When the Warden is away

I am away on leave from Monday 5th June until Wednesday 14th June 2017, and will not be able to reply to email or social media messages between those dates.

I will aim to catch up with correspondence received whilst I am away no later than Monday 19th June.

But you don't necessarily have to wait until then for a reply! Read below to see if your query could be dealt with by someone else sooner.




If you need a landlord or tenancy reference:

• Email info.connaught@london.ac.uk.

For all very urgent or emergency problems:

• Go to reception or phone 020 7756 8200 and ask to speak with the duty manager (during office hours, normally 9 till 5, Monday to Friday) or the duty senior member (evenings, nights and weekends).
• In very serious cases, Hall staff can contact me for guidance 24 hours a day, and can also call on the help of a warden from another hall of residence if a senior presence is urgently required on site.

If you want to meet with me after I return:

• Visit this link and follow the instructions to make an appointment in one of the "Available" appointment slots - warden-contact.connaught-hall.org.uk.

For suggestions about the Hall or facilities (including catering):

• Email suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk. Your message will automatically be forwarded to me, the Hall Manager, catering management team, and facilities senior member.

For noise complaints:

• Visit noise.connaught-hall.org.uk. If you follow the instructions there, either the duty senior member or the senior member living on your floor will be able to help you while the Warden is away.

To request an exception to the rules about guests (e.g. extra overnight guests, or extra nights):

• The Hall Manager will deputise for me on this function. Email info.connaught@london.ac.uk.

If you need a landlord reference, bank letter, or proof of address:

• Email info.connaught@london.ac.uk.

For queries about accommodation fees / deposits:

• Email ahd.finance@london.ac.uk.

For queries about your accommodation contract / swapping rooms / leaving early / applying for admission or re-admission:

• Email info.halls@london.ac.uk.

For queries about senior member recruitment:

• Email ULRecruit@london.ac.uk. In particular, all feedback request must go through the formal HR channels.

For anything else:

• Many queries can be answered by reading guidance that we've already published. So remember to check:

1. the Hall Handbook;
2. our "How can we help you?" poster; and
3. answers to frequently-asked questions.

• These and many more helpful resources were included in your welcome pack (click to follow the link).

Welcome speech 27 September 2016

Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying this evening. If we haven’t already met, I’m Adrian, your Warden. And I have just a few brief things to say tonight. 

First, to everyone, let me extend a very big, warm welcome to the Hall.I hope we've made your first days or weeks here comfortable, friendly, and relaxed. And I hope you’ve been able to connect with plenty of people at our social events and in our lovely Hall bar. 

I can already see a close and supportive community forming between us all this year. Living at Connaught will give you the opportunity to forge great friendships and happy memories that I hope you will carry with you for a lifetime.

All of us on the team are so happy that you have joined us at Connaught. I speak for all the staff when I say that it’s been an absolute pleasure to meet so many of you in the last few weeks. 

It’s natural that the year ahead will throw up challenges. Maybe it already has. Sometimes, it will be stressful. Some days, you won’t feel like university is the best time of your life.

If you do find yourself feeling like that, please know that it’s ok to reach out and talk about how you’re feeling. Remember that the staff, senior members, and I are here to help you. If there’s a problem, let us know about it. If you’re feeling worried, upset, afraid, or unhappy, talk to us. If you have a question, ask us.  

Each year, I try to include just one piece of advice in my welcome speech. Last year, I spoke about the importance of asking questions. This year, I want to highlight just how important kindness is.

Does anybody know who Saint Basil the Great was? ... Well, Saint Basil the Great really was a great guy. As well as writing much of the Eastern Christian liturgy, in Greece, he is the equivalent of Santa Claus, visiting children’s homes on 1st January and leaving them gifts. Back in the fourth century, Saint Basil wrote:

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

That was 1700 years ago, but now, there is good scientific evidence that being kind makes us happier. There seem to be specific neural pathways in our brain that are only activated when we show kindness to others. Research is showing us that kindness, compassion, giving, and volunteering are at least as beneficial for the person doing as for the person receiving.

