Community Living

Residence halls are home to many students, and it is important to create a welcoming environment for all. Living in a new community offers many opportunities to meet new people and learn from a variety of experiences.

Residence Hall Grounds and Hall Protocol

Hall public areas and grounds surrounding the halls are for the enjoyment of all residents. Behavior that endangers others or detracts from a welcoming community environment is not acceptable.

Disruptive residents will be asked to leave public areas. Disruptive guests will be required to leave the building and/or campus.
Loitering by nonresidents in residence hall public areas is prohibited. Violators are subject to arrest for trespassing
Housing & Dining staff reserve the right to secure or clear any and all hall public areas, including the main lobby.
Furniture assigned to public areas, lounges, hallways, study rooms, computer labs, bathrooms, etc. of a floor or hall may not be moved into individual student rooms.
Behavior and language that may embarrass or offend other residents or hall visitors are not appropriate.
Students are expected to refrain from a level of noise that disrupts operations in administrative areas of the hall.
Ball playing, throwing water balloons or snow, use of paintball or water guns, skateboarding, and all other activity which may potentially block hall entrances or impede pedestrians are prohibited on residence hall grounds, porches, entranceways, or directly adjacent areas.
Individual or group participation in an activity inside a residence hall that would be identified as sports recreation suitable for outdoor (or recreational facility) settings, which includes, but is not limited to, ball or frisbee throwing, dribbling, golfing, hockey playing, skating, and running, are prohibited. Roller blades, bicycles, and scooters may not be used inside a residence hall.
Gatherings, with or without alcoholic beverages, from which significant noise or other disturbances emanate and/or in which more persons are involved than can be reasonably accommodated in an individual student room will be considered "party atmosphere" and are prohibited.
Any disruptive actions that violate normal socially accepted rules of conduct or may seriously annoy and/or disturb other customers in the dining area is prohibited.
Removal of food (except from a la carte dining locations and as posted at all-you-care-to-eat locations), trays, china, silver, glasses, salt and pepper shaker, etc., from the dining area is prohibited.

Solicitation

Vendors or sales representatives may not sell items or take orders for items inside a residence hall or on residence hall grounds.
Residents may not conduct business inside the residence hall, sell or distribute products, permit their rooms to be used for sales by any outside vendor, or personally use their room as a base of a commercial enterprise.
Political canvassers may contact residents as outlined in the department canvassing policy during specific time periods designated for each election.

Political Canvassing

When participating in a political canvass, students and their visitors are expected to respect the privacy of residents at all times. Behavior that impedes a resident’s entrance into a residence hall, interrupts activities, or infringes on personal privacy is unacceptable.

Canvassers must be escorted by a resident at all times.
Canvassing may take place 20 days prior to the election or the end of the registration period.
Canvassing may take place 3 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Canvassers may not solicit financial contributions or advertise/sell any items.
Students who have posted "No Canvassing" signs on their room doors are not to be disturbed.
Canvassers may not place campaign materials on or under student room doors.
To talk with a resident in a resident’s room, canvassers must knock on the door, identify themselves and their purpose, and present identification upon request.
Canvassers must promptly leave a room at the request of the resident.
Any canvasser who engages in behavior that is disruptive to a floor/hall community may be asked to leave and not be granted the opportunity to return to any residence hall for political canvassing.
A separate request must be filed for each residence hall building in which a canvasser wishes to operate.

Hosting Guests

Guests must be hosted by a resident of the hall and accompanied by that host at all times while in the hall. Residents are considered guests in halls in which they do not have permanent residence.
All guests who enter or remain in a residence hall after 11 p.m. must be registered and hosted by a resident who has a valid room contract in the hall the guest is visiting. Unregistered visitors found in a hall after 11 p.m. will be required to vacate the building immediately and forfeit the privilege of returning for a 24 hour period.
Guests are required to show specified picture identification to residence hall staff upon request. Guests who do not have or do not show the necessary picture identification will be required to leave the hall immediately and will not be given the opportunity to return as hosted guests for at least 24 hours.
- Accepted forms of guest IDs include driver’s license, military IDcard, state Id card, or passport. Current residence hall residents visiting from a different hall may present their NIU OneCard and residence hall entry card as identification.
Guests who disrupt the hall environment or otherwise violate University policy will be asked to leave and may be denied the privilege of returning. Guests who repeatedly violate University policy may be banned from future visitation in that residence hall, all residence halls, or the NIU campus.
A guest in a residence hall may stay a maximum of 72 hours within a seven-day period.
On co-ed floors, residents and guests should only use the floor bathrooms of the appropriate gender.
Guests are permitted in bathrooms designated for the opposite gender under the following circumstances:

On a single gender floor, guests may be allowed to use one of the floor bathrooms when they are escorted to the bathroom by their host who must stay at the door of the facility to inform other residents that the bathroom is currently occupied by a guest of the opposite gender.

Expectations for Hosts

A person is defined as a guest in any of the following situations:

A resident invites the person to a residence hall.
A resident escorts the person into the building.
The person is allowed to remain in the resident’s room.

