Domestic Arrangements

8

Domestic Arrangements

Management of the College’s domestic arrangements (primarily accommodation and catering) is the responsibility of the Domestic Operations Manager. Any questions on these matters should be directed to the Domestic Operations Manager. The College’s Maintenance Team, headed by the Clerk of Works, is responsible for the repair and upkeep of the College’s premises, and they undertake to deal as efficiently as possible with problems of this type. The Domestic Operations Manager’s office can be found on Staircase 2, and the Clerk of Works’ on Staircase 8. Maintenance issues should be reported online:

8.1Undergraduate Student Accommodation

First year undergraduates are allocated rooms in and around the central College site. Rooms are allocated at random. Most first-year rooms benefit from en-suite facilities. All rooms are charged at the same rent, even though there are marked differences in the size and quality: this policy reflects students’ concerns that differences in the prices of College accommodation would erode the egalitarian spirit that is such a strong feature of the community.

Second, third and fourth year undergraduates are accommodated in College and in its annexes (Mitre/Turl Street/Staircase 16, High Street/Bear Lane and Lincoln Hall). The allocation of these rooms is made on the basis of a ballot organised by the JCR. The Domestic Operations Manager and the Accommodation Manager oversee this ballot and may very occasionally intervene in the allocation process, but for the most part the operation of the ballot is left to the JCR Executive, to whom questions or complaints should be addressed in the first instance.

Students who have specific accommodation requirements on medical, disability, religious, or other grounds are given an opportunity to apply for special consideration rather than enter the ballot. The Chaplain, Senior Dean, and Senior Tutor assess each of these applications.

Permission to live out: Undergraduates (but not first years) may live outside College accommodation with the permission of the Rector. Requests must be submitted (via the Rector’s PA, Mrs Lacey) no later than the end of 6th week of the preceding term and should be supported in writing by your tutor. The Senior Dean and Senior Tutor will be consulted. It is your responsibility to ensure that the College Office has up to date contact details for you.

Remember that undergraduates must live within six miles of Carfax. For assistance in finding accommodation contact the University Accommodation Office, University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD; tel. (0)1865 270219.

8.2Post-graduate Student Accommodation

Accommodation for graduate students is provided in Bear Lane, the Lincoln EPA Science Centre, and Little Clarendon Street. Accommodation can usually be provided for most first-year graduate students and a large number in their 2nd and subsequent years. Accommodation in these subsequent years is determined by a ballot organised by the MCR. The Domestic Operations Manager and Accommodation Manager oversee this ballot and may very occasionally intervene in the allocation process, but for the most part the operation of the ballot is left to the MCR Executive, to whom questions or complaints should be addressed in the first instance.

Students who have specific accommodation requirements on medical, disability, religious, or other grounds are given an opportunity to apply for special consideration rather than enter the ballot. The Chaplain, Senior Dean, and Senior Tutor assess each of these applications.

The College’s graduate rooms are graded on the basis of criteria which include room size and quality of facilities, the grades having been agreed by MCR representatives. Charges for accommodation vary according to grade of room.

Graduate students intending to live out should contact the University Accommodation Office, University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD; tel. (0)1865 270219.Lincoln has no married or family accommodation. Remember that you must live within twenty-five miles of Carfax, and keep the College Office up to date with your contact details.

8.3Accommodation/Meal Plans

There are two types of accommodation plans, ‘In College’ and ‘Out of College’. The ‘In College’ plan allows for just over 25 weeks in residence (i.e. three full terms plus a few days on either side). Most undergraduates will be on this plan. Students living at Lincoln Hall (Museum Road) and in Bear Lane houses, and all graduate students, are on the ‘Out of College’ plan which allows for 37 weeks in residence (i.e. three full terms plus Christmas and Easter vacations).

Students on the ‘In College’ plan must vacate their room by 10 am on Saturday of 8th week in Michaelmas, and noon on Saturday of 8th week in Hilary Term, unless they have applied for vacation residence (see 8.7 below). All students must vacate their room by noon on Sunday of 9th week in Trinity Term. When rooms are vacated all personal belongings must be removed and all rubbish taken away.

