Ashdown Policies

Ashdown House is part of the MIT Graduate Housing system and subject to all MIT Housing Policies. The following additional policies are specific to Ashdown House and the use of its spaces. Failure to follow these policies may result in disciplinary action, including loss of your Ashdown House housing lease.
 

1  Constitution

The Ashdown House Constitution defines the roles and election procedures of the Ashdown House government, as well as a number of house policies which apply. Election procedures are also further elaborated in the Ashdown Election Policy.

2  Trash/Recycling

Residents are allowed to place closed bags of trash outside their door for pickup by Ashdown House staff strictly from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM. All bags must be tied securely and must be placed neatly in the hallway out-cove outside your door. At no time are actual trash bins permitted outside your door. One recycling bin per suite/apartment is permitted to be kept outside in the hallway, but must be placed neatly in the out-cove outside the door.
Replacement trash bags shall be left by staff on a ‘one-for-one’ basis. If at any point you require more trash bags, please make a note on your white board kindly asking for more or pick some extras up at the front desk. In the case of leaky trash, we ask they you double-bag and/or triple-bag to prevent liquids from staining the carpets outside the door. Finally, if you are throwing away anything hazardous like broken glass, we ask that you please store the hazardous materials securely and neatly outside your door (e.g., in a cardboard box) with a note describing the contents so that our staff is not injured while picking them up.

3  Printing Policy

Previously, Ashdown had enforced its own quota on its two printers (ashdown and avery). However, these printers are now maintained by CopyTech and integrated with the Pharos infrastructure used by IS&T; documents printed to Ashdown printers will count toward residents’ general Pharos quota. Residents should be considerate to others who wish to use the printers.

For more information about the Pharos system, please see IS&T’s website.

4  Publicity Policy

i. General Publicity Policy

  1. Do not post posters in areas other than bulletin boards or whiteboards. Posters in other locations will be removed without consultation.
  2. Only AHEC (Ashdown House Executive Committee), Ashdown’s Committee Chairs and Officers, Heads of House (HoH), and MIT Housing are allowed to post posters in elevators. Residents can post posters in elevators with AHEC permission. Other types of posters in elevators will be removed without consultation. 
  3. Ashdown@mit.edu mailing list is reserved only for AHEC and Committees’ messages and advertising. Residents are welcome to use ashdown-talk@mit.edu mailing list for personal messages.
  4. In correspondence with MIT Graduate Housing License Agreement, Ashdown’s Licensee, authorized occupants, immediate family (spouse, partner, legal dependents, if applicable), and all guests must NOT use Ashdown House to conduct any type of solicitation, sales, or promotion. 
  5. Solicitation of any type, i.e. going door-to-door to residents’ apartments without an invitation for advertising purposes or leaving posters or flyers under the doors, is not allowed in Ashdown House.
  6. Tabling in Ashdown House, i.e. setting up a table with flyers and being present, is not allowed without the prior and explicit permission of AHEC or HoH. 
  7. Obstructing Ashdown House building entrances with any type of activity (including tabling) is not allowed.

ii. Postering Policy

For Ashdown residents:

Ashdown residents may hang posters on the bulletin boards in the building. Residents may also include messages or questions on the whiteboards around the building corridors. Advertising space is limited, so posters will remain on the boards for one week. The content of these posters or messages must not violate any of the guidelines as stated in the Mind and Hand Book. Any offensive or inappropriate message on posters or on whiteboards will be immediately erased/removed without consultation.

For non-Ashdown residents:

Non-Ashdown residents may leave posters at the front desk and email the Publicity Committee (ashdown-publicity@mit.edu). Advertising space is limited, so posters will remain on the boards for one week

Poster Guidelines:

  • One poster per event per board
  • No larger than 8.5” x 11”
  • Must bear the date of the event on it 
  • Include Contact information
  • Posters will be removed after the event’s date

Posting is not permitted on residents’ doors or in hallways or on the exterior of the building. This is to not create extra work for the janitorial staff, to be courteous to our neighbors, and to protect the walls.

Posters that do not observe these guidelines will be removed without consultation.

iii. Ashdown Publicity and Communication Committee

Ashdown Publicity and Communication Committee offers the following services to Ashdown officers:

Poster requests must be submitted no later than one week before the date that they should be posted. If a poster request is made late, the officer must request approval from the Ashdown Publicity Chair. MIT GSC, LEF & ARCADE sponsored events are encouraged to have posters up two weeks in advance, so they must be submitted at least 3 weeks in advance.

