Safe & Supportive Standards of Living
All members of the CCA community have a responsibility to protect and maintain a safe and academically supportive climate in which the freedom to learn can be enjoyed by all.
Students are expected to conduct themselves as responsible individuals, respecting the rights of others. To this end, California College of the Arts has developed certain basic policies governing student conduct.
Residential students are also required to follow the terms of the Housing License Agreement and the Community Standards & Policies set forth below, which apply to behavior in and around the residential buildings and at all Residential Life–sponsored activities held off campus.
Please refer to the CCA Student Handbook for more information about additional campus policies and the college’s Code of Conduct.
Residential Community Standards & Policies
Alcohol (Avenue Apartments, Clifton Hall, and Irwin Hall)
Alcohol (Webster Hall)
Drugs
Smoking (Avenue Apartments, Clifton Hall, and Irwin Hall)
Smoking (Webster Hall)
Bicycles and recreational wheeled devices
Automobiles, motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters
Noise
Elevators
Security
Visitation and room guests
Windows and restricted areas
Furniture
Room, floor/section, and kitchen responsibility
Destroying, damaging, or tampering with property
Pets
Room and public area decorating
Obstruction of common areas
Fire safety
Firearms, weapons, fireworks, and dangerous chemicals
Solicitation
Room transfers
Failure to comply
Disorderly conduct
Harassment
Residential Community Standards & Policies
Alcohol (Avenue Apartments, Clifton Hall, & Irwin Hall)
The college college expects students to abide by all federal, state and local laws regarding the use of alcohol. It is a violation of state and federal law and campus policy for minors (under 21) to purchase, possess or be under the influence of alcohol. It is also a violation of the law and College college policy for anyone of legal drinking age (21 or older) to supply, sell or furnish alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.
A. No person may possess, consume, or be in the presence of alcoholic beverages and alcohol beverage containers outside of the residence hall.
B. No person may possess, consume, or be in the presence of alcoholic beverages and alcohol beverage containers inside any part of the residence hall.
C. Devices designed for the rapid consumption of alcohol (e.g., beer bongs or funnels) are prohibited and subject to confiscation. Kegs, beer balls, and other common source containers are prohibited.
D. No person may possess alcohol beverage containers in their room as decoration.
E. No person may be under the influence of alcohol at any time in any residential area.
Alcohol (Webster Hall)
The college college recognizes that many of the students who reside in Webster Hall are over the age of 21 and legally allowed to consume alcoholic beverages. This policy is designed to respect the right of these residents to choose to responsibly consume alcohol while maintaining a safe and academically conducive residential environment.
A. No person may possess open containers or consume alcoholic beverages outside the residence halls or in public areas inside the residence halls. Persons 21 years of age or older may consume alcoholic beverages in the following places only: in their own room or in a room with an assigned occupant also 21 years of age or older with the room door closed.
B. Alcohol and alcohol consumption is not allowed in common areas including the kitchen, first floor lobby, lounges, studios, laundry room, bathrooms and hallways. At no time should alcohol or the consumption of alcohol be visible from public areas.
C. Devices designed for the rapid consumption of alcohol (e.g., beer bongs or funnels) are prohibited and subject to confiscation. Kegs, beer balls, and other common source containers are prohibited.
D. Rooms in which only persons less than 21 years of age live are considered "dry" rooms. Alcohol is prohibited in all dry rooms.
E. No person less than 21 years of age may possess, consume, or be in the presence of alcoholic beverages and alcohol beverage containers in their room (including decorative collections).
Drugs
To promote an environment of artistic and academic excellence and to comply with the requirements of the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act and the Drug Free Workplace Act, academic and staff employees and students:
A. Are prohibited from the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession or use of a controlled substance in the workplace, on college premises, at college college activities, or while conducting College college business.
B. Shall not use or be under the influence of illicit drugs at any time in any residential area.
C. Shall not possess drug related paraphernalia (which is defined as all equipment, material, and products intended or designed for use in growing, processing, harvesting, storing, concealing, ingesting, inhaling, or consuming a controlled substance) including but not limited to bongs, pipes, and hookahs (even for tobacco use) in the residence halls and around the adjacent property of the residence halls.
D. Shall not transfer or sell illicit drugs or controlled substances (as defined by local, state, and federal laws).
E. Shall not inhale or ingest substances (e.g., nitrous oxide, glue, paint) that will alter a student’s mental state is prohibited.
