The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) has instituted stiffer regulations on non-Tufts overnight visitors, in hopes of reducing the potential for roommate conflicts and ensuring residents' safety.
According to a policy implemented this semester, ResLife requires Tufts students to register overnight non-Tufts guests with their Resident Assistant (RA) at least three days in advance of their stay. When applicable, students must obtain roommate permission in order to register their guests.
ResLife also requires students who live in unstaffed residence halls to submit registration forms for outside guests. These forms must be given to the assistant director of community and judicial affairs. Registration forms are available online and at the ResLife office.
ResLife's previous guest policy, which had no registration component, stated that students should have no more than two guests at a time and should limit their guests' visits to no more than three consecutive nights within a seven-day period and no more than nine nights total in a 30-day period.
Assistant Director of Community and Judicial Affairs Carrie Ales-Rich, who spearheaded the change to the policy, explained that it was the result of research conducted on other schools' guest policies. Ales-Rich said that ResLife discovered that out of all the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and Boston-area schools, Tufts was the only school without a guest registration procedure in place.
The new guest policy also stemmed from recurring incidents of guests staying too long in the residence halls, including a case from last year in which a resident's mother stayed in the residence hall for a period of a few months.
ResLife received a number of complaints from residents about the duration of their roommates' guests' stays. "We have noticed that a main cause of conflict between roommates is due to guests overstaying, and there has been a trend showing an increasing number of such incidents," ResLife Director Yolanda King said.
Ales-Rich hopes that the new policy will help reduce such incidents in residence halls. "We want to modify common behavior in the halls and put in place a system that is effective for students in dealing with guests," she said.
She also said that the policy will improve the security of residents, especially in the event of an emergency. "Our focus is really on the safety of residents," she said. "We need to be sure in the event of an emergency [we know] who is in the buildings."
Freshman John Gill agreed that the guest registration policy could be a useful tool for residents. "In theory it is a good idea for freshmen, especially because you don't know your roommate well," he said. "It would help ease over initial tensions between roommates."
Sophomore Yorman Garcia also expressed his support for the policy and its aims. "I think it's a good policy," he said. "RAs can keep track of who is in the dorms and ensure that residents do not abuse their privileges."
The policy will be enforced primarily by RAs who have already undergone training because Tufts does not have other resources, like a security desk in each dorm, to help enforce the policy.
Dan Pasternack, a former RA and a junior, said that the success of the new policy will be contingent upon RAs. "I think the effectiveness of this policy will all depend on the RAs," he said. "If the RAs and the RDs take it seriously then the students will take it seriously. I don't think it's much of an inconvenience for what it can possibly gain.
"Having the form will help the RAs enforce policy by having a paper trail," Pasternack added. "If a student says their roommate has had too many guests over and a conflict arises from that, then the RA will have the paperwork."
Sophomore Michelle Cohen expressed doubts about the effectiveness and feasibility of this new policy. "It seems like a big hassle because not many people will be able to know in advance their plans for the weekend and will just sneak in their guests," she said. "I don't see how it will make anything better."
Junior Kevan Mamdouhi called the requirement that registration forms be filled out three business days in advance of a guest's stay "unreasonable," noting that students do not always plan their visitors' stays in advance.
"I don't really see a purpose [in the policy] to begin with," added Mamdouhi, who lives in a single in an unstaffed residence hall. "I wouldn't bother."
But ResLife indicated that that they have already begun receiving registration forms from residents. "People have been very responsive and receptive, including the staff," Ales-Rich said. "As with the implementation of any new policy, we expect there to be some bumps along the way, but we expect to take an educational route to review and improve this policy."
This article was edited from its printed version for purposes of clarity.
