Policies and Procedures

As a residential campus, Hollins requires that traditional undergraduates live on campus. These policies address the most common questions and concerns of residential students and their parents.

View the Student Handbook for More Information

Enrollment Deposits for Returning Students

  • All residential undergraduate students (including adult Horizon students who choose to live on campus) must pay a $400 nonrefundable deposit by April 1 to secure on-campus housing.

Housing Assignments

  • HRL distributes information on the assignments process each spring semester.
  • Students must follow the procedure and meet all deadlines.
  • The assistant dean of students/director of HRL has final authority over assignments and may make changes in room assignments at any time.
  • Residents can require that no other person, other than those assigned by HRL, live in their room.
  • Residents have the right to guest visitation in accordance with the university guest policy and the standards of their hall.
  • In certain limited circumstances, undergraduate students may qualify for a residency exemption. For more information, review the exemption request form (PDF).
Returning Students
  • Returning students select rooms in the spring for the following academic year and must pay the enrollment deposit on time.
  • For students interested in specialty housing:
    • Apply for membership.
    • If you accept placement, you won’t be given a housing lottery number and must pay the $400 enrollment deposit or be subject for removal from house rosters.
  • For students who want to enter the housing lottery:
    • Pay the enrollment deposit on time.
    • All holds on your account must be cleared.
    • Lottery numbers are based on class year as determined by the registrar.
New Students
  • We make new student assignments during the summer months. Students must pay the enrollment deposit and complete the new student housing preference form.
  • Students in single rooms pay an additional cost per semester.
  • We have a limited number of double-as-single rooms, which require an additional cost per semester.
  • Housing accommodations are assigned in response to appropriate documentation of the student’s condition(s). Specific housing requests cannot be guaranteed. Required forms: Request for Housing Accommodations and Verification Form for Housing Accommodations.
  • Students requesting housing accommodations due to learning disabilities: Submit all testing results and recommendations from a licensed clinical professional or health care provider.
    • Service or support animals: Review the Service and Support Animal Policy and complete all steps of the process.
    • We do not grant accommodations in the case of roommate conflicts. Students should resolve conflicts through a CA or HRL professional staff member.
    • Accommodations for single rooms are limited to designated single rooms, of which the university has a limited number. Students choosing to live in a designated double room must have a roommate or pay the double room as single room fee. If you have an accommodation and leave Hollins, you must submit a new request before you return.
Room Changes
  • If you live in a space with multiple occupants, you must complete a roommate agreement.
  • Room changes won’t be granted during the first two weeks of a semester, December, or May.
  • To change rooms, contact an HRL staff member.
  • Students may not change rooms without authorization or risk a $100 fine and referral to the student conduct system.
  • If students exert pressure on roommates to move, they risk reassignment themselves.
Room Consolidation

If one student moves out of a multiple-occupancy space, the remaining resident(s) can:

  • Move to another room with a resident who is also without a roommate.
  • Invite another resident without a roommate to move into the space.
  • Move to an available single room (additional single charge applies).
  • Pay to keep the room as a double-as-single, if available (additional charge applies).
  • Choose to have the space remain open, with the understanding that the HRL staff may place a student there at any time.
Room Key Replacement and Lockout Policies
  • Residence hall rooms: $75
  • Apartments: front door keys: $150 (cost to change both front and back door locks); bedroom: $75; laundry room: $300
  • Students get three free lockouts each academic year. After that, the charge is $20 per lockout.
  • If you’re locked out, contact in order: your roommate; the CA on duty between 6:30 pm and 8:30 a.m. through the CA office (x6312) or the CA duty cell phone (540-556-5747); Campus Security.

Quiet Hours

  • Students set quiet hours during community standards discussions on each hall.
  • There will be a 24-hour quiet period starting at midnight on reading day and continuing through the last final exam period during finals week posted each semester.
  • Students who disregard quiet or courtesy hours may be referred to the student conduct system.