Ashdown’s weekly 3 AM Anno is a weekly compilation of events happening at and around Ashdown, sent Friday mornings at 3 AM. For inclusion of event announcements in the 3 AM Anno, please submit your events through this form. You can check if the event was submitted properly by checking the spreadsheet here

5  Hulsizer Room Reservation Policy

The Hulsizer Room is a multi-purpose function room, the largest room in Ashdown House, and is reservable for special events by MIT groups only.

  • The Hulsizer Room is in use Thursdays from 20:00 to 22:30 for Coffee Hour. These times are usually not reservable.
  • Brunch will use the Hulsizer Room typically once per month on a Sunday, from morning to afternoon.
  • The room may be used for both in-house events open to all residents as well as private events. All use must be reserved by e-mailing Julie Gagnon who decides reservations on a case-by-case basis with AHEC. Reservation fees must be paid to Julie Gagnon by providing an MIT account number (checks are not accepted). The reservation fee for the Hulsizer Room is as follows:
    • No cost for house events open to all residents and relevant to the general Ashdown community (as decided by AHEC).
    • For events in which half or more of the participants are Ashdown House residents, $50 for the first 4 hours, $10 for each additional hour, including setup and cleanup times.
    • For events in which less than half of the participants are Ashdown house residents, $200 for the first 4 hours, $50 for each additional hour, including setup and cleanup times.
  • The Hulsizer Room must be cleaned after every use that involves food. Your reservation block must include appropriate time to wipe down all tables and mop the floor. You must provide the manpower to perform clean-up. The kitchen is used by house dining and not reservable or usable; you must plan on doing all cooking elsewhere.
  • Damage caused to the Hulsizer Room may be fined. Residents holding private events in the Hulsizer room are responsible for the behaviour of non-resident guests.

6  Common Room Usage Policy

Ashdown House has a number of common spaces (see their locations here). To ensure that these spaces are sustainable and available for residents to enjoy, some common spaces have particular policies and guidelines as given below.
You can also read the full Common Room Policy here.

i. Floor Lounges

Lounges for general study and social use are located on floors 2, 3, 4 and 5.

  • Please respect the quiet study academic needs of residents in the floor 2 lounge (computing cluster).
  • The floor lounges are not exclusively reservable and you may never block another resident from entering and using them.
  • You are welcome to hold small gatherings and social events in the lounge
    without prior approval. However, other residents should be allowed and
    welcome to enjoy the facilities of the lounge at the same time.
  • Do NOT leave personal belongings unattended in the room or they will be removed and/or placed at the Ashdown front desk (by AHEC or by other residents wanting to use the room).

ii. Floor Kitchens

Common kitchens, for use by any resident, are located on floors 2, 3, 4 and 5.

  • The common kitchens are painstakingly cleaned on weekdays by maintainence staff. To help make their job easier, keep pests out, and keep the kitchen enjoyable and usable for your fellow residents, please take a minute to wipe down counters and clean up any mess after you cook.
  • The dark grey counters are heat-resistant. However, the tables and floors are not, so please do not place hot pots on them.
  • In the event of a smoke alarm due to normal cooking (and not an emergency) please open the windows. Do NOT open the door to the hallway if everything is normal and there is no emergency. The kitchen smoke detector will not call the fire department automatically, while the ones in the hallway will.
  • Unattended cooking is not allowed in kitchens and has been one of the most frequent causes of fire alarms in the past. If you must leave the kitchen even for one minute, please switch off any stoves, ovens, microwaves or other appliances you are using. Leaving rice cookers and slow cookers on in the kitchen unattended is also prohibited.
  • Please be a responsible world citizen by recycling. Please do NOT put recyclables in the trash can or trash in the recycling bins. See the Environment section if you are not sure what is and isn’t recyclable.
  • The kitchens are not exclusively reservable and you may never block another resident from entering and using them.
  • You are welcome to hold small gatherings and social events in the kitchens without prior approval. However, other residents should be allowed and welcome to enjoy the facilities of the kitchens at the same time.

iii. Crafts Lounge

The Crafts Lounge on the ground floor has a piano, ping-pong table, chairs and sofas and is designed to be a social space for any resident to use at any time.

