You are here: Home → Policies And Procedures → Housing Policies And Procedures

Housing Policies And Procedures

Residence Hall Policies

Alcohol and Drug Policy

Violations of these policies may result in parental notification. Additionally, second alcohol offenses are referred to Dean of Students for adjudication and could result in university-wide probation. Third offenses will result in dismissal from the university.
If residents or guests of the residence halls are found with alcohol in their possession, they will be asked by the staff to dispose of the alcohol by pouring it out, and their behavior will be documented for follow up by the resident director.
The possession and/or use of illegal drugs are not tolerated in the University community and will result in severe sanctions ranging from mandatory substance abuse assessment to termination of the housing agreement. After an initial offense, the resident is referred for a substance abuse assessment. If a second offense occurs, that resident’s housing agreement will be terminated. The sale of illegal drugs will result in immediate termination from housing and possible criminal prosecution. Residents can expect periodic drug searches utilizing a trained police dog. Those residents found in possession of illegal drugs could lose their housing.

Policy for Students Under 21 Years of Age Living in Non-Freshmen Areas

A person under 21 years of age may not possess or consume alcoholic beverages at any time on the UofL campus. No possession or consumption of alcohol is permitted by any student or guest in private residence rooms where all the assigned residents are under 21 years of age. Visitors or guests of students under 21 years of age are not permitted to possess or consume alcohol in the suite or bedroom of an underage student regardless of whether they are of legal drinking age.
Individuals of legal drinking age may not provide alcohol to underage roommates, suitemates, visitors or guests.

Bicycles, Motorized Vehicles, Scooters, Rollerblades, Skateboards

Using any of the above items near doorways or to jump stairs or ride railings is prohibited. For fire, safety, damage, and liability reasons, bicycles may not be kept in hallways, stairwells, or public areas in the residence halls. Do not secure bicycles or scooters to fence posts, guard rails, stairwells, sign posts, light posts, fire equipment, trees, or anywhere that interferes with an exit from a building. Improperly secured bicycles/scooters will be subject to impoundment. Bicycles abandoned after the residence halls close at the end of the academic year will be impounded by campus police. Mopeds are not allowed in residence halls. Motorized vehicles, with the exception of motorized wheelchairs, are not permitted within 50 feel of residential areas except in designated parking spaces. Illegally parked vehicles will be impounded by campus police.
The use of recreational wheeled devices (including but not limited to skateboards, kick scooters, roller skates or inline skates) is prohibited anywhere in the residence halls, including stairwells. Persons may use these devices on walkways adjacent to the residence halls for transportation only (i.e., no acrobatics) and with due regard for pedestrian rights.

Child Abuse Policy

When it is suspected a resident’s child is being abused, Housing and Residence Life staff are required by law to make a report to Child Protective Services (595-4550). Child abuse may be indicated by physical marks on the child, the child may report abuse, or be left unattended in a room or apartment. These are only some examples of child abuse and may not be exhaustive. The following steps will be taken when abuse is suspected:
1. The Housing professional staff on call will be contacted.
2. The hall staff will document the incident.
3. If after hours, Child Protective Services will be contacted the next working day by Housing staff.

Conduct During Finals Week

All residents are expected to move out of their residence hall within 24 hours of completing their last final. Those residents who violate residence hall policies during finals week will face immediate disciplinary action and may be asked to leave the hall immediately. The housing license agreement expires 24 hours after the completion of the student’s last examination of the spring semester unless granted an extension by the Housing Office.

Courtesy Hours

Courtesy hours are in effect at all times. Noise originating from anywhere on a floor should not be audible by another floor or room, within the building or outside. A resident may ask another resident to reduce noise. Compliance is necessary to maintain community standards and to ensure an environment conducive to academic success.

Drug Paraphernalia

All equipment of any kind used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance is prohibited.

Escort Policy

Residents must accompany their guests during their entire visit in the residence hall. A guest is defined as any male or female visitor who does not live in the building or is an opposite sex visitor from the same hall in which they are visiting. Residents are also responsible for informing their guests of policies and notifying them when a policy is violated. The following guidelines apply to the escort policy:

  1. Residents visiting in all halls must always have an escort, and you must escort your guest into the building, up the elevator or stairwell to your room.
  2. You must remain with your guest at all times while you are in public areas, kitchen, TV lounge, study lounges, laundry room, restrooms, floor hallway, stairwell or elevator.
  3. Your guests must remain in your room or accompany you until you leave the building. No guests are permitted to stay in your room if you leave the building. Visitors to apartments are allowed to remain in the apartment even if the resident leaves the building for short periods.
  4. Never agree to escort a person(s) you do not know personally because you will be responsible for them. This includes opening lobby doors to allow visitors entrance.
  5. Residents must never loan their residence hall keys to another person for any reason. In addition, a student found in possession of a set of residence hall keys not issued in their name is in violation of the escort policy.