Check-in and Checkout

Check-in
  • Assess the condition of your assigned residential space.
  • Return the completed room condition report (RCR) or apartment condition report (ACR) within 48 hours of check-in.
  • If you don’t complete these forms, you’ll forfeit the right to contest any damage assessments upon checkout.
Checkout
  • All students must:
    • Meet with a CA to review the RCR/ACR and return all keys, or
    • Obtain an express checkout envelope and return it (with the keys) to the HRL office.
  • Failure to comply may result in a $50 fee.
  • You must check out by the deadline or be subject to a $100 late fee.
Room Condition
  • Students are responsible for the upkeep of their rooms and the university furnishings in those rooms.
  • After checkout, HRL staff members assess the space. If the room and its furnishing are not in the same condition as documented on the RCR/ACR at check-in, staff members assess the damages and charges.
  • All residents of a room or apartment are equally responsible for the condition of their assigned space and furnishings, unless one or more residents take responsibility in writing.
  • If parts of a room/apartment or its furnishings are damaged during the year, students should make arrangements through HRL staff to have the damage repaired.
  • You can mount pictures, posters, and other decorations on the walls with small tacks or picture hangers. Nails and double-stick tape are prohibited. You must remove the tacks or picture hangers at departure or risk a fine.
  • You may not paint rooms/apartments or the fences around the apartment yards.
  • You can appeal damage assessments in writing by February 1 for the preceding fall semester charges and August 1 for the preceding spring semester.
University Furniture Policy
  • University furniture must stay in the room in which it was placed.
  • Residents will be fined $50 if unassigned university property is discovered in a student room/apartment. They must also return the property.
  • Students who don’t return university property to its original location will be billed for replacement costs and will be subject to referral to the student conduct system.

Lofts

  • Lofts and other structures must conform to university guidelines.
  • All residents of the room/apartment must agree to the construction.
  • Loft/structural device construction may not alter the original condition of the room in any way. Residents are responsible for any damage caused by construction, installation, use, or removal of these structures.
  • Use only battery-operated power tools.
  • No part of any loft/structural device may be under a sprinkler head. Access to a loft must be a minimum of three feet from any sprinkler head or pipe. The top of the loft mattress must be a minimum of three feet from the ceiling.
  • Lofts/structural devices may not obstruct any part of a window or door at any time. Windows and doors must be operable at all times and usable as a means of exit or entry to the room in case of emergency.
  • Smoke detectors, electrical outlets, and HVAC sources must be accessible.
  • Any student, or representative, who installs any loft/structural device, assumes full responsibility for any damages to the building or injury to persons as a result of defective equipment and/or improper installations.
  • The university does not install and/or repair any personal electrical, mechanical, or structural devices owned by or in the possession of a student.
  • University personnel will not assist in the construction, dismantling, storing, moving, or disposal of any such device.

Custodial Services

  • The custodial staff cleans the lounges, corridors, and bathrooms of each residence hall.
  • Students must keep their rooms and community kitchen(s) clean.
  • Apartment residents must clean all spaces within the apartment and maintain their front and back yard spaces.
  • Students must provide their own cleaning products. Vacuum cleaners are located in residence halls for student use. Deposit trash in designated trash areas of the building.

Maintenance Requests

  • Send an electronic maintenance request form through my.hollins.
  • In case of emergency, call the Physical Plant Office at 540-362-6485 (8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday-Friday). After hours and on weekends, contact Campus Security at 540-362-6419.
  • Maintenance staff members conduct service calls between 8 am and 4 pm, Monday-Friday, and announce themselves when entering student residences.

Fire Prevention & Safety

Refusal to comply with these rules may result in a $25 per incident.

Fire Alarms

Misuse and unauthorized use of fire safety alarms or equipment (extinguishers, smoke detectors, or pull stations, etc.), and any damage resulting from such use, is subject to administrative action, student conduct charges, or criminal charges.

Fireworks and Smoke Devices

Hollins prohibits the possession or use of fireworks, ammunition, fire or smoke devices (including candles and incense), or any explosives in any university residence or on any university property. Setting fires on university property is prohibited, except those scheduled and approved for the Forest of Arden fire pit.

Smoking

Smoking is prohibited in all student housing. Anyone smoking outside residential buildings must ensure that smoke does not enter the building through windows or doors.

Prohibited Items

  • Electric blankets
  • Cooking and heating equipment
  • Heat lamps
  • Halogen lamps
  • Microwaves
  • Air conditioners
  • Hot plates
  • Immersion heaters
  • Portable heaters
  • Irons and any other appliances with open heating elements
  • Candles and incense
  • Open-flame-producing devices
  • Pressurized combustible gas containers
  • Extension cords

Cooking

Cooking is not permitted in student rooms. You can use and store utensils and small appliances (popcorn poppers, toaster ovens, frying pans, hot pots, microwaves, teapots, and coffeepots) in the kitchens.

Room Decoration

  • Do not hang anything from the ceilings and exposed pipes.
  • Live trees are prohibited.

