In a 25-9 vote, extended visitation hours will be implemented in the spring semester.
According to Jon Behrens, director of residential living, area coordinators suggested looking at visitation sanctions which led to discussions about visitation hours.
The current visitation hours are from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Saturday.
“We had to ask ourselves if students would like visitation hours to be longer, so we took it to the hall councils to ask them if they would like to see them extended,” Behrens said.
Residential Hall Association President Miguel Sosa said that after Behrens spoke to him about changing visitation hours he presented the idea to RHA.
The proposed extension was for entry into residence halls to begin at 10 a.m. rather than 12 p.m.
“Initially the majority was for it, but there were a few naysayers,” Sosa said.
Hall councils were asked to submit a list of pros and cons.
Some of the pros included the need for more time, freedom to bring over friends to study or do homework and that it would be a step in the right direction with regard to treating residents as adults.
Brianna Moore, hall council representative for Cousins Hall, said that one of the biggest advantages of earlier entry hours is convenience.
“This will give students a little more freedom, especially during finals week,” Moore said. “Students need to study and it’s a lot more convenient to be able to meet in the dorms.”
Behrens said that there have been many instances of students who were written up for early entry because of forgetting their books in a friend’s room or things of that nature.
Some of the cons included lack of respect for roommates and lack of privacy.
Vickie Jones, hall council representative for Stafford Hall, said that “some girls are worried about people running around in the morning.”
Students are encouraged to “speak up” if they don’t wish for their roommate to have a visitor in the room too early.
However, Jones feels that most early entry would be for studying purposes and Sosa said that 12 p.m. is relatively late in the day.
Behrens said that the current visitation hours have been in use for at least 16 years.
“These hours were set several years ago,” Behrens said. “Life is much different today than it was ten years ago.”
Sosa said that the new visitation hours will give students more responsibility and liability for themselves.
“As you get older, you need to take more responsibility in your life,” Sosa said.
Jones said that because residents and students are adults, they should be able to respect each other’s boundaries.
“In order to continue to meet students’ needs, we need to change to adjust to their lifestyles,” Behrens said. “This moves us down the road to where we’re going in the future.”