I have another quote for you, this time from the 1980s: 

Life’s a bitch, and then you die.

None of us had a choice about being born, nor into what kind of life circumstances we were born into. Life is hard. And we all have a terrible prognosis – in fact, the worst prognosis: we’re all going to die. If we’re lucky, we’ll get old before we die, experiencing years of wrinkles and aching joints. So every one of us is facing inevitable existential catastrophe. Remembering this can help us to cultivate forgiveness and compassion – both towards others and towards ourselves.

Of course that guy shouted at you for no apparent reason: he’s dealing the best way he can with the reality of a tough existence. He doesn’t need your anger: he needs your compassion. Obviously that woman didn’t hold the door open for you: she’s preoccupied with just getting through the day. She doesn’t need your anger: she needs your compassion.

Being kind to others, though, is relatively easy. It can be a lot harder to be kind towards ourselves. We already said that mistakes are inevitable in other people. Well, guess what? It’s inevitable that we will make our mistakes, too.And it’s so important that we learn how to forgive ourselves and be kind to ourselves when we fall short of our own expectations. So, if things don’t always work out how you wanted, try to give yourself a break: allow forgiveness for yourself, have some self-compassion instead of punishing yourself, and move on.

Finally, let me tell you about some of the many opportunities to get involved in the life of the Hall this year. 

Think about standing for election to the Residents Club Committee. The Committee runs the Hall bar, organises most of the social events in Hall, and gets a budget of £7000 a year, plus any profits made from the bar. Being on the committee, you'll get to know nearly everyone in Hall and have a great time doing it. And it’s really good experience for your CV of working in a team. I will publish details this week about how to stand for election, and we'll be voting on Monday 10th October. 

If you want to help us improve the Hall itself, come to our facilities forums. We'll be advertising the first of those next month. Speak with Rajan about the facilities forums.

And if you want to enrich the cultural environment in which we live, think about getting involved with the multicultural students’ forum, which aims to bring the whole Hall together in celebration of festivals from all around the world. We’ll be starting off the multicultural calendar with Diwali next month. Speak with Daniel about getting involved in that.

These are just some of the ways to get involved this year. Make sure you stay up to date via the Hall Facebook group. Read the newsletters we send you, and look out for all the events posted on our notice boards.

Ok. I said I would be brief. So let me finish with a toast.Connaught this year is going to be a welcoming, supportive, and friendly home for us all here. So let’s raise our glasses…  To kindness, new beginnings, and new friends!

Noise complaints on the increase

We've been dealing with an increased number of noise complaints recently. So this would be a good time for everyone to review our rules & expectations about noise, and our top tips for preventing noise from souring the relationship between you and your neighbours:

Expectations & rules about noise
• We should all be able to study or rest without unreasonable disturbance from others at any time.
Residents — or their guests — who are unable to adhere to these guidelines will face disciplinary
action and possible removal from the Hall.
• You must make no noise audible from outside your room between 11.00 pm and 7.00 am.
• Excessively loud music and other noise are not allowed at any time of day. The Warden or his nominated Deputy (normally the Duty Senior Member) shall be the arbiter of whether noise is excessive, and his/her decision shall be final.
• If your neighbour asks you to be quieter, you must respond politely and cooperatively. 

