Roommates talking in their dorm room. In August, 2011 Residence Life enacted new rules regarding overnight guests and Welcome Week. The rules were met with a resolution from SGA.

Residence Life implemented significant changes to the overnight guest policy which provoked a resolution from the Student Government Association.

The change in guest policy started with a ban on overnight guests, including other Central Michigan University students, during Welcome Week.

The new protocol required a form to be submitted by students who wanted to host guests once weekday overnight guests were allowed after Aug. 26. The policy requires students to submit a request form that must be signed by all roommates in the room, the resident assistant and the residence hall director 48 hours before the visit.

Under the old policy, non-student guests had to sign in at the front desk and register their vehicles with the CMU Police while other CMU students were allowed entry with a student ID.

This is the first time CMU has implemented either policy, and Joan Schmidt, associate director of Residence Life, said it stems from problems during the 2010-11 school year.

“Last year was just awful — we start so much earlier than other schools,” Schmidt said.

The ban includes those who go to CMU living in another hall or off campus.

She said the new Welcome Week policy was implemented to help students bond with new roommates, instead of old friends from home.

“This is the optimum time for students to get to know their roommates and to start a good academic year,” Schmidt said.

The purpose of the new weekday policy is to encourage students to study and focus on classes.

The weekday overnight guest policy was met with a SGA resolution in oppositon passed Nov. 21.

SGA Sen. Stephanie Jaczkowski introduced and received approval for a resolution opposing the policy.

The Clinton Township senior cited numerous reasons for SGA’s opposition, including that students are basically leasers of the university and should have the right to invite guests as they choose, that students should be allowed to decided their own guest policies in their roommate agreements and that student safety was not listed as one of the reasons for the policy change.

“Last year, a growing issue for students was having people stay in their room night after night,” said Tricia Henry, a Woldt resident assistant and Illinois junior. “The policy is supposed to make dorm rooms easier to study in.”

Sean Kolhoff, an SGA senator and Mount Pleasant junior, said he believes the policy will hurt students going through unique situations and who need the flexibility to stay on campus.

“It would have been impossible for me to make it to all my classes last year if I couldn’t sleep in my friend’s room,” Kolhoff said.

Jaczkowski said SGA’s ultimate goal is the repeal of the guest policy she considers unnecessarily restrictive.

“Now that the resolution has passed, we can start coordinating meetings or other forums with the student body in order to address the issues,” said Colleen McNeely, SGA vice president and Brighton senior.

While the resolution’s idealized outcome is a good one, the logic behind it is flawed. The resolution hinges on premises that “leasers [sic] have the right to invite guests into their residences whenever they so choose,” that the “implementation of this policy extremely lacks transparency that should be afforded to students who pay rent,” and that “more freedom would encourage students to act as adults and be responsible for themselves and their guests.” Furthermore, the resolution points out that nowhere in the implementation of the policy was student safety cited as a reason for the policy.

The problem with the resolution is that in the Residence Hall agreement, the “lease,” the policy that RHD approval must be received is clearly stated. The policy is on the Residence Life website and should have been thoroughly read when students signed their housing agreements. As lessees, students agree to abide by these rules, and if they do not like the rules, then they should not live on campus.

That being said, the office of Residence Life needs to examine what this policy has accomplished. In the past, overnight guests were required to sign in upon entering the dorm after a certain time, giving the university a record of who was staying where, adding a security blanket in case something were to happen. The university would know who was staying where, and individuals who acted inappropriately while staying overnight could be dealt with.

Under the new policy, students are more likely to circumvent the process as long as they know their roommates will not object, and most roommates on campus will not. This means that students are now having guests stay overnight with no record of who is staying where, causing potential headaches for Central Michigan University police and administrative officials in the event of a problem.

In talking with several students who live in dorms, this has been confirmed. Their roommates do not care if they have a friend spend the night, and instead of going through the trouble of filing paperwork, it is easier to just sneak someone into their room.

I genuinely believe that the Office of Residence Life had students’ best interest at heart when implementing this policy, but it appears that the ramifications of the policy were poorly thought through.

While the university has the right as a lessor to place this policy in the housing agreement, it is in both the university’s and the students’ best interest to go back to the policy that was previously in place.

Editor’s note: Nathan Inks is the president of the College Republicans.

SGA approved a resolution against the policy Nov. 21, citing it wants students to be able to bypass submitting paperwork to have overnight guests during the week.