Facility Use by Outside Groups

Public spaces (lounges, basements, lobbies, kitchens) may be used by groups outside housing including Greek organizations and Recognized Student Organizations with written permission from the Housing office. Preference is given to residence hall groups, but anyone may request a room as long as the policies are agreed to. Reservation forms are available in the Housing Office in Stevenson Hall.

Fire Safety

Hanging objects from sprinkler heads, pipes and electrical conduit is strictly prohibited. “Live cut” trees (such as Christmas trees) are not permitted anywhere in the buildings.

Guest Sign-in Policy

Residents and their guests (including parents and family members) are required to conform to the visitation hours established in the building in which they live or are visiting. Residents are responsible for and can be held accountable for the behavior of their guests. Residents must inform their guests of Housing policies. Residents of a room may be held accountable for the behavior that takes place inside the room whether or not the residents are present. Guests that fail to comply with any University policy or staff member, will be asked to leave the residence hall. A guest can be denied permission to remain in the building or may be prohibited from future visits if he or she creates a disturbance or violates any rule or regulation.

  1. Enforced in Center, West, Wellness, Wellness 2, Miller, Threlkeld, Stevenson, and Louisville Halls, Unitas Tower, and University Tower Apartments 24-hours-a-day every day. No sign-in is required in Medical-Dental Apartments.
  2. All persons who would normally require an escort in the hall (residents and non-residents) must sign in at the front desk by completing a sign-in card. The host and the guest may be required to present ID for verification.
  3. Guest(s) must be escorted when they leave and host and guest must sign out.
  4. Even if no staff is present when you need to sign in or out, cards will be available. Please complete and deposit in the appropriate box.
  5. If no cards are available, any piece of paper with your name, your guest’s name, the date and time you signed out is acceptable.

Note: Over the years, we have determined that two guests per resident present is a comfortable limit for guest, noise, and general community issues. In some situations, fire codes related to occupancy may also be a factor.

Guest Sign in Policy for UTA

  • It is not required to sign in guests from other floors in the building.
  • It is required to escort guests from the lobby to one’s apartment. If the resident is a parent and cannot bring the child with him or her to escort their guest due to the child’s bedtime or illness, it is permitted to contact the front desk and give permission to admit the guest onto the elevator. Staff should fill out the guest log with the appropriate information. Any resident abusing this exemption could lose their privilege to have guests in the building.
  • Place your blue card in the appropriate container in the lobby to ensure your guest information is not left out for others to see.
  • Be prepared for front desk staff to request to see identification from you and/or your guest if they do not know you to be a resident.
  • Staff may request that you sign in if you do not do so upon entering the building, but due to sometimes being occupied with other related tasks, don’t expect to be reminded to sign in. It is the resident’s responsibility to ensure they follow the procedure.
  • The policy continues to permit guests to be left in the apartment even if the resident leaves the building. Guests should not wander the building without an escort and could be asked to leave the building if their behavior is disruptive.
  • For residents on floors 2 – 8, if you wish to have guests stay with you for more than 14 days, you must request permission in writing (see policy above). The housing office approves these requests based on fire safety requirements being met. However, residents on floors 9 – 11 are expected to abide by the illegal occupancy and cohabitation policy. Guests for extended periods will never be approved.
  • Staff can and will ask guests to leave at any time they determine the guest is a disruption to the community. Some examples of such concerns would be illegal activity, possession of a key, smoking, being unescorted and inconsiderate behavior/rudeness directed toward staff and others.

