The Code of Conduct

On Monday, a few of us in the Resident Student Association (along with members of the Student Government Association and other students) will be attending a meeting to discuss educating our fellow students about the Code of Conduct that all University students must follow. The Code of Conduct (pdf) are rules governing how students are expected to behave. It includes common sense concepts such as following basic safety rules when the fire alarm goes off, and other more controversial restrictions such as limitations of the quantity of alcohol an of-age person on-campus may posses. Those who violate the Code of Conduct, which also requires students to follow local, state, and federal laws, are subject to being referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (or OSCCR for short.) If found responsible for a violation of the Code of Conduct, students can face sanctions ranging from a simple warning all the way up to expulsion from the University.

One of the biggest problems with the Code of Conduct and OSCCR at Northeastern is a lack of understanding about the Code of Conduct, OSCCR, and what happens when someone is facing a hearing for an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct. It is because of this problem that we are attending the meeting on Monday. I encourage anyone with any ideas to bring them forward by sending us an e-mail or posting a comment on this blog.

An Example of a Small, Easy Improvement

A lot of the work that Housing Services Committee helps with is little changes that improve the quality of life on campus. One of these was the result of a suggestion by a committee member that fruit in the dining halls be placed in a strainer so that it doesn't sit in water. The suggestion was made during a Food Advisory Committee meeting, where students give ideas to the people in charge of Dining Services at Northeastern. Less than a month later, fruit was on a strainer. In this case, the change didn't take too much effort -- it was just a student giving their idea to the administration. Other changes at Northeastern require much more work. However, no project is too big or too small for the Resident Student Association.

This Month on RSA Cinema...

As was mentioned in a post last week, when the month of June rolls around, six new titles will be available on RSA Cinema. While we'll have an ad in the Northeastern News, we'll also have information about the month's titles on RSA Cinema itself.

In the past when no movie was playing on RSA Cinema, you would see a screen saying "WAITING TO PLAY" and then the name of the next movie and the time. Rather than have this boring screen display for the entire period of time between movies (less than 15 minutes), we'll be running a short video with the names of the titles during the month, and information about the movie's genre, a brief description, and a list of major actors/actresses in the film. Each month when the movies on RSA Cinema changes, we'll update this video to give information about the new movies.

A big thanks goes out to RSA's Public Relations Officer and member of the Housing Services committee, Sarah Huyck, for throwing the idea out there and helping to creating the June movies video and developing a template for future months.As mentioned previously on the Housing Services Committee blog, if you want to request a movie for RSA Cinema you can do so on the RSA website.

Bedroom Door Locks

Every few months Northeastern University Public Safety sends students reminders about being safe. They usually include something about securing your belongings and locking your doors and windows. Unfortunately, locking the door isn't always an option for some students. Several buildings at Northeastern lack locks individual bedroom doors. These include:

• 106-122 St. Stephen's Street,
  
• 319 Huntington Avenue,
  
• 337 Huntington Avenue,
  
• 407 Huntington Avenue,
  
• Loftman Hall,
  
• 153 Hemenway Street, and
  
• Kennedy Hall
  

Some rooms in theese buildings have fire escape access and can't have bedroom door locks installed because of fire code reasons. A locked door would prevent someone from reaching the fire escape in the event of a fire blocking the primary exit route.

However, the rooms without fire escapes still lack bedroom door locks. After receiving complaints from several students about the lack of bedroom door locks and suggestions that locks should be added, the Housing Services Committee of the Resident Student Association sprung to action contacting the administration to see why the rooms that could have locks did not and to advocate for the installation of locks.

The biggest reason why locks should be installed, from the feedback that RSA has received, is for security reasons. Students who are not able to lock their bedroom doors are concerned about theft. While the main apartment door can be locked, an individual student cannot control who is in their apartment, especially when they are not home, and the addition of locks on bedroom doors would provide additional security and peace of mind.

The Housing Services committee is continuing to work on this project. Our hope is that locks can be installed where possible by the Fall move-in so that if any of you are living in the aforementioned buildings next year, you'll have the benefit of a lock on your bedroom door.

If you ever have any ideas for improving the residence halls, feel free to e-mail us.