IUPUI aims to deliver its mission while promoting the health and safety of our students and minimizing the potential spread of disease within our community. As a resident within IUPUI Housing, COVID-19 or a similar public health or safety crisis may impact your housing experience as IUPUI and HRL continue to make public health and safety-informed decisions. The following policies and guidelines are incorporated into the HRL Residential Handbook, and thereby your Housing Contract and Addendum, and are applicable to all residential students.
- Health and Safety. Consistent with the terms of the 2020-21 Housing Contract, including the 2020-21 Addendum, and the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, IUPUI students are required to comply with health and safety laws, orders, ordinances, regulations, and health and safety guidance adopted by University and HRL as it relates to public health or safety crises, including specifically COVID-19. This guidance may change as the public health crisis evolves and may include, but is not limited to, complying with the COVID-19 Community Responsibility Acknowledgement, which includes directives related to physical distancing, wearing a face covering, COVID-19 screening and testing, contact tracing, personal hygiene, and quarantine/ isolation requirements. Adherence to health and safety requirements applies to all residents, staff, and guests1 and extends to all aspects of residential life, including bedrooms, bathrooms, community kitchens, lounges, computer labs, courtyards, and other common spaces.
- Quarantine / Isolation. As indicated in the Housing Contract, the University may require a resident to leave HRL housing when that resident has exhibited behaviors that significantly disrupt the life of the residential community or pose a serious risk to any resident (including self), student, staff, faculty member, or visitor. Residential students are required to comply with requests from HRL to leave their assigned unit due to COVID-19 or other public health emergency, and failure to do so is a violation of the Housing Contract, Addendum, and the HRL Residential Handbook and may subject a student to emergency removal from their assigned unit and/or cancellation of their Housing Contract and Addendum. Not all HRL residential rooms or halls are appropriate for self-quarantine or self-isolation, and HRL reserves the right to designate a space for students to self-quarantine or self-isolate. In those situations where a student is required to self-quarantine or self-isolate, students may not be permitted to continue residing in their assigned residential unit and will be provided alternative housing arrangements as needed. Removal from, or temporary alternative assignment to, HRL housing to isolate or quarantine does not constitute a termination of a residential student’s Housing Contract and Addendum.
- De-Densifying Efforts. Residential students are required to comply with any de-densifying efforts needed on campus due to COVID or other public health emergency, including, but not limited to, the relocation of all or some residential students to alternative housing. Relocation does not constitute a termination of a residential student’s Housing Contract and Addendum.
- Dining Services. Dining service, including where and how it will be offered to residential students, is subject to the discretion of the University and is subject to modification to address public health or safety concerns. Due to health and safety guidance adopted by the University and/or HRL, including as set forth in Paragraph 1, the University may limit the occupancy of dining halls, limit the amount of time students may spend within dining halls, or make other operational adjustments needed to address health and safety concerns (e.g. grab and go meals).
- Cleaning. HRL will implement intensive cleaning protocols to address COVID-19 or other public health emergencies in the interest of minimizing the spread of disease and will reinforce personal responsibilities to keep everyone in the campus community safe. HRL will educate and inform residential students on appropriate cleaning protocols within their assigned units and shared spaces to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within residence halls.
- The University may choose whether to refund any portion of the housing fees paid if the student is required to vacate or relocate pursuant to any emergency or exigent circumstances and the University determines that the student received the substantial benefit of this agreement. Exigent circumstances include, but are not limited to, University decisions related to community health and safety, including those related to COVID-19 or other public health or safety emergencies. These determinations will be made by the University in its sole discretion.
In the event of a conflict between this section and the other sections of the HRL Residential Handbook, this section will apply.
Legal Information
Your 2020-21 Housing Contract and the 2020-21 Addendum are the basic documents that state the contractual obligations between you and HRL, on behalf of the Trustees of Indiana University. In addition, the HRL Residential Handbook is legally binding and incorporated by reference in the Housing Contract and Addendum. You are equally responsible for complying with the rules, policies and regulations contained herein, including this section, as you are for those directly printed on the Housing Contract and Addendum.
Updates and corrections are made as they become necessary. Contract holders will be notified of material changes.
Acknowledgment, Assumption of Risk, and Hold Harmless
You understand that by residing in HRL housing, you are assuming the risks associated with communal living and, as in any shared living environment, those risks include potential exposure to contagious viruses, including COVID-19.
You agree to release and fully discharge the Trustees of Indiana University, its agents, and employees from any and all damages, liability, claims, expenses (including attorney’s fees), or losses (collectively, “Claims”) related in any way to your use of space within HRL Housing, including those related to the potential or actual exposure to contagious viruses like COVID-19, and to indemnify and hold harmless the University, its agents, and employees from any Claims related in any way to your breach of the terms and conditions of your Housing Contract and/or the Addendum, or a breach by any third party, including, but not limited to other residents, of an applicable Housing Contract and/or Addendum.
1 Note that the University may limit or exclude guests, as defined by the University and/or HRL, from HRL facilities.