Illegal occupancy and cohabitation policy

Illegal occupancy includes but is not limited to:
  • overnight guests on other than Friday and/or Saturday nights
  • staying more than 3 nights a month in the hall
  • being restricted from entering a building for disciplinary or other reasons
  • not being enrolled in good standing with the University
  • not having a signed license on file with Housing
Cohabitation includes but is not limited to:
  • having overnight guests of the opposite sex
  • not having a signed license
  • accessing the room or apartment while the assigned occupants are not present
  • utilizing a key to enter a room or apartment to which one is not assigned
  • keeping clothing or other personal belongings in the residence hall room or apartment
  • sleeping overnight in the room/apartment on a regular basis
  • using the bathroom and shower facilities as if one lived in that room/apartment

A visitor is any person who has signed into the hall (if required) with a resident anytime during the day or night. All visitor(s) should be escorted by a resident when he/she leaves the room/suite. He/she should leave with the resident when leaving the building, abide by Housing Herald policies while in the hall, should not use the floor or suite restroom if he/she is of the opposite sex, may sleep over if of the same sex and not in violation of the illegal occupancy policy, and has the permission of room/suitemates to be there. Visitors to apartments are allowed to remain in the apartment even if the resident leaves the building.

Illegal sleeping over or cohabitation is when a resident shares a room/suite/apartment with someone of the opposite sex whom he/she is not married to or someone of the same sex sleeps in the room/suite/apartment and violates any part of the illegal occupancy policy.

Internet Use

There is a growing trend of students stealing movies and music from the Internet due to high-speed connections. The University of Louisville does not condone these actions and if you are caught downloading or sharing copyrighted files from the Internet, your Internet port will be shut down. Your port can be deactivated for as long as a week to the rest of the year depending on the severity of the issue and how quickly you respond when you are made aware of the problem. In addition, the Dean of Students may take disciplinary action, which could result in forfeiture of your housing license.

The signature on your housing agreement and license indicates you agree to the computer usage policy for UofL. All UofL students receive information outlining the consequences for violating copyright laws. This information is available on the UofL web page. A first offense will result in the resident’s port being shut down for one week. It will be reactivated once all software and programs used to download are removed. On a second offense, the port is shut down for one year and the case is referred to the Dean of Students for adjudication. The Office of Information Technology maintains all these records.

Interim Restrictions or Removal

The Director of Housing and Residence Life or a designee may remove students from their residences and deny access to the residence for an interim period pending residence hall/University disciplinary proceedings or medical evaluation. Interim restriction or removal occurs when the Director determines, in consultation (when possible) with the Office of Campus Life, that there is evidence that the continued presence of the person(s) in his/her residence poses a substantial threat to the person, to others, or to the safety, stability and continuance of normal residence hall functions or University property. Interim restriction or removal is effective upon informing the person.
Resident(s) removed or restricted on an interim basis will be given an opportunity to appear personally before the Associate Director for Programming or a designee within five (5) business days from the notice of the effective date of the interim removal or restriction, in order to discuss only the following issues:

  • Reliability of the information concerning the resident’s conduct, including the matter of students’ identity and/or
  • Whether the conduct and surrounding circumstances reasonably indicate that the continued presence of the resident(s) poses a substantial threat to the student, to others, or to the stability of normal University or residence hall functions.

Unless otherwise determined by the Director of Housing and Residence Life or a designee, such interim restriction or removal shall remain in effect until a disciplinary hearing is held and an outcome is determined. If a student is not found responsible for any violation of a policy infraction and is readmitted to housing, he/she may be entitled for a refund for the time period they were removed from the hall. Any refunds for the time period are not automatic, and will be determined on a case by case basis by the Director of Housing and Residence Life.
The residence hall community is not designed or equipped to rehabilitate persons who pose a substantial threat to themselves and others. It may be necessary to remove them from the residence halls and to sever the relationship.

Lock Outs

Follow procedure outlined, 1) contact your roommate, 2) contact the RA on duty, and 3) contact the RA on your floor. If you decide you cannot wait and contact the Department of Public Safety, they must get permission from the Housing Office to assist you. After two lockouts, formal documentation through the disciplinary system begins.

Musical Instruments

Medical-Dental Complex residents are allowed to play instruments seven days a week between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. All other residents should use School of Music practice rooms and in the Unitas Tower practice room in the lobby . No instruments are allowed to be played in the residence halls, except in lobbies and then not during quiet hours.

Roommate/Suite Contracts

Roommate/suite contracts, called Side-by-Side Agreements, are completed by all first year residents and their roommate upon moving in together. The agreement outlines specific living agreements. Violating the terms of the roommate/suite contract previously agreed to as evidenced by the signatures of the occupants of the room or suite is considered a violation of residence hall policies (i.e., inconsiderate behavior - failure to comply). Such violations should be reported to the resident assistant for mediation and documentation.