Smoking (Avenue Apartments, Clifton Hall, and Irwin Hall)
A. Smoking tobacco products or any other substance is prohibited within 50 feet of all residence hall facilities.
B. Smoking tobacco products or any other substance is prohibited in all residence hall facilities including stairwell towers, balconies, landings, entryways, playgrounds, and near windows.
Smoking (Webster Hall)
Smoking tobacco products in Webster Hall is permitted only in the designated smoking lounge on the fifth floor.
A. Smoking tobacco products or any other substance is prohibited in all other residence hall facilities, including but not limited to rooms, kitchens, stairwell towers, balconies, landings, entryways, playgrounds, and near windows.
Bicycles and recreational wheeled devices
A. Bicycles (including motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters) are not allowed in the living spaces of the residence halls.
B. Bicycles may not be parked in walkways, hallways, stairways, or entranceways. Illegally parked bicycles will be impounded at the campus police station.
C. Persons may not ride bicycles within the residence halls or on covered pedestrian walkways.
D. The use of recreational wheeled devices (including, but not limited to skateboards, kick scooters, roller skates, or in-line skates) is prohibited anywhere in the residence halls, including stairwell towers. Persons may use these devices on walkways adjacent to the residence halls for transportation only (i.e., no acrobatics) and with due regard for pedestrian rights.
Automobiles, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters (Avenue Apartments, Clifton Hall, and Irwin Hall)
Residents are not permitted to own or possess an automobile for use at CCA while residing in CCA housing. This includes parking any vehicle on campus or in the Rockridge neighborhood surrounding campus.
Noise
In order to be successful and healthy, residents need to be able to get an adequate amount of quiet time to sleep, study, and create as needed. Quiet Hours have been established with input from residents to ensure an acceptable amount of time each week to achieve these goals.
During Quiet Hours, residents are expected to monitor and control their noise levels. Most violations of Quiet Hours involve loud music or talking, social gatherings of four or more people in a single room, unattended alarms, public disturbances and other excessive noise that may disturb residents who are trying to sleep or study. Please be considerate of your neighbors in this respect. Concurrent with this policy:
A. Courtesy Hours: Courtesy hours are in effect at all times; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Noise originating anywhere on one floor should not be audible within another floor, within the building or outside. During courtesy hours a resident may ask another resident to reduce the noise.
B. Quiet Hours: During the established quiet hours, noise (including, but not limited to music, voices, laughter) coming from a student’s room, lounge or bathroom must not be audible within the rooms of other students or within another floor/section/house or building. Students must also keep noise in the hallways to a minimum. Office of Residential Life staff will confront violations with or without a complaint from another student.
C. Extended Quiet Hours: The final week of each semester is an intense and stressful time for CCA students. Extended Quiet Hours will begin the Sunday night before finals and continue until the completion of finals week. Signs will be posted reminding residents of these extended Quiet Hours the week prior.
D. Due to the proximity of rooms and apartments, no amplified music is allowed at any time. Amplified music includes electric instruments, large speakers, etc.
Elevators
A. Persons may not tamper with or ride on top of an elevator at any time.
B. Ringing the elevator bell in nonemergency situations is prohibited.
Security
A. Residents must lock their doors when they are not in their rooms and must securely close and lock outside doors at all times.
B. Residents may not prop open or allow any floor exit door or building exit door to be propped open. Residents may not allow people who are not their guests into the building in which they live.
C. No person will be permitted to enter a resident's room without the expressed consent of the residents who live in that room. The last part of this section does not prohibit Residential Life staff members and emergency personal from entering rooms in conjunction with the performance of their duties as covered in the terms and conditions of the residence hall contract (agreement).
D. Residents may not borrow keys and/or key cards from each other or loan keys and/or key cards to anyone. Residents must return keys and key cards immediately upon check out or reassignment and must report any lost or stolen keys and key cards.
E. Tampering with keys and key cards or card access is prohibited.
Visitation and room guests
A. Residents are responsible for and can be held accountable for the behavior of their guests. Residents of a room may be held responsible for the behavior that takes place inside the room whether or not the residents are present. It is the resident’s responsibility to inform their guests of Residential Life and college policies.
B. For reasons of security and consideration, students must obtain their roommate’s consent prior to an overnight guest’s arrival.
C. Residents must escort their guest(s) at all times.
D. Overnight guests may reside for a maximum of three consecutive nights. This includes CCA residential students who are not residents of the particular room or apartment they are visiting. Residents may only have overnight guests for a maximum of 15 nights each semester.
Windows & window screens, objects from windows, and restricted areas
A. Tampering with any part of residence hall windows is prohibited.
B. Residents may not climb through windows.
C. Throwing, pouring, or dropping anything (including keys) from windows, balconies, ledges, or landings is strictly prohibited.
