at the end of the academic year. This inspection includes a thorough check of every area of the space, including bedrooms and common areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Damage bills will be produced based on room conditions, estimates for materials, and time spent returning the room to the status that it was found upon the student's arrival (move-in condition).

Common Area Damage and Vandalism

Any repair and/or replacement costs due to damage and/or vandalism to common areas such as 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. Damages to common areas of suites/apartments will charged to all students of the suite/apartment unless a student accepts individual responsibility for the damages.

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 students will be billed accordingly. 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.

Contesting Damage Charges

Students will be notified via email after damage charges have been added to student accounts. If a student wants to contest a charge with Facilities Services, they may do so by following the instructions in the email. Facilities Services personnel will review each appeal. Appeals are only considered if the student who is submitting the appeal completed a Room Inventory and Condition (RIC) Form at the beginning of their residency in this particular location.

Gettysburg College Facilities Services personnel are solely responsible for the completion of any repairs and therefore have complete authority to choose qualified contractors and representative building materials to complete the repairs. Repairs are to be conducted by College contractors or staff only. Anyone attempting unauthorized repairs of residential space will be charged the full cost of replacement or repair of the item(s) in question, regardless of the progress of the undertaking.

Air Conditioning Requirements

For students who are assigned to a non-air-conditioned residence hall and are approved through the disabilities accommodation process to have air-conditioning, the College will provide a window unit for their room. If at the end of the student’s occupancy the air-conditioner is not in the room, a replacement fee will be charged to the student's account. Privately-owned air-conditioning units are not permitted in College buildings.