Housing Agreements are binding from August through May. However,
circumstances may sometimes necessitate the cancellation of an Agreement after the
fall semester. When this is the case, the Intent to Vacate process must be followed. In
November, the Office of Residential Life will distribute information about procedures
that enable a resident student to terminate his or her contract prior to January. It is the
responsibility of the resident student to complete all the necessary paperwork, meet
all deadlines, and complete proper checkout procedures.

Students who terminate their Agreements at this time are also responsible
for informing their suitemates or roommates of their intentions to vacate. The Office
of Residential Life may not be able to contact roommates during periods of high
activity. We encourage continuous communication among roommates and suitemates
to avoid misunderstandings.

Each student will be issued a room key, a suite key (when applicable), and a
front door key (when applicable) upon arrival to the residence hall. Students must
return keys to their residence hall staff when they move out of their assignment. A
fine of $15 per key will be assigned if a student fails to return room, suite or entrance
keys. Students who lose a room or suite key must also pay an additional $35 to cover
the cost of replacement for the lock core.

At checkout, credit will not be given for: (1) keys returned after June 1 or (2)
keys returned improperly (i.e. mailed to Residential Life or slid under a Resident
Assistant's door).

Requests for the replacement of lost keys must be made in person at the
Office of Residential Life between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. Students need
to show proper identification and will be charged $15 per new key and $35 for a lock
core change. Students found with duplicate keys or keys other than their own may be
subject to fines or judicial action.  

As in life outside the University, students are responsible for carrying their
keys at all times. Resident students who are locked out of their rooms on a weekday
may sign out a key at the Office of Residential Life (ACN Basement) from 9:00 am to

4:30 PM. This key must be promptly returned.
Between the hours of 6:30 PM and 9:15 PM, the Resident Assistant on duty
will honor your lockout request in the Residence Hall Office (RHO). The Resident
Assistant on-duty will also be available in his or her room on weekend mornings and
afternoons for lockout services. Lockout policies and procedures for late hours vary
by residence hall; you may wish to contact a residence hall staff member about your
building's late hours lockout policy.

Students who are repeatedly locked out of their rooms may be subject to
fines or judicial action. After the first three lockouts, a student will be given an
educational sanction or charged a fine not to exceed $25, which will be placed on the
student's bursar account.

A lottery is held each Spring to determine the allocation of space for the
following year. The established guidelines for obtaining housing are published by the
Office of Residential Life early in the Spring semester. Watch carefully for notices
distributed and posted in the residence halls. To complete your application and enter the
lottery process, you must submit the deposit and housing application card by the deadline.

Those students who were not permitted to participate in the Housing
Lottery because of ineligibility, disciplinary reasons, or a late filing of application
materials will be assigned a room through the Post-Lottery process.

Fordham University has committed itself to New York City's recycling
efforts and guidelines. Resident students are in a position to assure or deny
University compliance with recycling laws and will, therefore, be held accountable for
their actions. The Office of Residential Life hopes you view the recycling policies as
ecologically necessary measures.

Each building is equipped with three kinds of refuse receptacles, in
recycling rooms. The locations of these sites are listed on the following page:

Alumni Court North Trash rooms
Alumni Court South Trash rooms
Finlay HallTrash rooms
Walsh Hall Trash rooms
Tierney Hall First, second floors (east)
Martyrs' Court Trash rooms
Queen's Court Robert's Hall, 2nd & 3rd flr
Hughes Hall Trash rooms
O’Hare Hall Trash rooms
The scheme for garbage separation is as follows:

Garbage Seperation
I. RECYCLABLES (must be washed)
•Plastic bottles or jugs (detergent, juice, milk, water, etc.)
•Glass bottles (juice, wine, etc.)
•Metal cans (tuna, soup, etc.)
•Aluminum foil trays (pie pans, take-out trays)
•5 cent deposit cans and bottles
II. PAPER
•newspaper, magazines, catalogues
•corrugated cardboard, flattened boxes
III. TRASH (ALL OTHER ITEMS)
•styrofoam, plastic-coated paper
•plastic bags, wrap or film
•plastic utensils, trays
•cups, bowls, lids, plates
•aerosol cans, pump sprays
•light bulbs, mirrors, books
•smooth gray cardboard, white paper
•envelopes and shopping bags