Five top tips for reducing accidental noise
1. Talk to one another
• Respect others’ needs for quiet time: they may want to sleep or study at different times from you. Being unable to sleep or work when you need to can make you annoyed and stressed, and can seriously impact on your quality of life.
• So agree on quiet times with your neighbours, and other times when it might be ok to make a bit more noise. You can only do this by asking them: “Am I too noisy sometimes? How can I make it better for you?”
• Be polite and try to help if your neighbour knocks on your door and asks you to quieten down; next time it might be you asking for quiet!
2. Think carefully about how sound travels
• Most of us have at least eight immediate neighbours: one either side, three above, and three below. But when you’re thinking about noise, you should consider everyone on your section of corridor to be a neighbour, too.
• Our walls, floors, and ceilings are quite thin and transmit sound readily. You don’t have to be having a huge party to be making too much noise.
• It’s easy to cause noise for your neighbours without realising it, especially for anyone who lives underneath you: something dropping on the floor can make a really loud bang downstairs!
• Please, whenever you are up after 11pm, think very carefully if what you are doing might be keeping your neighbour awake, especially if you have visitors in your room.
3. Take your friends to a common room at night
• If you have more than one visitor after 11pm, it’s best to go to one of the common rooms, so as to avoid disturbing anyone.
4. Be extra quiet when you’re in the corridors after 11pm
• Noise travels further than you think, so talk quietly in corridors; and don’t run or shout in hallways or stairwells. One loud shriek or giggle could wake up everyone on the corridor.
• Pull doors closed quietly and push the handle down so the lock doesn’t click, especially at night. Slamming doors (especially when you have several friends in your room, maybe going to and from the bathroom) are one of the commonest noise complaints.
5. Be quiet when you’re outside the building, too
• In the garden, keep noise down at all times: even a little noise here echoes around the courtyard and can disturb people in rear-facing bedrooms.
• Outside the front of the building, don’t shout late at night: you can wake up almost half the Hall whose bedrooms face onto the square.

If you're suffering because of noise, we have a whole page of guidance that will help us to help you deal with the problem efficiently and effectively: noise.connaught-hall.org.uk

We can make the most effective types of intervention only if you call reception while the noise is still happening.

Contacting us at Connaught Hall

Hall residents - You should have received this email on Thursday 3rd December 2015.
If you didn't, it might be because it's gone to your junk / spam folder ... so the message is especially relevant to you!

Or it might be that you've changed your email address and haven't told us - in which case, please let us know your new email at info.connaught@london.ac.uk.


CONTACTING US AT CONNAUGHT HALL

We can help you most efficiently and effectively at Connaught Hall if you contact us using our published email addresses. There have been some cases recently where residents have used Facebook or other messaging tools to report problems, and this has caused delays in our response.

Our "How can we help you" poster is displayed prominently around the Hall and tells you the best way to contact us for pretty much any kind of query or problem. You can view the poster online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8aHo3-r-MQLN1EzMHZzSTQ2RXc/view. 

We aim to reply to most correspondence within three working days (in practice, we can often reply within one day, but at busy times can't guarantee this).

Another difficulty we have identified is that sometimes our emails can be diverted to your junk or spam folder. To ensure this doesn't happen, please take a few moments now to add the following addresses to your email address book, contacts, safe list, or white list:

• info.halls@london.ac.uk
• info.connaught@london.ac.uk
• warden@connaught-hall.org.uk
• noise@connaught-hall.org.uk
• suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk

Adding them to your address book could also make contacting us a little easier.
There's more information about how to contact me - and specifically how to arrange an appointment to meet - here: http://warden-contact.connaught-hall.org.uk/

Finally, please may I reiterate that it's best not to contact us about official queries or problems via Facebook, as this can lead to a delay in us responding to you.

As always, get in contact if you need any help or guidance. We depend on your feedback to help us get things right for you.

Welcome speech delivered by the Warden 27 September 2015

The Warden gave this speech at his welcome reception after dinner on Sunday 27 September 2015.

Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying this evening.

If we haven’t already met, I’m Adrian Clark, your Warden. And I have just a few brief things to say tonight.

First, to everyone, let me extend a very big, warm welcome to the Hall. I hope we've made your first days or weeks here comfortable, friendly, and relaxed.

Let me introduce some other members of the team…

We are all so happy that you have joined us at Connaught. It's been an absolute pleasure to meet so many of you in the last few weeks.

Our goal here is for everyone to feel a sense of belonging in our Hall community – for everyone to naturally want to look out for everyone else, so by the end of the year, we're not sharing this building with 235 strangers, but with 235 friends.

