Residence Hall Policies
UMass Amherst students living in residence halls (including apartment complexes) are expected to adhere to policies and expectations of behavior outlined in the Code of Student Conduct, Residence Hall Policies, and the Residence Hall Occupancy License Agreement. Each resident must take an active role in maintaining a positive living and learning community. Residents are expected to comply and cooperate with the directives of Residential Life staff, University officials, and emergency personnel acting in the performance of their duties.
- Residence halls are private dwellings and should be used solely as a residence. Access to residence halls is restricted to residents assigned to that building. At times, others may be granted access for academic purposes or other approved legitimate purposes.
- Each resident is assigned a key for accessing their room. Lending or duplicating keys issued by the UMass Amherst is prohibited. Residents are expected to report a lost/stolen UCard and key immediately.
- Residents should keep their room doors closed and locked whenever they are not present in the room or are sleeping.
- Residents are expected to present their UCard to Residence Hall Security during their hours of operation or when asked by Residence Hall Security or Residential Life staff.
- Residents are permitted to host guests into their residence hall in accordance with the guest policy.
- Residents and guests are expected to enter and exit residence halls through the main entrance door.
- Exterior doors should never be propped open or disabled for any reason. Emergency doors should only be used in the event of an emergency.
- Accessing residence hall roofs, balconies, and ledges is prohibited.
- The maximum occupancy of any room, suite, or apartment is the number of assigned residents plus no more than 2 individuals per number of assigned residents.
Residents and their guests must adhere to the alcohol policies outlined in the Code of Student Conduct. In addition to the alcohol policies listed in the Code of Student Conduct, the following applies within the residence halls:
- Residents 21 years or older may possess, store, and consume alcohol only within their shared room, suite, or apartment if their roommate(s) is 21 years of age or older.
- Each resident 21 years of age or older may possess a maximum of twelve (12 oz.) bottles/cans of beer, or two (750ml) bottles of wine, or one (750ml) bottle of hard liquor in their room if they live in a residence hall where alcohol is permitted.
- Alcohol is not permitted in alcohol-free residence halls or floors.
- Open containers of alcohol are not permitted in common areas such as lounges, hallways, stairwells, or bathrooms.
- Playing or simulating drinking games (e.g., water pong or flip cup) or participating in other activities that involve the rapid and/or excessive consumption of alcohol is not permitted.
- Possession of alcoholic containers for decorative purposes is not permitted.
- Residents and guests are not permitted to have animals or pets in the residence halls except as permitted by the Service Animal Policy or Assistance Animal Policy.
- Residents are allowed to have non-carnivorous fish if they remain in a 10 gallon or smaller tank.
- Residents are expected to keep their room clean and regularly remove any trash and/or recyclables from rooms, suites, or apartments and put in designated areas.
- Leftover food, food waste, and food containers should be disposed of in the room trash and removed to a designated area on a daily basis.
- Leaving personal trash in hallways, common areas, and bathrooms is not permitted.
- Misuse, vandalism, or removal of any component of the elevators is not permitted.
Residence halls are equipped with fire safety equipment, which includes smoke detectors, heat detectors, manual fire alarm pull stations, fire alarm control panels, sprinklers, and pipes. Residents are expected to comply with the university fire safety policies including those outlined in the Code of Student Conduct.
- When a fire alarm has sounded Residents and guests are required to evacuate and follow emergency response personnel directives
- Residents and guest are prohibited from covering, tampering with, obstructing, or hanging items on any fire safety device or component (e.g sprinkler heads, smoke detector, etc)
- To maintain the safety of the residence halls, certain items are not permitted. Prohibited items include, but are not limited to:
- Candles and incense, lit or unlit. Smudging is also not permitted in the residence halls. Residents may request permission to smudge and/or the use of candles or incense in the residence halls for religious or spiritual purposes. Residents should contact Residential Life at @email to initiate the process.