All students also pay a Kitchen Charge in advance. This provides credit to set against meals purchased in Hall from 0th to 9th week of each term. It can also be used to purchase lunches in Deep Hall; these are available from 1st to 8th week of each term. The Kitchen Charge can also be used for payment of meals for accompanied guests at any meal at which a Lincoln member can use their Charge; however it cannot be used for special dinners by either Lincoln members or their guests. Information about the number of guests permitted at any meal can be found in 8.11 below.

You may elect to give your partner/spouse access to your Kitchen Charge provided your partner/spouse is an associate member of the Lincoln MCR. The Kitchen Charge is not refundable. The only students exempted from the Kitchen Charge are those on a year abroad, medics on electives based outside Oxfordshire, and graduate students who are required to live away from Oxford for a term or more and who have completed the GSO.8 ‘dispensation from residence’ form.

All students sign an accommodation agreement on arrival which sets out the terms under which accommodation is offered. Please read it as it covers your obligations to the College and also the level of provision the College aims to supply to you. You should note that you must give three months’ notice if you intend to vacate the room ahead of schedule. Make sure you hand you key in when you go down or the College may assume you are in residence and charge you.

Accommodation and meal charges for 2016-17 can be found in Appendix 2.

8.4Special arrangements for graduate students

Graduate students have the chance to attend MCR lunches at High Table during each term, as arranged by the MCR Committee. Graduates may also dine at their own cost at High Table once a week during Term (except Sunday, guest, Chapter, Dessert and Domus nights) subject to availability of spaces. Graduates may not bring their guests to High Table (unless they have the right to do so by virtue of being Senior Scholars or Junior Deans). No more than four MCR members and their guests may dine on any given night. Guests are included in the total of four.

Partners of graduate students may apply for associate membership of the MCR, please contact the Graduate Officer for details. These associate members can access their partner’s meal credit with their own swipe cards.

8.5Use of College rooms and facilities

The College has regulations and guidelines for the use of its rooms and facilities. These may seem unnecessarily detailed but are designed to preserve and enhance the College community.

Each College student room has been provided with a wardrobe, single bed, mattress, desk, desk chair, easy chair, bookcase, waste bin, drawers/shelving, pin board and curtains or blinds of fire retardant standard. College furniture and fittings may not be removed from rooms.