  • Only simple, easy-to-clean snack foods are permitted in the Crafts Lounge. Such foods should not be brought near the piano or ping-pong table. Please do not eat meals or bring sticky or staining foods into the lounge as the furniture is not designed for it.
  • You may never block a resident from entering the Crafts Lounge. It is a common resident facility open to all. The lounge is also not reservable except for the following cases:
    • Weekly AHEC Meetings, Thursdays 7:30pm-9:00pm – these meetings are open to all graduate residents to discuss various House issues. During this time, you should refrain from any activities that may disturb the AHEC meeting, such as loud discussions or using the piano or ping-pong table in the room.
    • Other house-pertinent events such as Ashdown dance parties, in-house concerts, cultural, and social events which are specifically open to the community. Such events must be approved by AHEC and publicized to the House at least 3 days prior to the date.
  • You are welcome to hold small gatherings and social events in the lounge without prior approval. However, other residents should be allowed and welcome to enjoy the facilities of the lounge at the same time.
  • If your activity has an attendance of more than 15, requires significant reconfiguring of the furniture OR will block residents from other purposes of the lounge such as ping-pong or piano playing, you MUST request explicit approval from AHEC in advance by e-mailing ahec@mit.edu. Such events include, but are not limited to:
    • Student group gatherings of more than 15 people
    • Concerts, lectures or meetings which block other uses of the room
  • The following rules apply to the piano:
    • The piano is extremely delicate and not designed to be regularly moved. Please avoid moving it and ask AHEC or the house manager to do it for you. Under no circumstances should one person try to move the piano alone.
    • Do NOT eat, drink or place food or liquids on or near the piano.
    • Please do not play between 11:00pm and 8:00am.
  • The following rules apply to the ping-pong table:
    • If you must move the ping-pong table, please do so carefully and with at least two people. Do not try to fold up the table with the net in place.
    • Do NOT eat, drink, or place food or liquids on or near the ping-pong table.
    • Do NOT sit or stand on the ping-pong table! This very easily damages the table as a flat playing surface.

iv. Ingram Music Room

The music room is a smaller room, also equipped with a piano, and can be freely used for rehearsing and practice of any music.

  • No food is permitted in this room.
  • Please avoid studying in this room or using it for other non-musical purposes. It is the only such private practice room in the building.
  • The following rules apply to the piano:
    • The piano is extremely delicate and not designed to be regularly moved. Please avoid moving it and ask AHEC or the house manager to do it for you. Under no circumstances should one person try to move the piano alone.
    • Do NOT eat, drink or place food or liquids on or near the piano.
    • Please do not play between 11:00pm and 8:00am.
  • We also have a reservation system for using the Music room which can be accessed here (certificates required). For the detailed room reservation rules please consult the Common Room Policy here (Article 3) or contact AHEC. In the case of problems with reservations, please contact ashdown-tech@mit.edu

v. TV Room

The TV room is located on the first floor of building 4 and available for all residents to freely use.

  • Please avoid studying in this room. It is the only room with a large TV and residents regularly use it for social purposes.
  • While you are free to use the room for any social purpose, multimedia usage of the big screen (TV, movies, etc.) carry priority over all other purposes and you may be asked to leave if your activity interferes with these purposes.
  • Please DO NOT re-configure the cables in the rack. If you intend to connect your own multimedia device (laptops, karaoke machines, etc.), you may do so, but do not, under any circumstance, unplug anything that is already connected.
  • We also have a reservation system for using the TV room, which can be accessed here (certificates required). For the detailed room reservation rules please consult the Common Room Policy here (Article 1) or contact AHEC

vi. Fabyan Room

The Fabyan room is located on the second floor and open at all times for residents to use for meetings and study purposes. It also houses a number of books including some antique collections.

  • Feel free to peruse the books on the shelves. However, please note that many of the books are over 100 years old. Their pages will fall apart VERY easily, so please open and handle them with EXTREME care. Please also carefully place them back after looking at them and please do not take them outside the room.
  • Food, drink and snacks are NOT permitted in the Fabyan room.
  • We no longer have a reservation system for using the Fabyan room. Old reservation system can be accessed here (certificates required), but please only use it for coordinating usage of the room.

