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Printer-Friendly ModeHealth and Safeties inspections misguided
April 9, 2007 —
When did the University take the place of my mother?
That's what I've been asking myself for the past two and a half years while living on campus. No, SVSU didn't make me chicken soup when I came down with the flu the other week. Nor did it hang my CIS 366 quiz on the fridge when I got 19 out of 20 correct.
But it did ask me to make my bed and vacuum my floor.
To all on-campus residents at SVSU, the term "Health and Safeties" is surely a familiar phrase.
For the commuters, maybe this phrase has yet to join their repertoire. So if you have not had the pleasure, let me quickly explain Health and Safeties.
Health and Safeties are (roughly) monthly inspections conducted by a resident's Resident Assistant or Community Manager. All campus housing units, including the Village and Pine Grove apartments, are included in the fun. Each resident has to successfully pass a checklist of items before they are cleared. If a room cannot/does not meet the standards after repeated warnings, the residents will have to pay a minimum $50 fine, per the 2006-2007 University Housing Handbook.
This all sounds great - I'll be the first to admit that on-campus rooms could use a good checkup for health and safety every now and again. But here's the kicker: many of the items on an average Health and Safety checklist have nothing to do with maintaining a healthy and safe environment in campus housing.
In my experience, common items checked during a Health and Safety can include: made beds, vacuumed/mopped floors, spotty mirrors, and dusty appliances. When is the last time a student has been struck ill because his roommate's bed sheets were in disarray? Have you ever heard of un-vacuumed carpets posing a risk to a resident's safety? And spots on the mirror? Come on, people!
How can any university justify a policy that regularly requires an inspection of its residents' mirrors? Unless we're being prepped for boot camp, I don't see what that has to do with anything.
The on-campus experience is an amazing chance to learn how to become a functional, independent adult. And for better or worse, mistakes and unpleasant experiences (see pile of dirty dishes in sink) are all a part of the learning process.
The Health and Safety policy, at the very least, is moderately annoying and somewhat invasive for the average resident.
But it also has the potential of becoming a crutch - how will we learn to take the initiative and do the dishes if we're required to do them?
So here's what I propose: don't get rid of Health and Safeties - we have a good thing going here. I am all in favor of having inspections that periodically check for unhealthy and unsafe situations in the dorms and apartments.
I've spent a long time in on-campus housing, and have seen students concoct some very clever ways of hurting themselves and the rooms.
What is needed, however, is a revamped policy on what should be checked during these routine inspections.
Look for the candles, drugs, and assorted reptiles in the cupboards and walls, but don't fret over ruffled bed sheets and spotty impressions on the mirror.
Let's not waste the resident's patience or the RA's/CM's time over petty details.
Besides, I already have a mother, and one is enough for me.