- Deep/air fryers, open-flame appliances, heating elements, toaster ovens, grills, and hot plates. Residents may have a microwave up to 700 watts and 0.7 cubic ft. and a small refrigerator 3.0 cubic ft. or less with a ground adapter plug. Allowable appliances must have automatic shut off.
- Explosive materials, gas-powered equipment, noxious chemicals, gasoline, and other flammable liquids
- Halogen lamps, lava lamps, octopus/spider lamps (i.e., lamps with multiple plastic shades/covers)
- Self-propelled devices (e.g. battery operated devices, electric or motorized bicycles, hover boards, scooters, segway vehicles and skateboards)
- Natural trees, wreaths, corn stalks, hay, or other live decorations
- Pyrotechnic devices and smoke/fog machines
- Space heaters (unless issued by Residential Life)
- University-issued room furnishings must remain in the room, suite, or apartment. Beds can be lofted using University provided lofting kits.
- Common area and lounge furnishings must remain in their original and designated spaces.
- Residents are required to pay for any repair costs associated with missing or damaged furniture.
- Sporting/recreational activities including, but not limited to, ball playing, bicycle/skateboard/scooter riding, racquetball, frisbee, hacky sack, and water gun/balloon fights are not permitted in the residence halls.
A guest is defined as any individual who is not assigned to the residential hall. Residents are expected to sign in students from other UMass Amherst residence halls, Off-Campus UMass Amherst students and Non-UMass guests with Residence Hall Security during their hours of operation. Residents should only sign in individuals that they know and are hosting. The university reserves the right to modify the guest policy at any time and residents will be notified of any modifications.
- Each resident (host) is permitted to host up to two (2) guests into their residence hall at one time. Guests must be at least 16 years of age and possess a valid ID. Permission for guests under the age of 16 can only be obtained from Residence Hall Security staff. Residential Life and Residence Hall Security staff have the right to refuse entry to guests and/or ask guests to leave.
- Overnight guests are limited to two (2) guests per resident (host). Guests may stay no longer than two consecutive nights. Guests must then wait at least 14 days before returning to the same room as an overnight guest. Guests must be accommodated in the host’s room.
- Hosts should check with their roommates before inviting guests and are encouraged to engage in conversations about guests when completing a roommate agreement. Roommates have the right to refuse their roommate’s guest(s) or to ask the guest(s) to leave if the guest is being disruptive or their presence is in violation of an established roommate agreement.
- The hosts must accompany their guests at all times while in the residence hall and are responsible for their guest’s behavior. Guests are never to be left unattended in community spaces such as lounges/common areas.
- If a guest engages in behavior that does not meet University behavioral expectations, both the host and guest (if a student of the University) may be held accountable under the Code of Student Conduct. If a guest engages in concerning behavior or refuses to leave, residence hall staff or UMass Amherst Police Department (UMPD) may be contacted.
Residents must keep noise at an acceptable and courteous level at all hours of the day.
- Courtesy Hours are in effect at all times: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During all hours of the day, students are expected to be considerate of other students' individual needs. In order to do so, please adhere to the following:
- Devices such as speakers, televisions, computers, amplifiers, or musical instruments should be maintained at a volume that does not impact others.
- Residents are not permitted to direct any amplified sound out of residence hall windows.
- Avoid loud conversations in hallways, common areas, and directly outside residence halls.
- Quiet hours are times when noise must not be audible beyond residents’ rooms, suite, apartments, or common spaces. Quiet Hours are designated as:
Sunday – Thursday: 10:00 PM – 9:00 AM
Friday – Saturday: 12:00 AM – 12:00 PM - 24-Hour Quiet Hours are in effect during reading day(s) and final exam periods.
Addressing Noise Concerns: Residents are encouraged to address noise concerns with their peers and to respond positively to requests to reduce or minimize noise. Noise concerns may be reported to Residential Life Staff (Resident Assistant, Resident Assistant on Duty, Residence Director).
