When your student decided to enroll, YOU, too, joined the University of Colorado family.

The residence life staff members in Housing & Dining Services hope this publication will serve as a reminder that your interest and support are critical and necessary for your student's successful adjustment to university life. Therefore, your knowledge of the resources available to students at the University of Colorado at Boulder will help you guide your student through a successful university experience.

Frequently asked questions by students and family members are listed with the answer for the following areas: whom to ask questions of about specific residence hall issues, how to get involved in residence life, housing assignment information, campus services, and personalizing student rooms.
Questions related to room assignment or special housing needs should be directed to Housing's Reservation Center. Once the residence halls have opened, questions and concerns should be directed to the individual residence hall staff.

Residence Hall Student Rights:

By living in a residence hall, your student has the opportunity to learn to live in a community environment and to accept certain responsibilities that accompany group living. Students realize how their behavior affects others. Residents have a role to play and a responsibility to help establish a positive environment in their community.

Living with a large group of people in a limited space usually requires some adjustment in the personal habits and attitudes of each resident. To help ensure that students are able to exercise their rights and, at the same time, ensure that the rights of others are upheld, the following community life guidelines have been established. Experience has demonstrated the importance of each resident’s support of, and respect for, the rights of others. Some of the more important rights each resident has are:

1. The right to read and study free from undue interference in one’s room. Unreasonable noise and other distraction inhibit the exercise of this right.
2. The right to sleep without undue disturbance from noise, guests, etc.
3. The right to expect that a roommate and/or other residents will respect one’s personal belongings.
4. The right to a clean environment in which to live.
5. The right to have free access to one’s room and facilities without pressure from a roommate or others.
6. The right to personal privacy, including freedom from entry by others who do not have authorization or permission to enter the room.
7. The right to host guests with the expectation that those guests will respect the rights of the host’s roommate and other residents. Conversely, the right to expect others (visitors, guests, etc.) to leave when requested to do so.
8. The right to petition for redress of grievances.
9. The right to be free from fear of abuses, intimidation, harassment, and physical and/or emotional harm.

If residents have conflicts with their roommate over any of these issues, they are encouraged to work through them with staff support.
Residents must expect to take responsibility for the actions of guests and others who are in their rooms or who are in and around the halls. When one roommate is not specifically identified as responsible for the acts of others in the room, all roommates are jointly responsible.

Housing & Dining Services has established rules and regulations in consultation with residence hall student government representatives to help develop a positive environment. It is each student's responsibility to know the rules, as well as the consequences of violating them. top