The policy, new for the 2011-12 school year, requires students to submit a request form that must be signed by all roommates in the room, the resident assistant and the residence hall director 48 hours before the visit in order for the guest to be allowed.

The policy treats outside visitors and other Central Michigan University students the same. This is different from last year’s Residence Life overnight guest policy that only required guests to check in at the front desk of residence halls.

SGA Sen. Stephanie Jaczkowski introduced and received approval for a resolution opposing the policy.

The Clinton Township senior cited numerous reasons for SGA’s opposition, including that students are basically leasers of the university and should have the right to invite guests as they choose, that students should be allowed to decided their own guest policies in their roommate agreements and that student safety was not listed as one of the reasons for the policy change.

“Last year, a growing issue for students was having people stay in their room night after night,” said Tricia Henry, a Woldt resident assistant and Illinois junior. “The policy is supposed to make dorm rooms easier to study in.”

Sean Kolhoff, an SGA senator and Mount Pleasant sophomore, said he believes the policy will hurt students going through unique situations and who need the flexibility to stay on campus.

“It would have been impossible for me to make it to all my classes last year if I couldn’t sleep in my friend’s room,” Kolhoff said.

Jaczkowski said SGA’s ultimate goal is the repeal of the guest policy she considers unnecessarily restrictive.

“Now that the resolution has passed we can start coordinating meetings or other forums with the student body in order to address the issues,” said Colleen McNeely, SGA vice president and a Brighton junior.

It had previously received 2.5 stars when the survey was taken in 2008.

“This puts us right up there with other schools in our conference,” said Shannon Jolliff, director of LGBTQ Services.

Since 2008, several changes were made which improved the score. Joliff was hired as a full-time director to the LGBTQ office in 2008, Residence Life adopted a gender-neutral housing option, and gender identity/gender expression was adopted into the university’s non-discrimination policy.

“We are really happy that the new score now accurately reflects the changes we’ve made on campus since we were first scored,” said Justin Gawronski, President of Spectrum, formerly the Gay Straight Alliance on campus.

This rating puts the university on the same level as Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University and Grand Valley State University.

The only university within the state with a higher rating is the University of Michigan — one of 33 schools in the country that Campus Pride awarded five stars.

Michigan State University has not taken the survey.

“I think if we could make a few changes, like do more outreach in high schools, our rating would increase,” Jolliff said.

She said an official gender-neutral housing program would also improve the score, which GVSU recently approved.

There was a proposal for gender-neutral housing written last year to Residence Life but was denied, before being passed on for a decision from the Student Government Association.

“The proposal has been written, the talks have been made, it’s up to the students now,” Jolliff said.

For now, she said she plans to focus more on retention efforts and recruitment of LGBTQ community members.

Kylee Meade, Roseville senior and president of Transcend, an RSO which strives for more transgender education and offers a safe haven where transgender people on campus can come to be themselves, notices the effort on the university’s part.

“I think it’s a great score and I think it’s much more appropriate,” Meade said. “I haven’t received any outward adversity.”

Along with Meade, Illinois junior MyAngela Jenkins said she has not witnessed any hostility on campus toward LGBTQ students either.

“I’m proud of Central,” Jenkins said. “I’m glad this is a college that is open and accepting.”

The survey was created in 2007 and at the time, only had 30 colleges participating. Now it has more than 300 participating.

The survey contains 55 questions regarding the types of services and rights a campus has to offer LGBTQ students. It includes categories of housing, campus safety, support and institutional commitment.

CMU’s lowest score came from housing and residence life, which earned three out of five stars. Everything else was fine, Jolliff said.

“At the same time we can’t stop working,” Jolliff said. “There is always progress to be made.”

“It was completely the president’s idea,” said Joan Schmidt, associate vice president of Residence Life. “He contacted us to see if we could set up dates and times and spread the word.”

The first of four dinners this semester was held Oct. 3 in the Towers Residence Hall’s’ Real Food on Campus. The next dinner will be at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in Merrill Residential Restaurant. There will also be dinners at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 at Fresh Food Co. and 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Robinson Residential Restaurant.

There is no official registration required to attend one of the dinners, Schmidt said.

“At the Oct. 3 dinner in the Towers, there were about 20 students and they rotated seats every so often so each student got an opportunity to speak to the president,” she said.

Illinois freshman Ophelia Swanson sees the dinners as Ross’s attempt to communicate with students and prove he truly cares.

