Living on-campus in college is one of the highlights many students look forward to.
To some, it’s the ability to live independently from parents. To others, it’s the chance to learn responsibility. However, some students are having second thoughts about staying another semester. Students like Morgan Trodder were not thrilled once they went over the rules and regulations of Residential Life and Housing at TJC.
“You come to college to kind of get away from the rules,” said Trodder, a freshmen staying at the Ornelas Hall. “I feel like there are more rules here than back home.”
One rule students find annoying is the “quiet hours,” which act as a curfew for students. At exactly 10 p.m. is when the halls enter quiet hours; at that point there should be no noise. During final exams, quiet hours are in effect for 24 hours.
If students make a noise, it will be considered a violation. Three noise violations will send a student to meet with Angela Nunez, Director of Residential Life and face the risk of being removed from his or her residence hall. This curfew, many students believe, removes the independence from the college experience.
“The hours are there to maintain a consistency amongst halls,” Nunez said. “During these hours, we normally find students going to bed, doing homework, studying, or just hanging out watching TV. Most of the time students only have to be warned once and this is more at the beginning of the semester when a student is first learning about living in a community.”
Nunez advises the students to address the issue with the Residence Hall Association, which holds meetings every other week in Louise H. and Joseph Z. Ornelas Residential Complex .
“If students would like certain rules changed, we have Residence Hall Association,” Nunez said. “This is the voice of the residents. Every resident on campus is an automatic member. Students who would like to change certain rules go to the Residence Hall Association meetings held every other week in Ornelas and talk to the group, then they would come up with a presentation and rationale, present to RHA executive board, then if they pass it, it is then passed on to me to look at and decide.”
The Housing Department will also have a survey during its “Intent to Return” process, asking students about their individual experiences at the halls.
For more detailed descriptions of all the rules to live on campus, students can visit http://www2.tjc.edu/housing/pdf/ResidenceLifeHandbook.pdf.