Sign Posting Policy

All postings of signs within the residential halls must be authorized by the Housing Office. The Director of Housing and Residence Life or her designee authorizes all signs in general areas, e.g. on doors, in hallways and bulletin boards. Signage that does not have Housing approval is to be removed immediately. If postings are of an offensive or derogatory nature or attack individuals, they should be brought to the Housing Office and will be reported to the proper authorities.
The following guidelines have been established to ensure that flyers are posted in a consistent manner in all residential areas:

  • For safety reasons, flyers are not permitted on glass doors, elevators, exit doors or windows.
  • Each posting must include the name of the organization if applicable, a specific contact person, email address, and phone number where the person can be reached.
  • Each event has a limit of 5 flyers per building.
  • All flyers pertaining to the particular residence hall must be hung by the building staff. All flyers related to campus or off-campus events may only be posted in common areas (i.e, lobby space or designated bulletin boards).
  • All flyers shall be removed no later than 30 days after posting or not later than 24 hours after the event to which it relates has ended, whichever is earlier.
  • All flyers will remain posted one day after the event occurs. Residence life staff will be responsible for removing ALL flyers after the expiration time.
  • No flyer will advertise or imply improper use of alcohol or drugs, or other inappropriate or illegal activities.
  • Off-campus businesses or organizations must receive approval from Housing prior to posting flyers.
  • The Housing office and building staff reserve final judgment on objectionable flyers, advertisements and decorations.

Resident Assistants are not permitted to cover more than 20% of corridor wall area with combustible materials. The wall area near the elevator as well as the interior walls of the elevator car should be free of combustibles.

Study Hours Policy

Study hours are the times designated that residents can expect to be able to prepare for classes and study quietly with little disruption caused by loud music, talking or other disturbing noise. In effect in all halls Sunday through Thursday, 10pm-8am, and Friday and Saturday, midnight-8am. To maintain an environment conducive to study, the Housing Office reserves the right to enforce 24-hour quiet at any time. Additionally, outdoor recreation areas are not available during study hour periods.

Supervision of Minors

Our greatest concern is for the safety and security of all our residents, including the children, however, the housing staff cannot be expected to monitor children left unattended by their caregivers. Caregivers, who leave children unattended, especially when the children are disrupting the community or causing a safety threat to themselves or others, will be referred to the housing discipline system. Students who do not monitor their children could risk loss of their housing agreement.

Unsanitary Rooms

During regular maintenance checks and other random visits by staff, a room may be deemed to be unsanitary and/or a fire hazard due to furniture or personal items blocking safe exit, excessive trash, grease in stove area, papers, and other combustibles on the floor, etc. Personal items should be stored in a clean and orderly manner to promote proper hygiene and lessen the risk of pest infestation. If such an infraction occurs, the resident will be notified in writing that he/she has three days to address the problem. If it is not taken care of satisfactorily, Housing will have the problem corrected at the resident’s expense.

Visitation Policy

Visitation is defined as those times during which residents may have guests in their rooms, suites, or apartments, or in the public areas of residential floors. Specific visitation plans outline the maximum hours during which visitors or guests may visit. With these plans, the shared concerns and wishes of the roommates are of paramount importance and determine what are acceptable or unacceptable visitation privileges within a specific room. Visitation is a privilege that is subordinate to a resident’s right to privacy within her or his room. Residents may not exercise their visitation privileges if doing so interferes with the rights of the roommate or of other residents. Suspension of visitation privileges for an individual, a floor or an entire residence hall may be issued by the Office of Housing and Residence Life with just cause.
The University of Louisville provides several different visitation options for students depending on where they live. The visitation policy strives to recognize and balance the following priorities:

  1. The need to provide options to students and parents who have different desires regarding visitation arrangements.
  2. The need to maintain a safe environment in the halls.
  3. The need to respect students’ desire for privacy.
  4. The need to recognize the value of visitors in a vibrant, educational community.
Freshmen only residence halls

Visitation by members of the opposite sex is permitted in all halls and buildings in accordance with the Illegal Occupancy Policy. West, Center and Miller Halls and Unitas Tower have designated visitation hours. The visitation policy applies to all areas of the residence halls, which includes but is not limited to stairwells, elevators, hallways and individual rooms.