If you join us in working toward that goal, I promise you will make some amazing friends at Connaught Hall this year – forging friendships and great memories that I hope you will carry with you for a lifetime.

And we are going to offer you so many opportunities to get involved.

If you’re all about social events, stand for election to the Residents Club Committee. You'll get to know nearly everyone in Hall and have a great time doing it. There are posters everywhere explaining how to stand for election. We'll be voting next Wednesday.

If you want to help us improve the Hall itself, come to our facilities forums. We'll be advertising the first of those very soon.

And if you want to enrich the cultural environment in which we live, think about getting involved with the multicultural students’ forum, which aims to bring the whole Hall together in celebration of festivals from all around the world. 

Speeches like this are often full of advice that we all quickly forget. So I am going to share only one bit of advice tonight.

And that is, to ask questions.

Ask for information. If you're being being taught something you don't understand, ask your tutor to clarify. You won't be the only one who didn't get it first time.

Ask questions about things. Challenge the way things are done. If you're not happy with something on your course or here in hall, ask what we can do to make it better.

More importantly, ask questions about people. Ask how your neighbours are. Find out what makes them tick. Ask them what you can do to enrich their experience this year. Cultivate your interest in everyone around you. We can all learn so much from the people we share the world with – and they will like you for asking about them.

Ask questions of yourself, too. University is as much about getting to know yourself as it is learning your subject. Use this year to explore and expand your own preferences, your views, and your beliefs.

So… Ask questions everywhere you go. You may not find the answer to every question you ask, but you can at least enjoy the asking.

You know, I have a really good feeling about this year. We're going to have a great year together. But let's not pretend there won't be challenges. It's not always easy studying a new subject, in a new city, with new friends.

And it's ok sometimes to think “hey, actually this isn't the best time of my life”. It's normal to sometimes feel lost or sad. But please promise yourself now that if you're struggling with something, you will tell someone about it. Tell a friend, tell your tutor, tell your college welfare service, tell me or a senior member. We're all here to listen and to help.

Ok. I said I would be brief. So let me finish with a toast. Please raise your glass… To the best year ever!

FAQ: What can I do if I’m being disturbed by noise?

We have a whole web page with detailed instructions to help you deal with and report noise problems – whether it’s a banging radiator pipe or a neighbour playing music at 3am.

Visit noise.connaught-hall.org.uk for help.

FAQ: I’m feeling unhappy / lost / lonely / homesick. How can I find help?

It’s very normal to have some of these feelings some of the time, when you have moved to a new home to study something new. But if these kinds of feelings are severe, prolonged, or persistent, you should definitely ask for help.

It’s OK to say you’re not having the best time of your life!

There are lots of people around to support you as a student. Think about using some of these options:

• Talk to the Warden or a Senior Member – for contact details and how to book an appointment, visit http://warden-contact.connaught-hall.org.uk.
• Speak with your personal tutor at college.
• See one of the student counsellors at your college welfare service.
• Make an appointment to see your GP.
• Check our list of more help providers at http://bit.ly/1mIBcpn.

Guidance for residents who have been the subject of noise complaints

If you have been the subject of more than one or two noise complaints, you should recently have received a letter from the Senior Member on your floor. The back of the letter includes some tips on how to avoid any more complaints from your neighbours.

We understand that most of the time when people disturb their neighbours in Hall, it is unintentional – and often those making noise do not realise how loud they are being, or how much the sound might be travelling and disturbing others. So we are trying to raise awareness and help everyone get on better together, in the hope that none of these problems will escalate into disciplinary matters.
This is especially important as we move towards more exams and coursework deadline over the coming months.

NOISE: EXPECTATIONS AND RULES

Noise disturbance generally creates the most dissatisfaction with Hall life, and is the commonest reason for disciplinary action. Connaught Hall is a large hall of residence of mostly first-year undergraduate students in a busy part of London. So we do not expect complete silence all the time. But we do expect that everyone will be sensitive to the needs of their neighbours for quiet time.