“It’s a good idea that he’s trying to get more involved with students,” she said. “He’s probably trying to give himself a better reputation and get in a better light with the students and show that he really does care despite what’s been going on with the faculty.”

Some students are weary of attending the dinners because of the ongoing contract dispute between the university and the Faculty Association.

“I don’t particularly like the situation that’s going on between the teachers and the president, and I think going to eat with him might end up in a bad discussion,” said Capac freshman Shannon Draper. “I probably wouldn’t make an effort to be involved in the conversation at all.”

At 7 p.m. in the Bovee University Center Rotunda, all residence halls will have booths set up with posters and flyers with information about each hall. This will provide prospective candidates a feel for which hall they want to be a part of next year.

Sara Olsztyn, Wheeler Hall’s residence hall director, explained how the process works after students check out the booths.

“The students then are split into small groups where they can talk to a panel of staff members and ask more questions,” she said. “Also, during PSN there is a panel of RHDs who are able to talk about their area on campus and answer questions.”

Sadie Quinlan, a Midland sophomore and current Wheeler second floor RA, said she attended a PSN last year.

“I had an idea of which halls I wanted to work for, but it was a good idea to go there to make an educated decision,” she said. “It’s good to get more information to see if it’s the right program for you, and to see if it aligns with your passions in life.”

Interested students can visit the Residence Life website for more information on the RA and MA programs and the PSNs.

The site includes questionnaires and job descriptions, as well as a timeline of application dates and more information nights. The other Prospective Staff Nights will take place Nov. 20 and Jan. 11.

If a resident is 21 or older, they are allowed to drink unless they are in a room that is not theirs with minors, said Calkins Hall Residence Hall Director Warner.

In the event of an alcohol bust, the RA staff collects information on people in the room and hands it over to the RHD, who then turns the information to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities to pass judgment, she said.

“We certainly don’t go looking for trouble,” Warner said. “But if a room draws attention to itself, we have to check it out.”

If the room is being noisy or a roommate or someone else raises a concern, the staff has an ethical obligation to follow up.

Warner said alcohol incidents in her hall are rare.

“In any given year, I may have half a dozen alcohol situations,” she said. “If people have been consuming though, we want them to come back so we know they’re safe.”

A former RA who wished to remain anonymous, but will be referred to as Richard, said he agreed with Warner.

“If you’re in your room drinking and you’re quiet, we’ll probably never know, unless we smell alcohol or if a roommate says something,” he said.

Richard said students who have been drinking should be encouraged to come back to the halls, even if intoxicated.

“You should not be afraid to come back to your home just because you feel that you’re going to get in trouble or be reprimanded,” he said. “I want my residents home safe, not staying in a random apartment because they’re afraid to face me.”

But Richard said the policy bothered him.

“The policy is if there’s alcohol in the room, everybody there gets included in the report,” he said. “RAs go in and report the situation and the RHD makes the decision on what to do. I just don’t like the idea that everybody could get in trouble for it. You’ll get roommates that you don’t really know and that are pushy and stubborn, and for some people alcohol is uncomfortable. And to have a roommate that won’t get rid of it is not cool.”

Richard said that kind of situation puts the resident in a tight spot because they are uncomfortable, but do not want to get their roommates in trouble.

“One of the things I always hated about busting rooms was if one of the roommates wasn’t doing anything,” he said. “Sometimes they would be in their rooms alone on Facebook or reading, and I would have to include them in the report anyway.”

However, Warner said the OSRR can choose to find people not guilty.

“So, the policy isn’t technically that everyone gets into trouble,” she said.

A CMU sophomore, who lives in the dorms and asked to be called Lisa, had a close encounter with getting a violation this semester. She said her RA did her a favor by not writing her up.

“I’m on scholarship, so that’s why I live in the dorms, but if I get written up more than once I could lose it,” she said. “If my parents would have found out, I would have been in huge trouble. They pay for my schooling, so without them I would be screwed.”

Lisa said her RA gave her a major warning.

“She wants us to want to be here,” Lisa said. “She told us we can go out and drink and come back and be safe, but we can’t do it in the dorms. She told us we should have gotten in trouble, but I’m really glad we didn’t. Now we have to be good because we know we’re being watched.”

“Interacting with people is the biggest thing,” said Rockford sophomore Ryan Darby, a desk associate in the Towers. ”Just helping people, and being comfortable with conversations.”

