Veishea is celebration for sharing Iowa State with the world, but if students plan on sharing their own slice of university real estate with one or more of the thousands of campus visitors, a bit of common sense will help them avoid any run-ins with the Department of Residence.

Disruptions do occur – including damage to university property, which cannot be attributed to any student or visitor. Sally Deters, residence life coordinator for the Department of Residence, said major incidents involving overnight visitors to the residence halls are rare.

“We haven’t had any problems with visitors in the dorms lately that I can think of and Veishea doesn’t seem to be a particular problem with that,” Deters said.

Visitor policy in the residence halls begins with the roommate contract. Roommates have to decide under what conditions they will allow overnight guests and what is expected of the host. If roommates decide to allow overnight visitors, Department of Residence policy permits them to stay no longer than three consecutive nights.

During that time, the host is responsible for the actions of the guest as well as granting them access to facilities such as locked buildings and restrooms. Because residence hall contracts grant keys only to the contract holder, hosts are not permitted to give guests their keys to gain access. If some kind of incident occurs, the host is liable for the actions or damages caused by the guest. Deters said minor problems are usually settled by a community advisor or hall director. In more severe cases, residents can be called to a judiciary meeting and have the incident noted on their record.

Violations of the guest policy itself are recorded as violations of a resident’s contract with the Department of Residence, not violations of university policy. A simple infraction for having a guest stay too long may result in only a warning. In incidents involving damage to facilities or vandalism that may violate other applicable university policies, the host is directly responsible for paying for necessary repairs. However, Deters said responsible guests should take responsibility for their own actions.

“We have had situations where a guest would vandalize. Our policy is pretty clear, but I would guess the guest would pay for the damage to their host,” Deters said.

Roy Salcedo, residence hall coordinator for lower Friley Hall, said students need to be particularly mindful of issues such as finding bathroom facilities for guests of the opposite gender and remembering that “wet” rooms only allow alcohol when both roommates are of age. He said last year’s celebration set a good precedent for host and visitor behavior during Veishea.

“There were some incidents, but that is understood with a busy weekend,” Salcedo said. “I think people understand that if you have somebody come over, you are responsible for whatever they do while they are here.”