Bucknell University students received an email from the Office of Residential Education last week that informed them that they will conduct health and safety inspections in residential spaces between the hours of 10:00am and 8:00pm from February 27 to March 7. 

According to the Office of Residential Education, the purpose of the inspections is to address any threat to the health and safety of individual residents and the community. They are not to be scheduled and will occur at random times at the discretion of the Residential Advisor. 

Bucknell is not new to room checks. Residential Education conducted health and safety inspections before the Covid-19 pandemic, but then they were paused as a precaution for university staff and residential communities.

If a student is found with prohibited items, Residential Education staff will not confiscate them. Instead, the staff will provide notice of the item that is prohibited, provide instructions to remove the item over spring break and provide notice of reinspection to confirm that the item has been removed. If there is an alleged policy violation, a referral will be submitted to the Office of Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution and the office will contact the student with additional information. 

For those who feel that this is a violation of personal privacy, stated in the Student Handbook, University personnel have the right to enter any room to ensure student safety and compliance with all university regulations.

For more detailed information regarding Residential Living policies and the room checks, students can review the Student Code of Conduct, and University policies referenced in the Bucknell Student Handbook, located on the Student Affairs’ webpage https://www.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/student-affairs/student_handbook.pdf or review the Health and Safety Inspections FAQs.