Within Center, Miller, West and Unitas visitation hours will be:
Sunday through Thursday—Noon until 12:00 midnight
Friday—Noon until 2:00a.m. Saturday morning
Saturday—Noon until 2:00a.m. Sunday morning

A five-minute grace period before and after the hour is permitted. At 5 minutes after the hour, if there is time staff might contact the resident by making a call to his/her room. If there is still a guest signed in, the resident will be documented at that time for a visitation violation. The escort policy must be adhered to during visitation hours.
Hall councils may choose to request from housing permission to vote to change visitation hours for all or part of a residence hall. Voting could take place prior to winter break. If the floors receive enough votes to change the policy, it would go into effect the beginning of the spring semester. Ask for more information from the Resident Student Association and your hall council representatives.

Residence Halls and Apartments for upperclassmen mixed with freshmen

24-hour visitation seven-days-a-week is permitted in Louisville, Stevenson, Threlkeld, Wellness, Wellness 2, UTA, and Med-Dent.

Visitation Hours for Hall Opening, Closing, and Break Periods

During the weekend that halls open and finals week (hall closing), family and friends may sign in beginning at 8:00am until the conclusion of the applicable visitation hours to help residents move in and out of the halls. 24-hour quiet hours are still in effect while other students are having finals.

During Fall, Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks visitation hours will stay in effect as normal.

Weapons Policy

Possession or storage of a “deadly weapon” or “destructive device” is prohibited on any University of Louisville campus or in any facility owned, leased or operated by the University. This policy applies to University Housing, University parking areas and private vehicles parked or operated either on campus or at any off-campus facility owned, leased or operated by the University. The University’s Director of Public Safety may grant exceptions to this policy in writing for the convenience of the University.

Also prohibited are any CO2 and spring propelled guns. Anyone with weapons in his/her possession will be subject to serious disciplinary action, including dismissal from the university and may be criminally prosecuted.

Definitions of Deadly Weapons and Destructive Devices: For the purposes of this policy, a deadly weapon is defined as an instrument of offensive or defensive combat, something to fight with, and is generally any device capable of projecting a ball, pellet, arrow, bullet, missile, shell or other material. Ammunition is any material capable of being projected by a weapon and makes the weapon operational.

Deadly weapons include but are not limited to:

  • Guns and firearms, whether loaded or unloaded
  • Pellet, flare, tranquilizer, air, stun, spear, paintball, and dart guns
  • Hand instruments designed to cut or stab another by being thrown, including but not limited to, knives with a blade larger than that of a folding pocket knife (about three inches), swords and epees, stilettos, poniards, bowie knives, switchblades, machetes, daggers
  • Striking instruments including clubs, truncheons, blackjacks, metal knuckles, and sap gloves
  • Martial arts weapons including nunchakus, tonfas, staffs, and throwing stars
  • Bow and arrow combinations
  • Sling shots
  • Destructive devices including hand grenades, explosive, incendiary, and poison gas bombs, mines, rockets, missiles or similar devices and includes the unassembled components from which such a device an be made.

This policy does not apply to the possession and/or use of disabling chemical sprays when used for self defense. (Training in the use of defensive sprays is strongly encouraged. Vendors should be able to provide this training and Material Safety Data Sheets.)

Weapons and Ammunition Prohibition:

  1. No weapon or ammunition shall be worn, displayed, used or possessed in the residence halls.
  2. Weapons may be stored on campus under the control of the Director of University Public Safety and in accordance with the policy and procedures of the Office of Public Safety.
  3. The Director of University Public Safety may grant permission in writing to an individual to possess a weapon or ammunition on campus for instructional purposes and in other special circumstances and under conditions as approved by the Director.

Exceptions

It is recognized that there may be activities related to the educational or research mission of the university (e.g. physical fitness activities and the School of Drama theatrical productions) that may appear to violate the letter but not the intent of this policy. In these cases, the department or organization coordinating the activity is responsible for obtaining annual written approval of the Chief of Police or designee in advance, to conduct the activity.

Violations

Persons who possess deadly weapons in violation of this policy will be required to remove their weapons and/or themselves from the university’s property. Any university student shall be subject to action in accordance with university disciplinary policies and procedures for students. Further, possession of a deadly weapon in violation of federal, state or local laws will be referred to Campus Police (or other appropriate law enforcement authorities) and may result in legal sanctions.

Call Campus Police for any violation or suspected violations of this policy.

Document Actions