We should all be able to study or rest without unreasonable disturbance from others at any time. Residents — or their guests — who are unable to adhere to these guidelines will face disciplinary action and possible removal from the Hall.

You must make no noise audible from outside your room between 11.00 pm and 7.00 am.

Excessively loud music and other noise are not allowed at any time of day. The Warden or his nominated Deputy (normally the Duty Senior Member) shall be the arbiter of whether noise is excessive, and his/her decision shall be final.

If your neighbour asks you to be quieter, you must respond politely and cooperatively.

SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU GET ON WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS

Most of us have at least eight immediate neighbours: one either side, three above, and three below. But when you’re thinking about noise, you should consider everyone on your section of corridor to be a neighbour, too.

Talk to one another

Respect others’ needs for quiet time: they may want to sleep or study at different times from you. Being unable to sleep or work when you need to can make you annoyed and stressed, and can seriously impact on your quality of life.

So agree on quiet times with your neighbours, and other times when it might be ok to make a bit more noise. You can only do this by asking them: “Am I too noisy sometimes? How can I make it better for you?”

Be polite and try to help if your neighbour knocks on your door and asks you to quieten down; next time it might be you asking for quiet!

Think carefully about how sound travels

Our walls, floors, and ceilings are quite thin and transmit sound readily. You don’t have to be having a huge party to be making too much noise.

It’s easy to cause noise for your neighbours without realising it, especially for anyone who lives underneath you: something dropping on the floor can make a really loud bang downstairs!

Please, whenever you are up after 11pm, think very carefully if what you are doing might be keeping your neighbour awake, especially if you have visitors in your room. 

Take your friends to a common room at night

If you have more than one visitor after 11pm, it’s best to go to one of the common rooms, so as to avoid disturbing anyone.

Be extra quiet when you’re in the corridors after 11pm

Noise travels further than you think, so talk quietly in corridors; and don’t run or shout in hallways or stairwells. One loud shriek or giggle could wake up everyone on the corridor.

Close doors quietly

Pull doors closed quietly and push the handle down so the lock doesn’t click, especially at night. Slamming doors (especially when you have several friends in your room, maybe going to and from the bathroom) are one of the commonest noise complaints.

Be quiet when you’re outside the building, too

In the garden, keep noise down at all times: even a little noise here echoes around the courtyard and can disturb people in rear-facing bedrooms.

Outside the front of the building, don’t shout late at night: you can wake up almost half the Hall whose bedrooms face onto the square.

How the Warden's time is used - February update

I can only say that my previous post did not have the desired effect, and an updated view of how I have been spending my time this term so far looks like this:

This is not what I enjoy about my role as Warden. Residents this year have not seen me working with them at social events and community building because all my time has been tied up with disciplinary issues. I am sorry this has been the case and once again, would like to ask everyone to help me. The Hall community as a whole this year could be getting much better value for money out of the service I can provide!

• Help me rebuild a positive Hall community. 

• Contribute to our events.

• Help us work out what activities you want organised in Hall, and work with us to organise them.

• Talk to your neighbours. Find out if there is anything you can do to make their time in Hall better. Have you been doing anything that annoyed them all last term? Tell them if you need their help with anything.

• Use our Hall bar. It's a valuable social space, but it won't survive without your custom and support. Don't drink your own alcohol in the bar, Bell room, or garden.

• Only smoke in the designated smoking area (in the garden), or on the pavement outside, well away from the main entrance.

• Keep quiet after 11pm.

• Don't go out onto balconies on the first floor.

• Be respectful of everyone around you. Remember our positive diversity message:

This is a safe space for everyone. Please join us in respecting and celebrating all our residents, staff, and guests, of every age, race, religion, sexuality, nationality, disability, and gender identity.

Finally, let me draw your attention to our goals & values statement. Help us work with you to deliver these for you.

We aim to provide a secure, supportive, and friendly environment in which our residents can study and socialise.

