Winter is Coming

The notice to vacate the hostel rooms for winter was initially sent on 30th October in the form of a mail from the GSHA meant for 2nd year UG students from hostels 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9. The mail informed that since the institute hosts many events (including Inter-IIT this time) in the month of December, 2nd year UG students have to vacate their rooms by 5th December 2023. They were asked to store their luggage in the store rooms provided in the hostel for a brief period and were informed that they would be able to occupy their rooms from 31st December onwards.

Note that this email had no mention of any 3rd year UG, 4th year DD or 1st year Masters students whatsoever. The notice for this group came in the form of a mail from HCU to hall managers of all the hostels (with the A Dean SA in CC) dated 21 November. The mail said, “It is necessary to inform all students going back on vacation at their home in December, especially 3rd and 4th year undergraduate students or 1st year Masters students, that they should vacate the rooms and submit their keys to the hostel.”

There was an understandable confusion amongst many students since it is supposedly asking only the students going back on vacation (and not all students of the aforementioned categories) to vacate their rooms for the winter period.

To get clarity on the matter, students enquired the hostel councils of these hostels. As a reply, the hostel councils stated that 3rd year UG students do not have to vacate their rooms for the winter. This was in the form of informal communication via WhatsApp groups in some cases (such as Hostel 9 and Hostel 6) and through mail in others (such as Hostel 15). 

[ Note: The Associate Dean SA’s office and the HCU office have confirmed that there was no official communication from their offices or any decision made regarding the choice to vacate the rooms for the 3rd year UG, 4th year DD and 1st year Master’s students before this mail. ]

H15:
On 23rd November, a mail was sent by the maintenance council that stated the following:

“As per the HCU guidelines and by the ADean (SA), All the UG 3rd-year, 4th-year students, and 1st-year master students have the choice to either vacate their rooms or stay here for the winter holidays.”
and 

“If the student does not plan to vacate the room, room retention fees will be deducted from their upcoming SMA fees then they can enjoy their stay at insti in the winter holidays toooo!!”

This was also corroborated by the hostel council on WhatsApp groups unofficially, which led the specified residents to believe that they could choose to retain their rooms for the winter. At the time, it was only said that a room retention fee would be applicable, and the fee amount would be notified to everyone once it was decided. 

This was further confirmed by an email sent by the maintenance council to residents on 27th November, which stated:

“BTech 3rd year, 4th year and MTech 1st students have the flexibility to either retain their room or not; prior information was given in the last 2 emails; please check.”

However, a mail dated 29 November from the HCU sent to residents of Hostel 6, 9 via the hall manager states that since no academic activities are scheduled after 3rd December, 3rd-year UG, 4th-year DD and 1st-year Masters students are to vacate their rooms by 5th December. Further information regarding room retention was conveyed in a later mail, stating, “If any student requires room retention during vacation, [they] need to seek approval of Associate Dean (SA).

Room Retention charges are Rs.2300/-“

Similarly, for Hostel 15, on 30th November, a mail was sent by the hall manager that stated the opposite of the previously obtained information about room retention:

“As per the orders of HCU,  All UG 2nd year, UG 3rd year and Masters 1st year students who are residents of Hostel-15.  Please follow the guidelines as below for hostel vacation:

You will have to vacate your room till the 3rd of December 2023. This is the last date to vacate the hostel.”

The email also mentioned: “Room should be kept open. In case of failure room locks will be broken and possessions will be taken.”

On 4th December, the maintenance council [Hostel 15] sent another mail:

“We have orders for getting rooms vacated in hostel 15 by the 5th of December, in case the rooms aren’t vacated on valid reasons,they will be fined 500rs per day, until they stay here.”

[ Note: The A Dean SA and the HCU office have also confirmed that no such guidelines were issued from their offices to the hall managers or the hostel councils about room locks being broken, possessions being taken, and fines being imposed, and such decisions require prior approval from the A.Dean SA’s office. ]

The institute rule requires students to vacate their rooms during vacations (non-academic periods in a calendar year). However, due to the mail sent by the authorities on 21st November and the mails that followed, there was a misunderstanding and confusion amongst the students. So even though, according to the rules, one must vacate during the vacation, many third-year students who left before 29th November didn’t vacate their rooms, citing the earlier mail sent on 21st November and clarifications from their respective maintenance councils. Therefore, the timeline and clarity of information dissemination by the relevant authorities and respective hostel councils was particularly unfortunate in this case. 

To understand and learn more about the issue, Insight reached out to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs (A.Dean SA), and the following were their comments regarding the same: 

“The hostel fees are paid for a semester basis, and the students have to vacate the rooms when there are vacations, which are not part of the Academic Calendar period.”