Sault Ste. Marie sophomore, Nicholas Modglin, laughs while telling Livonia senior deskie, Sarah Bartosik, a story about working at the desk, Tuesday afternoon. "This is my first job" said Modglin, "It is really nice to meet lots of different people." (Charlotte Bodak/Staff Photographer)

It is the job of “deskies,” as they are commonly known, to provide services to the residents in their halls, but also to assist them in getting information about the residence halls and the university at large.

“Our main thing is customer service,” said Towers Desk Manager Amanda Johnson, a Warren junior. “We get questions, ‘Hey, can you help me with this homework?’ We get lots of crazy questions.”

Johnson said although most of their work is customer service, sometimes it is also parental assurance.

She said the parents of residents will often call to ask questions, asking for confirmation their child is behaving and going to classes.

“They’ll call and check up on their children,” Johnson said. “I had to tell someone, ‘No, your son is in the building. He’s standing right here.’”

Dillon Stanco, a Romeo junior, said he took a job as a desk associate at Saxe/Herrig/Celani for several reasons, ranging from convenience to future opportunities.

“I applied to be a (resident assistant), and if you’ve already been a desk worker, it looks a little better,” Stanco said. “Also, I like living on campus. I like not having to walk or drive to go to work.”

Stanco, a disc jockey and PSA director at Modern Rock 91.5, said while working late-night and early-morning shifts is difficult, it allows him to do some man-on-the-street publicity for the student-run radio station.

“All the customer service experience I’ve had helps me talk to everybody,” he said. “And I cheaply plug Modern Rock constantly while I’m working.”

Stanco said unless a Detroit Lions game is on while he is working at the desk, the radio dial is always tuned to the station of his other on-campus job.

Johnson said odd situations come up sometimes while working the night shift, but she tries to take them in stride.

“I was new, didn’t know what to do, and a guy all the way from Thorpe (Hall) came in taped to a bed,” Johnson said. “He was sober and he had his ID, he was just taped to a bed. About 10, 15, guys were carrying him up to Wheeler (Hall).”

Johnson said while she allowed the resident in since he had is ID, resident assistants quickly saw and reprimanded the resident taped to the bed and those carrying him.

She is now in charge of training desk associates for the Towers, and said doing so helps with her career aspirations of becoming a teacher.

“It’s interesting, trying to come up with different ways to get people to retain information,” Johnson said. “This job definitely prepares you to deal with all sorts of personalities.”

Residence Life officials said overnight guests will not be allowed to stay in residence halls until Friday and weekday guests will now need written approval 48 hours before their guest arrives.

Rather than accompanying students on their adjustment from high school to college, these strict guidelines are prohibiting them from experiencing the most basic transition of all — socializing with new people.

Associate Director of Residence Life Joan Schmidt cited the large population of freshmen last year and the amount of guests who visited them as one of the reasons for the implementation of the new rules.

Schmidt also said the Welcome Week policy of not allowing guests was created to encourage students to bond with new roommates rather than spend time with friends from home.

Last year there were 175 rooms housing five students, meanwhile this year no rooms have those issues. Residence Life is punishing this year’s students from internal faults last year.

Most other universities start classes later, so making the trip to CMU for Welcome Weekend is clearly a top choice when these people are forming weekend plans, therefore adding to the amount of residence hall visitors in recent years.

Students are not the determiners for when classes begin. That is administration’s job — so why are students being punished?

Freshmen students are required to live in residence halls unless their home is within 60 miles of campus. Students upset with these new rules are forced to abide by them because of the 60-mile rule.

With the 2011-2012 standard room and board with the lowest meal plan running at $6,688 per year, that’s more than $600 per month for a typical student staying 10 months. When compared to other apartments this price is ridiculous.

Students not only have the right to determine which friends they will spend time with (whether they are CMU students or friends from home), but they can decide when and where to see them.

Officials said this ban includes students who attend CMU living in another residence hall, and also those students who live off campus. How is this encouraging those living in residence halls to befriend other CMU students when the ban directly prohibits such from happening?

While fostering healthy relationships between roommates is an admirable goal, paying customers should be able to decide who they want to spend their time with.

Residence Life has become the policy creator, with residence hall directors acting as parents, and resident assistants working as babysitters. This is hardly the college experience and freedom high school seniors picture for their first year of college.

Rather than respecting residents as adults who need guidance and support in transitioning into the college lifestyle, Residence Life has increasingly decided that freshmen need to have most decisions made for them.