We hope that all our residents will call Connaught Hall “home”, and take many positive memories and good friends with them when they leave.

By encouraging our residents to participate in and contribute to the Hall community, we hope that they will learn to be self-directed and self-disciplined in their behaviour.
We aim to promote a spirit of neighbourliness and togetherness in our Hall community: an attitude that we can all take with us when we move on to other, wider neighbourhoods and communities. 

The needs of our residents, within the necessary limitations of good order, finance, and safety, take priority over other considerations at all times. 

We endeavour to help residents wherever we can. If we can reasonably say “yes” within the rules, we will not say “no”. 

We always strive to act fairly, honestly, and transparently. 

We deal with any problems sensitively and confidentially.

We do not tolerate personal harassment, nor discrimination against anyone because of their age, race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

How the Warden's time is used in Hall - and how to improve your Hall experience in terms 2 & 3

There has been a significant change this year in how my time at Connaught Hall is spent. The graphic below is based on the amount of new correspondence in my email folders about different activities. It compares how much time I have spent on eight different areas of activity in term 1 of 2014-15, compared with the average year.

Discipline (investigation, meetings, disciplinary panels & hearings, appeals, letter writing, and fine administration) and responding to formal complaints have taken up much more of my time this year than is usual.

The amount of time have to spend on the Hall is fixed, so other activities lose out from this increase in complaints and disciplinary work. Some areas of activity are pretty fixed (like recruiting and training senior members, and attending central University meetings) so the two major things that I've had to cut this year are:

• service improvement projects. Facilities Committee, suggestion box, and responding to residents' routine enquiries; and
• Hall community & social life activities (organising & attending events, supporting the Residents' Club Committee).

Ultimately, you, the residents, pay for the service I provide for you in Hall, through your accommodation fees. I should much rather use my time to support you through difficult patches, improve the overall service we provide in Hall, and promote a positive, supportive, social community that everyone can benefit from, than trawl through one disciplinary case after another. I am usually a community leader here in Hall; this year, I feel like a policeman. I don't enjoy that relationship with our residents, and I am sure it is not the best use of your accommodation fees.

If you share my view that it's better for me to spend time on activities that benefit all our residents, rather than issuing fines, responding to complaints, and chairing disciplinary panels, I need your help!

• From the start of the new term in January, work with me and my team of Senior Members. We're here to help you make the most of your time in London and at Connaught Hall. We're not the "bad cops"! (Unless you decide that's what you want us to do with your fees.)

• Help me rebuild a positive Hall community. 

• Contribute to our events.

• Help us work out what activities you want organised in Hall, and work with us to organise them.

• Talk to your neighbours. Find out if there is anything you can do to make their time in Hall better. Have you been doing anything that annoyed them all last term? Tell them if you need their help with anything.

• Use our Hall bar. It's a valuable social space, but it won't survive without your custom and support. Don't drink your own alcohol in the bar, Bell room, or garden.

• Only smoke in the designated smoking area (in the garden), or on the pavement outside, well away from the main entrance.

• Keep quiet after 11pm.

• Don't go out onto balconies on the first floor.

• Be respectful of everyone around you. Remember our positive diversity message:

This is a safe space for everyone. Please join us in respecting and celebrating all our residents, staff, and guests, of every age, race, religion, sexuality, nationality, disability, and gender identity.

Finally, let me draw your attention to our goals & values statement. Help us work with you to deliver these for you.

We aim to provide a secure, supportive, and friendly environment in which our residents can study and socialise.

We hope that all our residents will call Connaught Hall “home”, and take many positive memories and good friends with them when they leave.
By encouraging our residents to participate in and contribute to the Hall community, we hope that they will learn to be self-directed and self-disciplined in their behaviour.

We aim to promote a spirit of neighbourliness and togetherness in our Hall community: an attitude that we can all take with us when we move on to other, wider neighbourhoods and communities. 

