Dorm visitation hours may soon get a makeover, thanks to recent student interest in the policy.
A survey was released by Housing and Residence Life last week via email to on-campus students, asking for their input on visitation policy.
"Our res life staff earlier last semester had just started talking about so many of our judicials are related to visitation," said Kim Trupp, director of Housing and Residence Life. "So they started talking early on last semester, about taking a look at our visitation hours as they are, and do we need to consider expanding them, and of course you know the first people we want to ask are our residents."
Trupp said the release of the survey coincided with interest gathered from a Facebook group petitioning to change the dorm visitation hours.
"It all kind of came together at the end of the semester," Trupp said.
The survey was originally submitted to Housing and Residence Life by Timothy Dunlap, freshman in electrical engineering and physics. The survey was then modified and released.
Dunlap said he gained an interest in visitation hours after reading an article on the policy in The Plainsman last semester. He said he was not aware of the Facebook petition until after he had submitted the survey.
"I first went to my hall director who referred me to the area director, and he was the person who gave me the idea to run a survey to submit," Dunlap said.
Dunlap said he submitted his survey to his hall director, who then passed it on to Housing and Residence Life, where it was modified and released.
"I was trying to do things as close to by the book as I could," Dunlap said.
Dunlap said a few changes were made to his original survey.
"Well one difference is, the thing that I'm really going for is 24-hour visitation all week, and there are a number of reasons why I think that would be the best option," Dunlap said. "One of the questions goes along the lines of, 'What do you think the policy should be?' and they cut out a 24- hour option all week. That was not one of the options you could put."
Trupp said an 'other' box was left for students to write in suggestions if their preferred option was not listed on the survey.
According to Trupp, the survey contained several features besides a list of options for visitation hours.
She said several other SEC schools' visitation policies were listed to give students a frame of reference while taking the survey.
Students were also given the option to list concerns they had about expanded visitation hours, such as too much noise or not enough privacy.
Students were also asked if they had ever been documented for a visitation violation.
"It's good to know the thoughts of those who have been documented versus those who have not," Trupp said.
Trupp said the surveys are confidential and participants in the survey could not be identified.
Trupp said if any changes are made to the visitation policy, they will not be implemented until the fall.
She said the results would first need to be examined with other administrators, such as Ainsley Carry, the vice president of student affairs.
"We'll present the findings and the results to them, make our recommendations, and then the discussion begins," Trupp said.
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