/Institutions/Olin-College-of-Engineering/json/2024-25/Student-Handbook-local.json

/Institutions/Olin-College-of-Engineering/json/2024-25/Student-Handbook.json

Student Handbook 2024-25 > Student Affairs and Resources > Residence Life > Living With Others

Living With Others

At its core, living in college residence halls is a fundamentally different experience than living in single family homes or apartments.  Due to the high density of people sharing a space, it is important to establish community standards and practices that best support a successful living environment for everyone within the residence halls.  Early in the year, your R2 will work with your floor to establish community standards you all share.  This section outlines long-standing community standards and policies set to support the overall residential experience at the College.

Noise 

By their nature residence halls are noisy places due to the density of residents.  All students are expected to show courtesy and consideration for other residents. Residents should feel welcome to ask neighbors to turn down stereos, musical instruments, televisions, etc. and residents should respect these requests at all hours.  Amplified music must be off by 1:00AM daily.  At the start of each year, hall, floor or wing communities may decide to set quiet hours to establish a shared community standard in how the individuals within the area define reasonable times to be noisy.  

Campus Operations works to avoid loud work from maintenance and landscaping around the residence halls from 7PM-9AM except when necessary to start work earlier in the day.  The Needham community has defined limitations on noise impacting neighbors - noise that extends beyond the property line, shall be limited to the hours of 7AM to 8PM.

Resident Resources (R2)

R2s are student leaders who have been selected to serve as leaders for each floor community.  The R2’s primary responsibility is to support the individual, personal, social, and academic needs of students at Olin. In addition, R2s act on a commitment to diversity and pluralism by providing leadership within the residence halls to facilitate the development of community while supporting residents as described below:
• Supports and assists other R2s in evaluating or handling student issues through an on-call rotation for Olin students to seek around the clock assistance.
• Makes referrals to the appropriate person or office, if the student problem appears too severe for R2s to handle effectively, especially with issues such as depression, suicide, eating disorders, etc.
• Facilitates the resolution of conflicts and problems when they arise in the residence halls.

Social Gatherings & Parties

Residence Life encourages safe social gatherings within the residence halls. Social gatherings are defined as anytime students seek to exceed the recommended occupancy of their room or suite.  Social gatherings and any parties or events with alcoholic beverages must be registered with Residence Life. Larger gatherings may require staff and/or Babson College Public Safety coverage at a cost to the event sponsor(s). College staff members may enter to observe an event at any time. Event hosts are responsible for assuring that guests adhere to laws and college policies.

Guests & Visitors

Overnight guests are permitted in the residence halls, provided consideration is given to the rights of all permanent occupants. Roommates must give explicit approval. Any guest who remains within the residence hall for more than one consecutive night must be registered with Residence Life. Each resident may have a guest for up to four nights within a 14-day period.  Individual guests are not permitted consecutive stays via other hosts and as such cannot spend more than four nights within a 14-day period on campus. Special permission from Residence Life is required for guest stays of longer than four days; this must be requested at least two weeks prior to arrival. Residents assume responsibility for the actions of their guests.

Guests and visitors should always remain in the presence of their host within the residence hall community spaces, suites, and bedrooms.  As a best practice, a room or suite should not exceed triple the number of assigned occupants.  For instance, a double room should not have more than 6 persons in it, and a 7-person suite should not have more than 21 persons in it total.

Peddling, Canvassing & Soliciting

Students may not use or permit the use of their room for peddling or canvassing except as approved by the Director for Residence Life.  Soliciting in the campus buildings or on the grounds is prohibited.

Bugs & Pests

We must work together to prevent the attraction of bugs and pests within the residence halls.  Immediately report any bug and pest sightings via the service request system.  Any food should be stored in a sealed, hard container to prevent the attraction of mice.  Be mindful of the risk of bedbugs, especially when obtaining fabrics & upholstered items from second- hand sources.  In addition, the often-significant costs associated with addressing any such infestation will be billed to the student(s) responsible for bringing that piece of furniture into the residence halls.