D. Persons are not permitted at any time to be on roof, ledge, or balcony areas, or to place objects on these areas. Climbing on any exterior building wall or similar structure is not permitted.
E. Residents are not allowed in the Clifton parking garage except for in an emergency.
Furniture
A. All furniture assigned to student rooms and apartments must remain in the room and apartment. No furniture is to be removed from rooms by students. Residents may be billed for leaving furniture in hallways. Residents may not disassemble any college furniture, including beds, mattresses, desks, desk chairs, refrigerator units, dressers, sinks, closet doors, and light fixtures, without prior approval from a Residential Life professional staff member.
B. No furniture is to be removed from floor lounges or other public areas.
C. Water-beds and other water-filled furniture are not allowed in any college housing.
D. Each residential room is provided with an approved refrigerator unit. Students are limited to the use of that one CCA provided refrigerator unit per residential room.
Room, floor/section and kitchen responsibility
A. Each resident is responsible for the proper care of his/her room, kitchen, lounge, and bathroom. Individual residents must pay for any charges assessed for damages in their rooms.
B. All residents using the community kitchens are responsible for cleaning the stoves, ovens, and maintaining a clean common space.
C. All residents are responsible for floor damages (including but not limited to microwaves, televisions, exit signs, etc.) and will equally pay for charges assessed to the floor/section/house as appropriate.
D. Personal trash may not be left or disposed of in community areas (i.e., hallways, bathrooms, lounges, stairways). Each resident is responsible for properly disposing of garbage and boxes and by not creating unnecessary messes in hallways, individual student rooms, lounges, kitchens, and bathrooms.
Destroying, damaging or tampering with property
The willful destruction or damage of college property or personal property is prohibited. Marking directly on walls and other college property is considered vandalism and is not permitted anywhere. Persons may be assessed restitution for damages to college property.
Note: Publicity items created by staff members including, but not limited to bulletin boards, materials on bulletin boards and signage are included in this category.
Pets
A pet is defined as any domesticated or tame animal that is kept as a companion.
A. For health and safety reasons, no pets, except aquarium, nonhazardous, tropical fish in a tank of no more than five (5) gallons are permitted in any residence hall. Pet owners must also have the full consent of their roommate(s).
B. Residents are responsible for the proper care and cleanliness of their pet.
C. All unapproved pets or animals are prohibited regardless of length of stay or visit.
D. During holiday breaks and intersession periods, all pets must be taken with the student. Residential Life is not responsible for any pet that is left within a room.
Note: Exceptions to this policy for certified service animals must be made in advance and in conjunction with an official request for accommodation made to the director of access and wellness services.
Room and public area decorating policy
Residents are encouraged to personalize their rooms and decorate public areas within established guidelines. Residents should seek the advice of staff members before beginning to personalize their rooms.
A. Residents are not permitted to make structural changes to any part of the residence hall.
B. Students are prohibited from painting residence hall rooms or common areas.
C. No fabric may be hung from ceilings or draped on walls.
D. Standing any kind of object on outside windowsills is prohibited.
E. No lofts are permitted in rooms except for college-provided loft/bunk beds. Placing beds on or over desks, dressers, windowsills, radiators, etc., is prohibited except for college-provided lofts.
F. No alcohol signs, cans, bottles, neon signs, posters, aluminum foil, solicitation, personal messages, or other materials may be displayed in or attached to room windows.
G. Pushpins, tacks, and masking tape may be used to hang pictures on walls. Residents may not use nails, mounting squares, or scotch tape.
H. Evacuation plans and signage on doors may not be removed or covered.
Obstruction of common areas
Exits, hallways, stairwells, and fire lanes may not be blocked in any fashion. Items left in these areas will be removed if they present a fire hazard. Bicycles must be parked either outside of the building or in designated bike storage areas as outlined in the bicycle policy.
Fire safety
Fire prevention is of critical importance in a large community because so many lives can be endangered by accidents or careless actions. The following regulations have been established for the safety of the residential community:
A. EVACUATION — Immediate evacuation when an alarm sounds, and/or emergency flashing lights have been activated and/or when instructed to do so by appropriate hall staff is mandatory. Re-entry into a building before receiving confirmation from appropriate hall staff, public safety, the fire department, or other emergency personnel is prohibited. Re-entry is not permitted while the alarm is sounding. For safety reasons, using an elevator to evacuate a building is not permitted.