• The College does not provide bedding or towels.
• The College does not provide desk lamps.
• You must not use fixatives (blu-tac, sellotape, scotch tape, pins, adhesive hooks, etc) to fix posters or pictures to the walls: use pinboards instead. You will receive a £30 minimum charge per wall on your battels for use of fixatives, and may be charged for the full cost of redecoration of the room if you cause any damage to its decor by the use of these items. The College is happy to provide picture hooks for rooms (within reason), and additional notice board (within reason) if required; please contact the Domestic Bursary to arrange this.
• The College does not permit smoking inside any of its buildings; this includes smoking out of windows or on balconies. Smoking in any place other than a designated area (The Grove, and the designated areas in Bear Lane and the EPA Science Centre) is a breach of College discipline and action will be taken against people who break this rule.
• Candles, joss-sticks and naked flames are strictly forbidden in College rooms. Barbecues are not permitted on College premises, except those booked through Chef for use in the Grove or at the Sports Pavilion.
• Electric heaters and fairy lights are not permitted in your room, on fire safety grounds. You may usesmall electrical appliances in your room, including a kettle (but not a toaster, microwave, or cooker).
• Every electrical appliance must carry the appropriate British Standard number or Kitemark. The plug must also carry BS number 1363, be of the safety sleeve type, and be correctly fused for the appliance. Flexible cables must be in good condition and not worn, perished, split, stretched or twisted. Any electrical appliances over two years old must be tested by a qualified electrician and certified as fit for use - this can be organised through the Domestic Operation Manager’s Office on arrival.
• Refrigerators are only permitted for those students who are on an ‘In College’ accommodation plan, and therefore do not have ready access to a College kitchen. Please consider if you actually need a fridge! You must take it home with you or arrange separate storage for it over all vacations, as student rooms are used by others during these periods.It is not the College’s responsibility to store student fridges.Only mini-fridges will be permitted in College rooms; fridges over 50 litres will be removed at the student’s expense. All student fridges must be registered with the Accommodation Manager. There will be a £100 disposal fee for any fridges left behind at the end of the academic year. weWe are unable to re-sell or recycle fridges;: please consider the environmental impact caused if you leave yours behind.
• Electrical appliances must not be run from the light circuit. You must not use 2-3 plug adapters of the type which plug directly into the wall socket: use only the types which feature a cable running from the wall socket to a range of separately-mounted sockets. Cables should not trail across the floor or up and down staircases: these could constitute a trip hazard and could cause an electrical fire.
• You must not do any cooking in your room (other than boiling a kettle). Toasters, microwaves, rice kettles and the like are not permitted in student study bedrooms. This is a stipulation of the local Fire Service and is strictly observed. College staff are required to confiscate cooking appliances from student rooms. You are permitted to cook only in the designated, purpose-built kitchen areas, if you have access to one. BBQs are not permitted on College premises.
• All College rooms are equipped with computer points to allow access to the College’s (and hence the University’s) computer network. See the section in this Handbook on IT Facilities.
• Individual student rooms do not have telephone lines. See the later section on Telephones.
• You are not allowed to keep animals or reptiles in your room. No animals may be brought into the College or its annexes. Also please do not feed the pigeons.
• You must not leave bicycles in your room, nor are you to leave bicycles or other belongings, such as sports bags, in common accommodation areas (hallways, landings, etc). Items left in these areas cause inconvenience and obstruction to others, may impede emergency exit and cause damage. College staff have instructions to remove such items and to dispose of them.
• If you cause damage to your room, its furnishings, fixtures, fittings and decorations, or to any other College property, you may be charged for the full cost of its repair or replacement. Also, if the College incurs extra costs in having your room cleaned, as a consequence of action on your part, or failure on your part to leave your accommodation in a fit state at the end of a term, you will be charged accordingly. For example, a bedroom or kitchen requiring additional cleaning or removal of rubbish at the end of a term, or which has not been cleared of your personal belongings, would be likely to incur a minimum £30 charge on your battels. These charges are at the Domestic Operations Manager’s discretion. In cases where no individual can be identified as being responsible for the damage, the College may levy a charge on all students in the block/staircase or on the JCR/MCR as a whole. Incidents of damage are reported to the Senior Dean, who decides whether there is a case for disciplinary action, which may include fines in excess of the cost of the repair or replacement. Please refer to the section later in this Handbook on ‘Behaviour and Discipline’.
• TV License (new regulations): you must have a TV License to watch or record any live TV on any channel, regardless of what device you use. In addition to this, as of 1 September 2016, you also need to be covered by a TV Licence to download or watch BBC programmes on demand - including catch up TV - on BBC iPlayer. This applies to all devices, including a smart TV, desktop computer or laptop, mobile phone, tablet, digital box or games console. Even if you access BBC iPlayer through another provider, such as Sky, Virgin, Freeview or BT, you must have a licence. The cost of a standard TV License is £145.50/year. More information on this is available here:
• It is strictly forbidden to access roof or parapet areas, except in case of fire.
• All maintenance problems should be reported to the Workshop for the College Maintenance Team to deal with. This should be done online: Students are not insured to tamper with College electrical circuits and equipment (including light bulbs) or plumbing. You should not attempt to fix items that have malfunctioned.
• The College will endeavour to respond according to the following time-frames (please note this is for guidance only and cannot be strictly adhered to):

8.6Communal Facilities – laundries and fridges

Card operated washing machines and dryers are provided in several laundries around the College. Cards can be purchased from the Accounts Office for a £5 refundable deposit. Cards can then be topped up online (follow the instructions on the card). Follow the instructions posted in the laundry rooms to use the machines. Ironing facilities are also available. Please keep laundry rooms clear at all times.

The College provides fridges and freezers in some communal areas where space allows. Students are responsible for keeping the fridges clean and free of ice, and allocating space inside.

8.7 Cleaning

The College’s cleaning staff are known as scouts. The cleaning regime varies from area to area. Communal areas, en-suites, and kitchens are cleaned by the scouts on a regular basis.

Students are expected to keep their rooms clean so as to preserve the standard of accommodation. Vacuum cleaners are provided where required for vacuuming your own room. You must co-operate with the Scouts and allow them access to your room regularly; they in turn will respect your privacy. If you have any problems or concerns you should contact the Housekeeper or Domestic Operations Manager.