When asked to clarify the hostel councils’ replies to the students about not vacating the rooms for 3rd-year students, the A.Dean SA had the following to say:

“There are two possibilities: if the students have vacated the rooms, then they are honouring the standard rules of the institute; they are given the room for the academic period. Now that the vacations have started, they should vacate the room and hand it over to the institute. This is the most ideal thing [to do]. Second, students leave as soon as the academic calendar is over, and they keep occupying the rooms. In that case, they are retaining the rooms because a lock is there. So irrespective of the fact that whether they are outside IITB campus on vacation or inside the campus, it is but obvious that they have to apply for room retention through the proper channels.”

He added that if a student has left the campus without vacating their room and if the institute is required to access these [locked and unvacated] rooms, in case of any urgent need, proper measures will be taken in the presence of hostel authorities and security personnel, and the entire thing will be videographed, and the room’s occupant will also be informed beforehand. However, this will only be done if the institute requires more rooms, but the institute will try to avoid any such thing. 

About the mail dated 29th November asking all the third-year students to vacate their rooms, he said that it was done as an additional measure to ensure that third-year students who are yet to leave the campus must vacate their rooms unless there are any academic/non-academic compulsions to stay back on the campus, in which case they must apply for room retention, and that room retention must not be taken for granted.

He further added that as senior students (third-year and further), they must be aware of the institute norms and rules about applying for room retention every time there’s a vacation. Also, the institute will not automatically deduct the room retention charges from the SMA for students who haven’t applied for room retention and still wish to stay on campus during the winter, so the students must not assume the same. 

He also said that because of three major events (Inter-IIT Sports Meet, Mood Indigo, and TechFest) and multiple other activities [ mentioned in the following paragraph ] happening this time in December on the campus, the administration is in a tight situation and, therefore, facing a crunch in terms of available rooms. About 2500 participants are expected for the sports meet. Most of these participants will be accommodated in Hostel 15/16 with 2-3 people in each room, instead of the standard two people per room, which is the case of IITB students, and this is being done just so that the administration can ensure accommodation for all the participants. Along with them, the institute will also look into room retention for the Inter-IIT Cultural contingent, the various council members, tech teams, and MI & TF teams. 

He also added that the institute needs to accommodate the attendees and participants of various department events, workshops, conferences, symposiums, and winter schools. In addition to that, the PhD interviews are also scheduled this month, and winter interns are coming to the campus for various internships under different professors and departments; thus, the institute needs to arrange accommodations for them as well. 

On being inquired about IITB students being asked to vacate rooms during IITB fests like Mood Indigo and Techfest, he had the following to say: “The institute is a publicly funded institute; therefore, during non-academic time periods, all the resources must be equally shared, as per the requirements”

Addressing the issue of third-year students being asked to vacate their rooms on short notice, he assured that genuine concerns would be accommodated given necessary documentation is provided (to verify the emergency/concern) and that he’ll approve their requests for room retention for a timeframe in which they can finalise their travel. He added that he has faith and trusts the students that they won’t fake their requests for room retention. 

As mentioned above, he also reassured that no claims of 3rd year, 4th year DD, and 1st year Master’s students being allowed to stay during the vacations, room locks being broken, or fines being imposed are backed by the office. 

Insight also enquired the respective hostel councils about the information that they conveyed to the third-year students regarding room retention, and all of them said that no official information was conveyed to them through the A Dean SA’s office or the HCU office, and the claims made were due to miscommunication within the Hostel Affairs Council. 

Conclusion:

While senior students should be informed of institute norms, communication from the authorities indicated a change from standard procedure. This implied that third-year students need not vacate their rooms, leading to many students leaving their rooms without vacating them. Thus, it has also created a headache for the administration, as these rooms are effective only when someone uses them.

Strong wording and actions like “possession of belongings” and warnings of fines being levied have created inconvenience and concern for the safety of their belongings among the students who have already left for vacation. Although such instructions were never issued from the A. Dean SA’s or the HCU office, a few hostel councils issued such messages to their residents. However, these hostel councils have confirmed that no such fines have been collected till now, and no rooms have been broken into, and such measures were used to ensure that residents comply with the deadlines.

There is also a clear irregularity of the fine decided [A mail sent to Hostel 6 residents on 23rd November mentions a fine of Rs 500/day post retention deadline of 5th December. Whereas a mail on the same day to Hostel 2 residents mentions a fine of 750/day beyond the same deadline]

The irregularity in the fines arises from the fact that the fine amounts for each hostel are decided by the respective hostel council. 

This pushes the need for a blanket policy and standard operating procedure regarding retention even further, which must be enforced to ensure uniform fines and repercussions in case of non-compliance.

We believe that the chaos could have been avoided with a mail explicitly stating the rules for room retention well before the semester ended, which the administration assumed were obvious to the students.