It is the resident student's responsibility (1) to remove trash from his or her
room, apartment or suite, (2) to separate the material into the above categories, and
(3) to properly dispose of the material in the designated areas. Trash deposited in
hallways, bathrooms, or other inappropriate locations will be removed at the cost of
the resident(s).
Failure to Comply: Educational sanctions, fines or judicial measures may be assigned
to those who fail to cooperate with the community's recycling efforts. For community
billing provisions, see Damage Billing. If a floor, wing, building or area fails to
collectively abide with the recycling policy at any given time, a "per person" fine of no
less than $5.00 and no more than $50 may be assigned.

Fordham University’s community is one that protects an individual’s rights
and ensures that he or she is afforded respect. It is also a community that assigns
responsibility to its members. Part of a Fordham education is learning to live with
others and this is one of the responsibilities that our community expects its members
to uphold. In times when disagreements and conflicts arise, members of the Residence
Hall staff are prepared to assist.

In general, when a conflict arises in the room/suite, you should:

• Make an effort to resolve the conflict yourself. Take the time to share the
problem with your roommate(s). If this is an uncomfortable situation or if you run
into problems, seek out your Resident Assistant (RA) for advice. The RAs are trained
to help with these situations and have the experience of living in the halls behind
them. 

• If your efforts are still unsuccessful, approach your RA about mediating
the conflict. RAs are trained to help mediate and can set up a meeting with you and
your roommate(s) to help get a dialogue started about the problem. RAs will consult
with your hall’s Resident Director (RD) about the mediation. RDs may also conduct
more serious mediation themselves. 

• If the above steps are unsuccessful, ask your RA about securing a Room
Change. The RA can describe the process and contact the Resident Director. It is the
Resident Director who must authorize any room change, and he or she will consult with
your RA and with you about your request only after the above-described steps have
been taken. 

• Once the RD has come to a decision about whether your request for a
Room Change is warranted, the RD helps you begin the administrative process
through the Office of Residential Life. Your RD will do her or his best to come up
with an agreeable new living situation for all parties concerned. Please keep in mind
that the RD can only entertain requests from students who are themselves interested in
moving, not in having others moved on their behalf. Exceptions to this policy are
made in situations which Office of Residential Life staff members determine as
threatening. In addition, room change requests made for reasons of race, creed, color,
religion, age, parental status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, veteran status,
disability or nationality will not be examined. 

• Parents and others concerned with specific roommate conflicts should
contact the Associate Director of Residential Life for Judicial Affairs. Hall Staff
(Resident Assistants and Resident Directors) will refer all queries to the Associate
Director. Requests for assistance with roommate conflicts made by parents or others
on behalf of students will elicit approach to the student by hall staff. The Associate
Director will also answer questions and explain the roommate conflict mediation
process. Students seeking authorization for room changes must obtain the Resident
Director’s signature on a Room Change Request form. Students should bring the
signed document to the Office of Residential Life in order to explore available room
options with the Housing Coordinator. When a new room is selected, you must
arrange with your new Resident Assistant to complete a check-in RCR and with your
former Resident Assistant to complete a checkout RCR. The Housing Coordinator will
assign a date for picking up keys to the new assignment; this date will always be on a
Friday. Old keys must be returned by the following Monday. Students moving from
one residence hall to another must report to the ID Office in Faculty Memorial Hall to
update their ID card. (Please bring a copy of your Room Change Form.)
Students may not change bedrooms within a given suite or residence hall without
properly applying for a room change with the Office of Residential Life. 