The needs of our residents, within the necessary limitations of good order, finance, and safety, take priority over other considerations at all times.
We endeavour to help residents wherever we can. If we can reasonably say “yes” within the rules, we will not say “no”.
We always strive to act fairly, honestly, and transparently.
We deal with any problems sensitively and confidentially.
We do not tolerate personal harassment, nor discrimination against anyone because of their age, race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

Discipline in Hall - survey feedback

82 per cent of respondents to our survey last week were either satisfied (29 per cent) or very satisfied (53 per cent) with the rules and enforcement of discipline at Connaught Hall. Of those who wrote comments, eight people said we have got things about right; seven people said we are too strict; and three people said we should be more strict (mentioning noise and smoking problems).

I have some perspective to add to this. In the first eight weeks of this first term of 2014-15, I have chaired more disciplinary meetings than I did in the whole of the last academic year. I do not yet understand why we are facing so many disciplinary issues this year.

So far this year, I have dealt with 21 disciplinary cases in eight weeks. That is extraordinary. I have never started a year like this before.

Discipline isn't why I do this job. No one enjoys the experience of a disciplinary interview - on either side of the table. And it's time-consuming. I should much rather spend my limited "Warden" time providing welfare support, promoting wellness initiatives, organising events, working with your elected Residents' Club Committee, and improving the social and community aspects of our Hall. 

But sadly, this year, I am spending nearly all my time on disciplinary investigations, letters, meetings, and administration of fines, etc. That detracts from the service I can provide to everyone else.

In general, I dislike financial penalties. In contrast to what happens in many other halls of residence, my practice has always been to arrange a face-to-face meeting with anyone who is alleged to have done anything more than the most minor infringement of the rules. That way, I can help people understand what the rules are and why we have them, give them a chance to explain themselves, and usually avoid imposing a fine. But I cannot keep this practice up this year, with so many relatively serious cases of misconduct. 

So it is with regret that I am implementing a policy of summary penalties for the following offences, with effect from midnight tonight (13 November 2014). If a senior member or staff member personally witnesses one of these offences, the penalty will automatically be applied in writing, without a disciplinary meeting being convened.

Offence	1st incident	2nd incident	3rd incident
Covering a smoke detector	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall	N/A
Smoking inside the building	£50 fine and written warning	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall
Smoking in other prohibited area	£25 fine and written warning	£50 fine and second written warning	£100 fine and final warning
Access to first-floor balcony	£75 fine and written warning	£150 fine and final written warning	Expulsion from the Hall
Access to other roof or ledge on the Hall exterior	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall	N/A
Having an open container of alcohol not bought from the bar inside the bar, Bell room, or garden when the bar is open	£25 fine and written warning	£50 fine and second written warning	£100 fine and final warning

You will note these are all offences that are very clear-cut: either you were seen doing it or you were not. Other complaints, like noise, bullying, and harassment are more subjective and I will continue to meet with people who are alleged to have broken those rules. We have to be fair, so if you receive a fine under this policy and you dispute the material facts of what happened, you will be able to request a meeting with me. If you are still unhappy with the penalty, then you have a right of appeal as set out in the Student Disciplinary Procedure: http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/documents/Handbooks/Intercollegiate-Halls-Student-Disciplinary-Procedure-2014.pdf.

My primary hope is that this policy will act as a deterrent so that I do not issue even one fine under this scheme. But at worst, it will reduce the amount of time I spend on disciplinary matters, so I can concentrate on improving other aspects of your experience in Hall.

In addition to this policy of automatic fines, we are upgrading the signage around the building that tell you where smoking is allowed / prohibited, reminds you not to go onto the balconies, and other pointers to help ensure no one breaks the rules out of ignorance of what the rules actually are. 

The best outcome would be that we get to the end of the academic year without any of these fines being issued. You can help me: make sure you know what the rules are, observe them yourself, and if you see your friends doing something they shouldn't, tell them to stop it. I should much prefer that the Hall community police itself and that I never have to invoke the Student Disciplinary Procedure for anyone.