Floor Standards

Floor standards are the agreements made by the floor residents concerning how residents will relate to and treat each other. While floor standards can be seen as a list of agreements, it is also a constantly evolving process through which you begin forming a community through dialogue, compromise, and commitment.

Setting Standards

Floor standards are developed through group discussion and consensus. Through this format, each resident is afforded the opportunity to assert his or her point of view. An underlying tenet of this system is the belief that in order to have one's needs met, one must accept responsibility for participation in the system designed to negotiate one's needs. Through implementing the floor standards model, we are providing the opportunity for residents to learn that they are responsible for their experience and that they are not simply passive recipients of experience. Recognition of this concept can lead to personal empowerment.

Your resident assistant (RA) will lead the discussion with all of the other campus residents on your floor, and together, you’ll set agreements about noise, cleanliness, and sharing space. You will learn to address important issues and determine the best way to address problems with each other in a respectful and effective manner.

Before that meeting, take some time to think about what’s important to your campus living experience. Do you think quiet/student hours are important? How do you want to share laundry room time? How do you want the floor community to handle concerns? Be prepared to discuss your point of view, make compromises, and commit yourself to upholding the agreement.

How to Get Along

Here are some additional tips to help you get along in the campus community:

Speak up. If you think there’s a problem, express your view to the other person(s) involved.
Treat others with respect and consideration.
Follow the rules. They were established to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for you and your fellow campus residents.
Respond to reasonable requests from other campus residents.
Be responsive and cooperative with Housing & Residential Life staff.
Be inclusive of every member of the campus community. Actions (direct or indirect) that discriminate based on race, gender, religion, disability, national origin, age, or sexual orientation cannot be tolerated in a community based on mutual respect and cooperation.

Why Have Floor Standards?

The context of learning that is created by the floor standards discussion can be a powerful tool to encourage student development and floor community. It can encourage students to build self-esteem through declaring oneself through assertive interactions and through the empowerment that comes from group agreement. Floor standards also shift responsibility for the floor from the RA to the residents. Rule enforcement and conduct problems are no longer the sole responsibility of the RA; they are the responsibility of the community. By establishing floor standards and floor responsibility, residents are empowered to deal with problems before they mushroom. This system can have the effect of reducing the probability of problems occurring.

Housing & Residential Life and University Policies and Procedures

Both the university and Housing & Residential Life have policies and procedures that every resident must abide by. They represent the basic safety and management issues necessary to ensure reasonable quality of life for all residents. Primarily, they establish minimum behavioral expectations and are in agreement with local, state, and federal laws. Floor standards do not replace these, nor may they be in violation of these.

The Critical-Incident Meeting

The critical-incident meeting is a floor discussion of an incident or event that some members of the floor do not feel is acceptable. This can range from a violation of a floor standard to a person's behavior that is not covered by a standard but is nonetheless not acceptable or a situation outside the immediate context of the floor that is not seen as acceptable such as a new school policy or international incident.

Floor Standards Accountability Meeting

The accountability meeting is where a resident is called before the floor to account for his or her behavior that is alleged to be in violation of the floor standards. The goal of the meeting is to determine if the floor considers the behavior to be a violation and, if so, to have the resident understand how the behavior is affecting floor residents and to have the resident agree to modify the offending behavior. The accountability meeting is not a punishment meeting in that the floor has no authority to impose punishment.