B. COOKING — Persons should not leave their food items unattended on the stove or in the oven at any time. Persons are responsible for the proper use of approved cooking appliances and attention to food items while using the appliances.
C. COOKING APPLIANCES — Persons are allowed to use the following items in their room or kitchen areas: electric fondue pots, air-stream ovens, electric crock pots, coffee pots, hot-dog cookers, frying pans, drip coffee makers, toasters (not toaster ovens), bread makers and popcorn poppers. These items are permitted so long as they are single units with sealed heating elements. Convenience items such as blenders, mixers, can openers, and juicers are also permitted.
(Note: The following items are permitted, but may be used only in kitchen areas: toaster ovens, electric hamburger cookers, waffle irons, ceramic sealed hot plates, hot plates with exposed coils, deep fryers, and counter-top electric grills without flames (e.g., “George Foreman TM” grills.)
D. CANDLES & INCENSE — Possession or use of all candles and incense for any purpose is prohibited in the residence halls.
E. EXTENSION CORDS / MULTIPLUG ADAPTORS — For the protection of the residential community, residents are permitted to use extension cords with the following restrictions:
- Only UL (Underwriters Laboratories) certified three-prong grounded extension cords are permitted to be possessed and used inside the residence halls.
- Only UL (Underwriters Laboratories) certified multiplug adapters with circuit breakers are permitted to be possessed and used inside the residence halls.
F. RESIDENCE HALL DECORATIONS
- Strands of lights (holiday lights) may be used in residence hall rooms but may not be plugged into each other to create a string of lights.
- No flags, banners, or other cloth/flammable decorations are to be hung on or from the ceiling.
G. HALOGEN LAMPS — All “floor style” halogen lamps are prohibited in residence halls. Halogen lamps specifically designed and marketed as desk lamps that have a bulb that is fully unexposed behind a solid glass casing that is unable to be tampered with and is at 50 watts or fewer are acceptable. Only UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories) approved lamps can be used in the residence halls.
H. SPRINKLERS — Residents are not permitted to hang items from, cover, or otherwise tamper with fire sprinkler devices.
I. FIRE-SAFETY EQUIPMENT — Tampering with the fire alarms, smoke detectors, extinguishers, hoses, exit signs, instruction signs, or other equipment is prohibited.
Firearms, weapons, fireworks, and dangerous chemicals
A. Possession or use of weapons or ammunition is not permitted in the residence halls. This includes but is not limited to: firearms, rifles, stun guns, BB guns, paint-ball guns, bows and arrows, switch blades, knives (except a common pocket knife), nun chucks, martial arts or medieval weapons, and sling shots. No exceptions to this policy are made for participation in special classes.
B. Possession, storage, or use of toy guns or weapons, especially those which launch projectiles and/or resemble real weapons are not permitted.
C. Flammable liquids and solvents (gasoline, kerosene, lighter fluid, propane, etc.) may not be stored in resident rooms or living areas. All flammable art supplies should be used and stored in a safe manner.
Solicitation
Soliciting is defined as door-to-door selling, leafleting, and pamphleteering or verbal proselytizing. In order to maximize residents’ privacy and security, soliciting in residential areas is prohibited at all times. Students should contact a Residential Life staff member if they are approached by a solicitor.
Room transfers
Residents may not change room assignments without receiving official authorization from the Office of Residential Life.
Failure to comply
A. Residential Life staff members and Public Safety Officers are authorized to make reasonable requests of residents and other students while performing their duties. Each student is obligated to comply with these requests, which may include providing identification, evacuating a room or building, discontinuing behavior that violates policy, or assisting in the confiscation or disposal of prohibited items.
B. Students are required to schedule or maintain appointments with staff members when asked to do so in conjunction with the staff members’ duties.
C. All students must carry their CCA ID card with them at all times. Residents and their guests must present proper identification when requested to do so by identified Residential Life staff members, college Public Safety officers, or other college officials upon request.
Disorderly conduct
The residence halls are shared living spaces and it is each resident’s responsibility to help maintain a safe and positive living environment. Conduct that disrupts the normal functioning of residents or staff members, threatens the health and welfare of a community member, or endangers personal or college property will not be tolerated.
This includes but is not limited to water fights, sports in hallways, throwing or dropping objects from windows or balconies, tampering with elevators, skateboarding in the halls, etc.
Harassment
California College of the Arts is committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which individuals are free of harassment. Harassment is a violation of residential standards. Concerns regarding harassment can be brought to a Residential Life staff member.
Please review the policy regarding harassment set forth in the Student Handbook.
Residence Hall Life
Students make a Midnight Mural