Corridors and Stairwells

  • Because of the potential fire hazard, do not put trash, luggage, and other items in the corridors or stairwells of residence halls or outside of the apartments.
  • Unclaimed items may be discarded after 48 hours.
  • The removal of unclaimed items will be billed to the whole hall/house/row.
  • Nothing may be put directly on the walls or on the ceiling of corridors or stairwells.

Guest Policy

  • Definition of guest: A person invited by student, received by a student, or accompanied by a student (whether invited or not).
  • Definition of visitor: A person who is attending a public event on campus, who is neither invited nor received by a student.
  • Students must inform their guests of university policies and community standards and may be held responsible for the behavior of their guests.
  • Guests must be escorted at all times while in the residence halls. Unescorted guests will be asked whom they are visiting and may be taken to the Moody Student Center to wait for their hostess, depending on their behavior.
  • Guests without escorts are welcome in the Moody Center but may be asked to leave campus if their behavior becomes inappropriate or there is a complaint about them from a member of the Hollins community. Guests who arrive when the Moody Center is locked are asked to wait in Campus Security for their escort.
  • Any guest whose behavior toward any member of the Hollins community is uncivil or uncooperative may be removed from campus.
  • With the approval of all residents of the room/apartment, upper-class residents may have overnight guests up to three days out of any consecutive seven-day period. After that, there will be a seven-day period without overnight guests. Stays exceeding three nights must be approved.
  • With the approval of all residents of the room, first-year residents may have overnight guests up to three weekends (Friday 12 pm to Monday 8 am) during the fall term, and follow the upper-class policy starting during Short Term.
  • Students can submit requests on my.hollins for lightweight folding cots. Students must submit a request to have the cot picked up within three days of the guest’s departure or risk an $80 replacement fee.

Storage and Personal Property

Storage

  • Storage is available to international students, students participating in abroad trips, and RAs (first come, first served).
  • Students living more than 550 miles away may seek approval to place items in storage.
  • The university assumes no responsibility for items lost or damaged while in storage.
  • Items left longer than one academic year will be discarded unless the student makes arrangements with the director of housing and residence life.
  • Items found stored in other areas of the campus may be discarded.
  • Guidelines for on-campus storage:
    • Limit: five boxes per student. Boxes may be no larger than 18″x18″x18″.
    • Secure the boxes and label them with an HRL sticker.
    • Do not store furniture, bikes, electronics, valuables, or flammable items.
    • You may remove your own boxes but not those belonging to others.
    • A member of the HRL staff must escort you when you visit the storage area.
    • Storage access: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm daily.

Personal Property

Because the university does not insure personal property against fire, theft, water damage, or other catastrophes, we suggest that students have their own insurance.

Pets

  • No pets other than fish (defined as animals with fins and gills, living under water, 24 hours a day) are permitted in student housing. The maximum tank size is 10 gallons.
  • Policy infractions result in an initial fine of $50, and $10 per day until the pet is removed. The student must remove the pet within a week or risk referral to the student conduct process.
  • All room/apartment residents may be held equally responsible for violations of the pet policy, regardless of pet ownership.
  • Should part or all of the residence need special cleaning or fumigation, the cost of the service will be billed equally to all room/apartment residents, unless one or more students accept responsibility.
  • File complaints regarding pets in student housing with an HRL staff member.
  • Direct other pet-related complaints to Campus Security, which enforces the university’s animal control policy.

Security Precautions

  • Don’t prop open a door to any residence hall, house, or apartment.
  • Don’t give the key or key card of any university residence to another individual.
  • Don’t let an assigned room be used by another individual while the occupant of that room is out.
  • A Hollins student must have written permission from the resident(s) of the room and the director of housing and residence life to use the room.
  • The director of housing and residence life must have written or verbal permission from the resident(s) of the room before granting entry permission to anyone not assigned to the room, including parents.

Breaks

Residential students should make travel plans according to the published break calendar.

  • With permission from the director of housing and residence life, space is available for all residential students during the Thanksgiving and spring breaks.
  • No housing is available during winter break.
  • You’ll find the deadlines to submit break housing requests in the current student handbook.
  • No meals are served during breaks.
  • Cost for housing over breaks is $25 per day.
  • We may require students to move to a centralized housing location for safety, building maintenance, financial, and/or liability concerns.
  • Any students who fail to leave by the designated day and time will be subject to a fine of $100 and an additional $25 per day.
  • Guests (including Hollins students) are not permitted under any circumstances in the residence halls or apartments during break periods. Violators may be subject to student conduct charges and additional fees.
  • Students who return early from break to the residence halls or apartments without approval will be billed for the whole break period ($25 per day) and fined $100.