Residents may decorate and personalize their rooms while adhering to the following:
- Personal belongings must not be stored outside of the room, suite, or apartment.
- Painting and permanent additions and alterations of the interior and exterior of rooms, apartments, and suites is prohibited.
- Decorations must not cover more than 50% of the area on each wall and room door.
- Decorations must be fire/flame-proof or fire-resistant.
- Items must not be suspended from the ceiling, light fixtures, pipes, sprinkler head, or fire equipment.
- Tapestries, pictures, posters, and other decorations may be hung on the walls and doors with removable adhesive strips, tacks or small nails. Avoid using large nails, screws, and tape (e.g., scotch, masking, or duct) as they may damage walls. Nothing may be mounted to the walls, floors, or ceilings. Applying wallpaper, contact paper, borders, stickers, adhesives, painting and/or drawing on walls, doors, windows, shades, or furnishings, and any university owned surfaced is not permitted.
- Furnishings and personal items must not block heating units or entry to and from the room, suite, or apartment.
- Decorative lights may be used if they are UL-approved. Lights should remain unplugged when not in use and during break periods.
- Residents are required to pay for any repair costs associated with damage to walls, doors, and/or appliances.
- The following items are not permitted in the residence halls:
- 3D printers
- Air conditioners: window or standing units (unless issued by Residential Life)
- Humidifiers units that connect to windows
- Refrigerators larger than 3.0 cubic ft and microwaves more than 700 watts and 0.7 cubic ft
- Laser pointers
- Water sport items (such as water slides), pools (including inflatable and/or plastic pools), and water beds
- Weapons (as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct)
- The university reserves the right to prohibit additional items from the residence halls at any time and residents will be notified of any modifications.
Solicitation refers to planned and in-person sharing of information with, and/or requesting information from, students living in residence halls. Residents, guests, and recognized/registered student groups are permitted to solicit information in residence halls for non-commercial purposes. They may share information door to door as well as table or post information in authorized spaces within the residence halls in accordance with the solicitation guidelines and guest policy.
Commercial solicitation by individuals or organizations (other than by approved University-affiliated student businesses) for personal or commercial gain is not permitted. Commercial solicitation includes, but is not limited to, requests for payment or pledges of payment for goods, services, charities, or other financial contributions.
- Posting of Information — Each residence hall will have two authorized spaces in which residents may post information. Residents may post information in their residence hall:
- Postings are limited to University and University Community events only. Other types of postings are permitted elsewhere on campus.
- Maximum posting size is limited to 8.5” x 11’’ size paper.
- Residence hall staff will routinely remove postings with out-of-date information and materials not pertaining to the University, and/or materials that cover other postings.
- Tabling in Residence Hall Common Areas — Tabling or the staffing of information tables by UMass Amherst students and/or by individuals affiliated with a University program or department is also permitted in order to promote opportunities for residents to share/gather information with/from residents.
- The Residence Director of each residence hall manages tabling reservations. Approval is limited to assuring tabling space is available.
- The number of tables provided for tabling events differs among residence halls and is informed by relevant fire safety codes
- When submitting a tabling request, the requestor must provide the following information: Name of requestor(s) and affiliated organization (if applicable) advisor of organization or office contact (if applicable), date(s) requested, building(s) requested, and name, phone number, and email address of contact person.
To support recognized student organizations (RSOs) and University departments, Residential Life will centrally accept postings (that adhere to posting guidelines) for distribution to residence halls and posting by Residential Life staff. Residential Life will make no determination about the content and nature of postings beyond established guidelines. University-recognized student-run businesses may advertise services by posting in vendor information racks in the lobby of each residence hall.
- Windows, screens, and window locks must remain in place at all times.
- Obscuring, blocking, or placing items on windows is prohibited.
- Throwing, dropping, or hanging anything from windows is prohibited.
- If a window or window screen is missing, loose, or damaged, residents are expected to submit a maintenance request here.