Last week, campus residents received an e-mail from Residential Life, giving residents 24 hour advanced notice of impending room inspections, as mandated by the University Housing License.
The New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control is conducting its annual fire safety check ‘ a mandatory inspection of all state facilities. Being a SUNY school, Binghamton University is included in the roster of facilities to be checked.
In past years, the only buildings inspected were academic, office and recreational buildings. However, this year will be slightly different, as fire marshals will be inspecting student rooms as well.
‘The inspection teams will not be checking every single room on campus,’ said Ren√É© Coderre, Residential Life’s assistant director of facilities. ‘They are only required to check 20 percent of student rooms, which are chosen at random.’
A team consisting of the fire marshal and a member of the Residential Life staff will be the only people entering the rooms. They will check for various Housing Policy infringements, including incense, candles, extension cords and animals. For more information on banned or prohibited items, students should refer to the University Housing License, which contains all the necessary information.
If a policy infringement is found in a student’s room, a letter is sent to them explaining the fire code violation. The fire marshal is then required to return within 30 days to make sure the violation has been rectified.
If not, the University will be fined by the state, and that fine will be passed on to the student. In some cases, the student may also be brought before the University Judicial Board and charged under failure to cooperate.
Regardless of the rules, campus residents have specific rights when it comes to fire inspection.
According to the University Housing License, article XIII, item 9, ‘The University reserves the right to inspect rooms, suites and apartments in the interest of health, safety, cleanliness and property control. A minimum of 24 hours’ notice will be given prior to such inspections.’
Students cannot refuse inspectors access to their rooms so long as the appropriate advanced notice has been given. Also, inspection teams have the right to check your room even if it is unoccupied at the time.
However, once in your room, inspectors can only check what is out in the open. No inspector is allowed to open drawers, bags, trunks or anything closed. Nor can they ask you to open said objects yourself.
If you feel that your rights have been violated in any way, the services of the University ombudsman, Francine Montemurro, are available. The ombudsman is the designated neutral campus representative who can offer students confidential advice and assistance in handling any situation.
The inspections began last week, but because of the number of residential communities, will continue for a three-week span. Inspections for College-in-the-Woods, Newing College and Dickinson Community have already been completed without any problems.
‘The students have been very good with the inspections,’ said Coderre. ‘Everyone so far has been cooperative and the inspections are going well.’