Members of the Hampshire College community are required to abide by the laws of Massachusetts, the town of Amherst, and the rules and policies set forth by Hampshire College in Non Satis Non Scire. These policies are also laid out in the Overview of Housing Policies (pdf) that we post in common areas at the beginning of the semester.

Guests: Only registered Hampshire College students may live on campus. Housing is contingent upon a student’s maintaining an active student status. The only persons who may reside in a room are those assigned by the College. Residents may not invite or permit any other person to reside in their assigned rooms or in any other area of the residence hall.

Students are permitted to have overnight guests in their rooms or apartments as long as the host is on campus during that time. Hosts must register their guests online, indicating the length of the visit, which may never exceed one week at a time or more than 15 days cumulatively in a semester. Guest’s vehicles must be registered with public safety if the vehicle will be parked on campus Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. All guests are expected to abide by Hampshire’s policies and norms of community living. Responsibility for the conduct and safety of the guests lies with the host. Any damage incurred by a guest will be charged to the host. Any guest whose behavior is disruptive will be required to leave campus.

Room Use: Student rooms are to be utilized as bedrooms and/or study space. The use of bedrooms for other purposes is prohibited.

Rooms must be maintained in good sanitary condition and must be returned in as good repair as when possession was taken, ordinary wear and tear excepted. Damages to student rooms, including costs for replacing missing furnishings, screens, or draperies, will be charged to the last known student occupant(s) of that room. Damages to the public areas of a residence hall, including costs for replacing missing furniture and other furnishings, which cannot be attributed to specific individuals or groups, will be charged to all residents of the smallest applicable area of the hall, the total being divided equally. Assessments for damages are made as students move and/or at the end of the academic year.  

All College furnishings and fixtures must remain in the room at all times, including mattresses and bed frames. Any furniture that is not in the room at the time of check-out will result in a bill for the full price of the item. Room furniture that is left in common spaces after check-out WILL be billed for; house staff will not move furniture back into rooms for students.

If repairs are needed in individual rooms or common spaces, students should enter their repair requests online. For emergency maintenance issues outside of business hours, call public safety at x5424.

Room Access: Facilities department personnel may enter student rooms for the purpose of making repairs. In emergency situations other College personnel may enter student rooms. House staff and/or the health and safety officer enter rooms during each term in order to conduct fire, health, and safety inspections. House staff enters each room, prior to the December shut-down, to check the heat and make certain windows and doors are secure.

Any duplication of College keys is strictly prohibited. Replacements for lost keys must be obtained from the the housing operations office. If a key to a student room is lost, the door lock is automatically changed and two new keys are made. In the apartments, if an entry key is lost the lock is changed and replacement keys are issued to all residents of the apartment. All residents are responsible for picking up their new entry keys and turning in their old keys. When a lounge key is lost a new key to the lounge is issued to the resident. In all cases, the student responsible for losing his/her key is charged: $60 for bedroom, which includes lock change and key replacement; $100 for mod entry, which includes lock change and replacement of all residents' keys; and $5 for a new lounge key.

Any student vacating a residence hall for any reason, including but not limited to withdrawal from the College; moving to a different residence hall; or vacating the hall at the end of the semester, must have his/her room checked out by a member of the house staff and return all keys within 48 hours. Students who do not check out properly will be unable to contest room damage charges. Key/lock charges noted above will apply to this 48 hour rule.

Quiet Hours: Campus-wide quiet hours are: after 11:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, or after 2:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Noise that infringes on a person’s working environment at any time cannot be tolerated. The use of amplified instruments and drums in residences, indoors or outdoors, and the placing of stereo speakers in the windows facing outward is prohibited.

Smoking: Smoking is prohibited in all campus buildings. In the residential areas, smoking is not permitted within 25 feet of the building.

Pets: No pets or animals of any kind, except certified service animals, are permitted in the residence halls or apartments at any time for any reason.

Health and Safety: Room decorations are permitted, provided they do not exceed 40 percent of any wall and are not hung on ceilings, smoke detectors, sprinkler pipes, or near any source of heat. Any method of affixing decorations that puts holes in or mars the walls, woodwork, doors, or furnishings is prohibited.

The installation of air conditioners or waterbeds is prohibited. The use of candles, hotplates, incense, or halogen lamps is prohibited. The building or installation of “lofts,” furniture, or other structures of any kind or size, including but not limited to cinder block or wooden platforms, is prohibited.

Additions to, modifications of, and unauthorized connections to existing wiring systems (electrical, telephone, data, television, radio, cable/dish) are prohibited.

No student is ever allowed on any roof of any building on campus.

Students are never allowed on any portion of the roof in Prescott House, with the exception of making an emergency exit during a fire or other emergency.

Fire alarms, extinguishers, smoke detectors, sprinkler systems, and other devices are provided for the safety of all residents in case of fire. Tampering with these devices, using them for other purposes, or hampering their effectiveness in any way is prohibited.

Fire exit drills for residence halls will take place at least one time per semester. All occupants of a residence hall must leave the building any time the alarm sounds. Sounding a false alarm is a violation of town and state law and College regulations. Persons found to have sounded a false alarm or to have tampered with extinguishers or smoke or fire detection devices may be fined up to $300 and other disciplinary sanctions will be applied.

Any student(s) determined to have tampered with or wrongfully activated the fire detection system, or to have contributed in any manner to a false fire alarm while engaged in prohibited or unlawful behavior, will be fined and will also face severe disciplinary action. When responsible individuals cannot be identified, all residents of that particular area may be assessed.

The use of fireworks is strictly prohibited.

Consequences: When it appears, through reports of the residence hall staff, public safety officers, etc., that a student has violated the policies of Hampshire College as specified in Non Satis Non Scire, the College reserves the right to review the case and take appropriate action administratively.

This information is sent to all students each August and is available in house offices and online as a PDF. Students are required to acknowledge receipt and understanding of these policies when signing their room contracts upon arrival at campus.



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