7  Guest Policy

Residents may receive guests under their responsibility as specified by the MIT Housing policies.

  • Unfortunately, we regret that there is no guest room in NW35. You may house short-term guests (upto 3 nights) in your own room and in-suite living room (if applicable) if your suite-mates approve and in consistency with the MIT Housing policies.
  • You may add guests to your guest list by going here

8  Front Desk Items

A number of items are available from the front desk for borrowing as a convenience to residents.

  • Movies can be checked out for a maximum of 48 hours at a time. All other items can be checked out for a maximum of 24 hours at a time (limits for Vacuum cleaners – 2 hours, for Carts – 3 hours).
  • Fines may be imposed on items past the due time – $5 immediately and $1 each subsequent day.
  • Lost and broken items should be reported to AHEC immediately to avoid incurring excessive fines. Items broken from normal wear-and-tear will not be fined if reported immediately.
  • Ashdown has 3 large BBQ grills available for checkout. Please read the following rules for BBQ checkout, use, and return.

9  Smoking

Ashdown House is a 100% non-smoking environment. Smoking is not allowed inside any part of Ashdown House INCLUDING the courtyards and anywhere inside the gates. You may smoke only outside the gates of Ashdown House. Cigarette disposals are located outside the main entrance and outside the west gate. Please DO NOT drop cigarette butts into the soil, road or other places where they may litter the environment.

10  Alcohol

Alcohol is strictly forbidden in any of Ashdown House’s common areas, including the courtyards and common lounges. If you are over 21, you may have alcohol in your room, although if you live in a suite with other residents who are under 21, you must store and consume the alcohol in your personal room and NOT in any of the suite common space or in the presence of underage residents/guests. Ashdown House does host the Thirsty Ear Pub and we encourage residents who are interested in consuming alcohol to go there.

11  Pets

In accordance with the MIT Housing Policies, residents are not permitted to have pets at Ashdown House. The term “pets” includes mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Fish are not specifically prohibited.

12  Quiet Hours

Quiet hours are from 11:00pm to 8:00am. During this time, please keep noise, music and any other activities to a low volume.

13  Fire Alarms

If the Smoke Alarm in your room sounds, DO NOT open the door to the main hallway. Open your windows as much as you can and air the room out that way. If you open the door to the hallway and there is enough smoke, it will cause the building-wide fire alarm to go off, warrant an evacuation of the building and call the Fire Department to Ashdown. If you hear the Fire Alarm sounding, listen carefully to the voice commands of the system. You only have to evacuate your building if the command stipulates to do so. Know your building number!

Ashdown (NW35): Room # Range by Building
  Building 1 Building 2 Building 3 Building 4 Building 5
Floor 1 1009 – 1018 1021 – 1052 1080 – 1070 1109 – 1091 Thirsty, Kitchen, Hulsizer
Floor 2 2003 – 2018 2021 – 2052 2057 – 2084 2090 – 2109 2112 – 2121
Floor 3 3001 – 3018 3021 – 3054 3055 – 3084 3090 – 3109 3112 – 3121
Floor 4 4008 – 4014 4043 – 4054 4055 – 4084 4090 – 4109 4112 – 4121
Floor 5 5008 – 5014 5050 – 5054 5059 – 5084 5090 – 5109 5112 – 5121

14  BBQ Grills

BBQ grills are available in the courtyard for residents to use. Residents who use the grills must adhere to the following policy:

Before Event:

  1. Pick up the key to the BBQ grill lock from the front desk. You must be an Ashdown resident, and you will need to deposit your MIT student card. Your card will be given back when you return the key.
  2. Unlock the chain securing the grills.
  3. You may move the grills as needed for your event, provided they stay on the concrete.

After Event:

  1. Borrow the BBQ grill scraper from the front desk. Scrape off any burnt food residue from the top of the grills.
  2. Wait several hours for the coals and ashes to cool. Alternatively, you may use the garden hose to cool the coals.
  3. Empty the coals and ashes into the garbage. Depending on the time of your event, if you wait for the coals to cool, this can be done the following morning.
  4. Move the grills back to their original location.
  5. Wind the chain around all the grills and lock the chain.
  6. Return the key to the front desk. Pick up your MIT student card.