Residents must inform guests of University policies and procedures, including the need for required forms of identification.
Residents are financially and judicially responsible for their guests’conduct including their adherence to University and Residence Hall policies and procedures.
Residents must have the permission of their roommate(s) to host a guest or to have a guest stay overnight in their room.
Each resident may host no more than two (2) guests at a time.
A roommate may not be denied access to his or her room during a visitation period.
A roommate may declare the room off-limits to visitors for a specific time period.
Residents who do not follow the visitation guidelines may be subject to judicial and/or administrative sanctions.

If an unregistered nonresident is found in a resident’s room after 11 p.m., disciplinary action will be taken against the room resident, and the nonresident will be directed to leave the premises immediately.

Visitation Options

Residence hall visitation hours are specific time periods during which opposite sex guests may visit public areas on a residence hall floor and individual student rooms.

Restricted Visitation

Visitation privileges from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and
24 hours a day on weekends.

Unrestricted

Visitation privileges 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Quiet and Courtesy Hours

Courtesy hours are in effect 24 hours per day.
Courtesy and consideration for others require that an appropriate quiet atmosphere should be maintained at all times.
Residents should not infringe on the right of other to a quiet living enviroment
Resident should promptly comply with requests to reduce noise to an acceptable level.

Quiet hours are defined as specified periods of time on a residence hall floor when it is expected that noise will not interrupt the required atmosphere for living and learning. Residents and their guests are expected to refrain from generating any noise that transfers from room to room, room to hallway, public areas to rooms or hallways, or carries down the hallway. This includes speaking in the hallway and volume of TVs or stereos. Residents and guests who violate this requirement may be administratively removed from the community at any time.

Quiet Hours on Standard Lifestyle Floors

Sunday – Thursday 9 p.m. – 10 a.m.

Friday & Saturday 12 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Quiet Hours on academic Community environment (ACE) Floors

Sunday – Thursday 7 p.m. – 10 a.m.

Friday & Saturday 12 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Quiet Hours on Quiet Lifestyle (QLS) Floors

Sunday – Thursday 24 hours daily

Friday & Saturday quiet hours are not in effect 4 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Vandalism or Damage to Property

Knowingly damaging the property of the University or others is a violation of University regulations. This includes graffiti and writing on the inside or outside of room doors, walls, ceiling, and floors, etc.

Damage/Excessive Cleaning

Common area items that are missing, damaged, or require extra cleaning will be assessed to all residents of the floor or hall when the individual(s) responsible cannot be determined.
When residents acknowledge that they are responsible for specific damage, they accept responsibility for the repairs and the floor is not charged.
Any and all costs associated with the activation and/or damage caused from the activation of sprinkler heads or smoke detectors will be the responsibility of the resident(s) involved. The damage and cleaning costs may not necessarily be limited to a single room, hallway, or floor.
For a printed copy of the damage billing Policy please contact Residential facilities at (815) 753-6105 or visit the facilities section at www.housing.niu.edu

Alcohol and OtherDrugs

Persons 21 years of age or over

may bring sealed alcoholic beverages, completely covered from open view, into the residence halls and may subsequently possess or consume such only in the privacy of student rooms with the door closed and in an atmosphere that does not create significant noise or other disturbances.

Persons 21 years of age or over are prohibited by law from providing, delivering to, or hosting the serving of alcoholic beverages in residence halls to persons under 21 years of age.

Persons under 21 years of age

may not possess or consume alcoholic beverages (or display alcoholic beverage containers) in University residence halls.

Possession of kegs or bulk alcoholic beverage containers (i.e., exceeding two gallons) and selling alcoholic beverages are prohibited regardless of the resident’s age.

Alcoholic beverage containers, empty or full, may not be used as decorations or openly displayed in any resident room, regardless of the resident’s age.

Alcohol Free Lifestyle Floors

This floor option provides a positive environment where students have support from peers in maintaining an alcohol-free lifestyle. The possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages on these floors, even if the resident or guest is 21 years of age or older, is prohibited.

Other Drugs

Possession, use, manufacture, sale or distribution of any dangerous narcotic, hallucinogenic, cannabis (marijuana), and/or look-alike drug in any form except under the direction of a licensed physician or as expressly permitted by law is prohibited on all University property.

Residential Dining

Any disruptive actions that violate normal socially accepted rules of conduct or may seriously annoy and/or disturb other customers in the dining area is prohibited.
Removal of food (except from a la carte dining locations and as posted at all-you-care-to-eat locations), trays, china, silver, glasses, salt and pepper shaker, etc., from the dining area is prohibited.
Unauthorized entry into the dining room is prohibited.
Lost or stolen OneCards should be suspended immediately. Temporary cards are available at any Residential Dining unit. The temporary card provides access to Huskie Bucks, dining plans, door access, and access to the Recreation Center. For more details see the Guide Post section on “Lost or Stolen OneCard.”