<p>Should we be worried about this? D2 just got a written notification of disciplinary action because she forgot to take down a shawl she had hanging from her ceiling before she departed for spring break. She did it, undeniably true. How big of a deal is something like this?</p>
<p>Have her call and ask about it. My son got notification for using classroom chairs as “sleds” down the hall, something I found out was a routine thing at his college.</p>
<p>The school is closed for break, so she got an email saying that she has to make an appointment to speak with the director within 5 business days so information can be gathered and sanctions assessed. She definitely forgot to take it down. She will say that and take her punishment. Something like this couldn’t lead to dismissal could it?</p>
<p>I don’t know which school this is, but it seems as if it would be wayyyyy over the top to dismiss for something decorative being left up in a dorm. I would assume no. Though, I’m sure it always feel stressful to have that kind of meeting hanging over your head for a week.</p>
<p>^ ^</p>
<p>Dismissal. I’d very much doubt it for the offense you cited…unless this college takes discipline to ridiculous extremes or she’s had a long string of offenses…especially far more serious ones which merited probation or suspension.</p>
<p>Highly doubt this could lead to dismissal, considering the truly outrageous things some kids do. What’s the reg? The shawl is a fire hazard or she poked nails in the ceiling? And, is this a very conservative, rule-bound school? Good luck, know these things are aggravating.</p>
<p>
This.</p>
<p>She’s never had a violation or been in trouble in her life and she understands that she broke a rule, so she is freaking out. I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal, but she is really, really upset.</p>
<p>I think it is unlikely that the consequences of this infraction will be serious. A small fine or a first-offense warning letter seems appropriate in this instance. She’s doing the right thing by accepting responsibility for breaking the rule.</p>
<p>Of course, if a serious penalty does result, she would also be doing the right thing by telling her story to the news media…</p>
<p>Why is it more of a fire hazard during Spring Break than it was during the weeks when school was open?</p>
<p>
It is a fire hazard, but the shawl wasn’t hanging on a sprinkler. </p>
<p>We don’t know if they’re coming down hard, it’s an automatically generated email that just says that she has to contact the residence hall director and lists the violation and procedure.</p>
<p>zoosermom, that’s the sort of thing that goes on her permanent record. For sure she’ll get audited every year by the IRS, the TSA will always take her aside for special screening, and I fear that her employability is going to suffer. Also, potential dates doing a background google check will find this and call to cancel with excuses about a family emergency, and her credit scores lose an automatic 100 points. Her attempts to raise home-grown tomatoes will be permanently blighted by pests, moths will infest her pantry, and the neighborhood troublemakers will leave their dog’s waste on her lawn. </p>
<p>;) 
:D</p>
<p>Expulsion? For a scarf left hanging from the ceiling?!?!?! I’m guessing it’s seen as a potential fire hazard, but how many of us get fired for leaving the coffee pot on after hours? Same deal.</p>
<p>
The room is inspected when the student leaves for spring break. She left unexpectedly early because a class was cancelled and she wasn’t as careful as she should have been, so she got a violation of the inspection.</p>
<p>
I know you’re right. I just needed to hear it from others. My own word isn’t good enough for me!</p>
<p>She’ll have her meeting with whomever- and he or she might make your daughter feel like a dunce who endangered world peace- or just ensure she understands the severity of the threat the scarf could have posed, if there had been a fire.<br>
My friends who work in the housing dept are highly concerned about safety. In their ordinary, daily work routines, it’s the constant monkey on their shoulders. (We can all imagine, considering the age group.) Make sure she doesn’t do it again. Get her to examine other “seemingly insignificant” ways she may have bent rules. The reality is that her scarf didn’t pose a huge threat, on its own, but if all kids did it, it could. So, there’s a reg.</p>
<p>
She doesn’t think it was insignificant, she really understands how important fire regulations are. </p>
<p>I’m wondering now if both she and her roommates got violations because they were all gone before the inspection and the inspector wasn’t from their hall and wouldn’t know which stuff belonged to whom.</p>
<p>Might her student handbook provide an answer to how these types of issues are handled? There may be peace of mind to be had before the end of break. When I think of what might be problematic in a dorm room, this is nowhere near the top of the list.</p>
<p>
It lists potential sanctions from nothing to expulsion.</p>
<p>Wow. That’s quite a range. She sounds like she regrets missing this detail and accepts responsibility for her mistake. I would imagine that an absence of multiple offenses/disciplinary actions, etc. would work in her favor, as would her attitude. Good luck.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, I’ve learned from having 5 kids, 2 of whom got into all kinds of stupid trouble, that sometimes the most innocuous sounding offences were the tip of a huge, deadly iceberg. From what you have written, it doesn’t sound like anything to me, but I’ve been hit like the Titanic a few times due to what my idiot sons did not tell me, that came out later. At some schools, there is a check list during inspection and if there is a check mark a letter is sent, the kid check in about the offense, is warned or told not to do it and that is the end of it. SOmetimes there is more to it. After doing the dances with my older ones, I tend to make sure there is not more to the story since my kids were not always in full disclosure mode with me, thinking they could clean up the mess themselves without getting mama upset and involved.</p>
<p>Former RA from the dark ages here. I was responsible for DOING these types of room inspections. There were FOUR fires on my floor one term. It was awful. The disruption for the students was unbelievable as they had to be relocated while the rooms/common areas were fixed up…FOUR times. We were very vigilant about anything that could have caused a fire…even when the students were NOT there. The reality is that if there WAS a fire, that scarf would spread the flames more quickly hanging from the ceiling than in a drawer. An infraction of this type back in the dark ages…for a first offense…was a written warning to the student. </p>
<p>NOW…if your daughter had been told to remove the scarf numerous times and didn’t…that’s another story.</p>
<p>Still…not terms for expulsion, one wouldn’t think.</p>