To Call or Not to Call
A student knocks on your door and shared that a toilet is leaking. When you check, you see there is a puddle, but its fairly small and doesn't seem to be leaking fast. To call or not to call?
Call! Even if it doesn't currently seem "bad" any leaking water could cause larger issues if left alone... especially if the leak gets worse and it is unmonitored.
Remember, even if you call and a coordinator attends, be sure to complete your work order!
On your way out of the building on Friday, you see a student walking through the lobby with an open beer bottle . Do you need to speak address this?
YUP! Drinking is limited to private spaces in the community, like student rooms, suite style kitchens, and floor common rooms. Bottles are firmly prohibited in residence. If a student is seen with beer bottles (opened or unopened) you need to ask them to dispose of it immediately.
The appropriate length of time for submitting all documents (HalkTalks, Security Reports, IRs)
24 Hours!
IR!
Documenting situations, such as clothing left behind on laundry machines, allows us to track which communities may need a reminder to remove their items as soon as the machine is done. Tracking these concerns helps us identify trends and ensure the issue does not escalate.
You receive a noise complaint for a unit, but when you knock on the door to address it the music is too loud so no one answers. What are your next steps?
Students are loud after quiet hours, so you remind them to be quiet and they immediately quiet down. Do you document the situation?
YES! It is after quiet hours so a policy violation has occurred, therefore an incident report is required!
Simple swap. If you take out the duty keys, what should take it's place?
Your safe tag! Ensuring the tags are accurate allows quick connections to be made with the right people if the keys are needed.
One of your students come share that their roommate is never cleaning up their items and asked for facilities to clean their space. Work Order? IR? Both?
IR! This situation is supported by Residence Life, not Residence Facilities. Our Facilities colleagues are here to assist with cleaning public areas, but they do not clean up after students or support cleaning student rooms.
A student tells you they think their roommate stole $20 from their wallet. What are your next steps?
Call the Coordinator On-Call!
Thefts should always be reported to the Coordinator On Call. Depending on the nature, SCS may need to be looped in to provide additional resources to the student.
You live at 201 Lester. A student is smoking a cigarette at the front of the building, do you need to address the behaviour?
YES! Smoking is prohibited in all buildings and grounds owned, leased or operated by the university. Therefore this would need to be addressed and documented.
Residence Hall > the RESIDENCE building either where the incident occurred or where the student lives.
A student admitted to smoking in their room, and shows you their desk which has burn marks on it. Work order? IR? Both?
BOTH! You will need to submit both so that a conduct process can be run, but also so the damages to the facilities can be addressed.
I smell a smell smell, that smells a lot like cannabis. But, I can't determine where the scent is coming from. Do I call the coordinator on-call?
Nope! For this scenario, you need to document the general location of the smell in an Incident report.
You should be knocking on doors to try to locate the scent when appropriate, and rechecking the area in 10–15 minutes to ensure the scent is dissipating."
Students are loud after quiet hours, so you remind them to be quiet, and they immediately quiet down. They ask if this conversation will count as a warning, like the one from the other Don in the community.
Do you document the situation?
YESSS!
Student staff should never issue warnings. Policy reminders are part of our conduct process, but these need to be tracked through Incident Reports, as you have no way of knowing how many 'warnings' a student has already received.
Ring ring ring, Duty Don Sarah speaking... hello? Hello? Sigh, no ones there.
Does this need to be documented in your Security Report?
Yes, yup, yahuh. All calls, spam or not, need to be tracked in your Security Report. Your report should also contain an overview of your rounds and any incidents or casual conversations you had that evening!
You are walking down the hallway and notice a racial slur written in pencil on the wall. You call the coordinator on call and they ask you to do the documentation. Work order? IR? Both?
BOTH! If the vandalism was just covered in the moment, a work order is required to have a long term solution in place. An incident report is needed so we can provide support and conduct follow up.
You know a student moved out of this room a few days ago, and before they left, you noticed the room was messy and had an issue with ladybugs. You want to check if the issue was resolved before it impacts their neighbor, but you don't think an RCR has been completed. So, you have the master keys... to call or not to call?
CALL! You should never be keying into a students room without the On-Call Coordinators approval, unless there is an RCR that needs to be completed.
A student calls you about a concerning image drawn on a whiteboard outside your door. You go take a look and it is a racially motivated image. You take a photo, do you erase the image to lessen impact?
NO! Do not erase the image, you can try to cover it to reduce impact, but SCS will need to attend and see the original concern for their documentation process.
You’re tired; it’s been a long day. During your 1:00 AM round, you notice that three common rooms had different conduct concerns that needed to be addressed, and a few students required noise reminders while walking around. I’ve completed my IRs, so I guess it’s time for bed… Yay or Nay?
Nay! If the building is still active, you are required to do additional rounds. Rounds don’t conclude until the building is settled, even if it’s not a shift of continuous rounds. You should do another round to ensure everything is in order in the community.
A smoke detector is beeping in a unit. Work Order? IR? Both?
TRICK QUESTION! You need to call up to the coordinator on-call to get it addressed in the moment as it is a concern of life safety measures. But, still complete a work order to ensure the follow up is tracked.