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Living with other people provides a wonderful opportunity to learn about yourself and others. As such, on-campus living is a valuable part of your college education. But all opportunities come with rights and responsibilities. To enjoy living on campus, you must respect other residents' rights and uphold your own responsibilities as a resident. In this section, we acquaint you with the rights and responsibilities that are part of living on campus at UNC Charlotte. These rights and responsibilities include guidelines and policies that help ensure that all residents can get the most out of their college experience.

The Community Bill of Rights

As a resident at UNC Charlotte, you have certain individual rights and responsibilities which must be honored. The Community Bill of Rights is intended to define basic expectations of residents' rights and responsibilities. The goal is to balance residents' freedoms without interfering with the rights of other residents. Each individual has the right to engage in those physical, educational, and social pursuits that are a necessary part of his or her University life. However, these rights carry with them a reciprocal responsibility to insure those same rights for other residents. This Bill of Rights was drawn up by students for students, and is intended as an agreement among students, as approved by the Department of Housing and Residence Life.

Primary Rights
Primary Rights are those deemed to be most essential and important to the success of students. These rights include:

• The right to read and study free from undue interference in one's room. One of the basic purposes of the University is the dissemination and application of knowledge. Unreasonable noise and other distractions inhibit the exercise of this right.
• The right to sleep.
• The right to one's personal belongings.
• The right to access one's room/apartment/suite during the period that the residence halls are open.
• The right to a clean environment in which to live. Optimal physical conditions are essential to sharing space with others.
• The right to redress of grievances. If the academic and residential communities are to function in the most educationally profitable manner, the right to initiate actions and referrals for impartial and fair adjudication of grievances is held paramount. In exercising this right, the student must be free from fear, intimidation, physical harm and/or emotional harm, and free from the imposition of sanctions apart from due process.

Secondary Rights
Secondary rights of the resident are those which should be protected, but also should not infringe upon the reasonable exercise of the primary rights defined above. Secondary rights of the resident include:

• The right to personal privacy. All residents should have freedom from interference with their personal activities, and should be able to maintain privacy for other than academic reasons.
• The right to host guests. All residents should have the opportunity to maintain personal contacts and friendships with other persons to fulfill their social needs. Guests are to respect the above-stated rights of the host's roommates and of the other residents at all times.
  

Your Rights and Freedom as a Student
Just as the University has the freedom to teach, you have the freedom to learn. Your freedom to learn, whether it be in your living area or in the classroom, is dependent upon the prevailing conditions. As a student, you can protect your freedom to learn through the choice of responsible actions. You have the right to be heard when it comes to safeguarding your freedom to learn. For example, as a residence hall community member you are encouraged to assume responsibility in helping to foster and maintain an environment conducive to learning in your hall or area.

Faculty, administration, and staff share with you the responsibility of developing and enforcing fair and reasonable codes of conduct and behavior. All members of the University community have the right to use the established disciplinary channels to protect and enforce the educational purpose of the institution. As a student, if you are accused of violating any University policy or regulation, you are guaranteed procedural due process. This means that you will be informed of all charges brought against you, that you will be given a fair hearing to refute the charges, and that the University will not be arbitrary in its actions.

Roommate Agreements

The Department of Housing and Residence Life believes that it is important for students to learn to live with each other and, as a result, emphasizes open dialog and discussion among roommates.

The Living Agreement process is intended to serve as a way for roommates to establish greater understanding of expectations, values, and priorities. Department of Housing and Residence Life staff strongly encourages all roommates to complete the Living Agreement process and may require completion in certain situations.

Please see your RA or RM and/or visit the Living Agreement website.