Failure to Comply: Judicial sanctions will be allocated against those who have
changed their housing units without proper permission from the Resident Director
and the Office of Residential Life.
No Room Change requests can be examined between opening day and
October 1. This “room freeze” period is set aside so that residents take the time to
thoroughly appraise their residence hall environment before making a change.
Experience has shown that taking the time to think about a change, to get used to a
living situation and to work on any early disagreements that may arise with
roommates is of greater benefit than a quick decision to change housing.

Learning to live in new surroundings and with new people is part of the
education Fordham affords. RAs and RDs are trained to help with this educational
process. Later, in the weeks before and during Housing Lottery, room change
requests will again be deferred to facilitate the orderly allocation of new housing
assignments for the upcoming academic year.

In order to ensure a safe and secure living environment for all students, the
University (Residential Life staff, Security, etc.) reserves the right to make reasonable
entry to a student’s residence unit without consent for the following purposes:

• safety inspections, facility repairs, general housekeeping, occupancy/room
checks and other similar administrative or operational purposes;
• evidence of emergency situations such as screams for help or present
danger, smoke, fire, flooding, obnoxious odors;
• reasonable suspicion of medical emergencies;
• replacement or movement of University property, including that which has
been misappropriated or relocated without authorization;
• disorderly conduct, unreasonable noise levels, and activities/conduct that
are prohibited by the Residential Life Handbook, Student Handbook and
Residence Hall Agreement.
Any authorized University official or agent can make entry after knocking and after
no response for a reasonable lapse of time.

Residential life and facilities staff members must inspect each residence hall
room several times a year. We will do our best to notify you when we will be
inspecting rooms, however, we may need to enter your room when you are not
present. In addition to the Room Condition Report (RCR), which establishes in
writing the physical state of a room or suite at check-in, three mid-year room
inspections are conducted by your residence hall staff. The following policy violations
may result in fines assessed without a judicial hearing: presence of unauthorized
university property, candles/incense, cable splice, smoking, halogen lamps,
dartboards, tapestries, and illegal appliances. The unauthorized appropriation of
community property, such as lounge furniture, for personal use in a private room or
suite would also constitute grounds for a fine or other judicial sanction. All such fines
and charges will be placed on students’ bursar account and students will receive a
letter detailing the charges. Fines from violations found in the common areas within
the suite will be split among all suite residents; fines from violations found in
bedrooms will be split among all bedroom residents.

During the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Breaks, Resident
Assistants (RAs) will perform an inspection of every room and suite. Students will be
held responsible for uncleanliness and any damages to University property that
might be identified during these inspections.

Community Living

Fordham University operates its residence hall system under the premise
that resident students are a part of a community within the residence hall; resident
students are much more than boarders. As members of a residential community,
students engage in social interaction, pursue common educational and other goals,
and demonstrate concern and sensitivity for their peers.

Social responsibility plays its part in the damage assessment process. If
someone damages something and another resident student knows about it, it is the
student's responsibility as a member of the building’s community to report the matter
to the residence hall staff. The maintenance of a vandalism-free environment is, in the
final analysis, the task of individuals living in each building, not a far-off external
authority. Resident Assistants (RAs), Desk Assistants (DAs) and Watchman Guards
are dedicated to facilitating safety and security within the residence hall, but residents
must do their parts by confronting or reporting situations such as the following:
strangers in the building, students or others damaging the building, and/or
University policy violations, as outlined in this publication or the Student Handbook.

The Process of Damage Assessment

Each resident student is responsible for examining and signing a Room
Condition Report (RCR) upon arrival to the residence halls. The RCR is a record of the
conditions of a student’s room or suite at move-in. The form is initially filled out by a
Resident Assistant prior to the resident's arrival. At check-in, the student will receive
a copy of the RCR. At this time, the student is to examine his or her room, suite, or
apartment and compareits conditions with the comments found on the RCR form. If
the student feels anything on the form is incorrect or any information about the
room's condition is missing, this data should be added to the form. Within the first
three days of your arrival, a resident must sign his/her RCR form.

The RCR document protects the student from charges for damages that
precede the student’s arrival and ensures that the student can be held responsible for
any damages incurred during occupancy. At opening, the Office of Residential Life