Students support overnight policy

More than 87 percent of Pierpont Hall residents at West Virginia University said they support a relaxed overnight visitation policy.

In a survey issued by the University in April, 60 students responded on the current visitation policy within the hall.

Pierpont Hall, primarily for upperclassmen, is the only residential housing complex with a relaxed visitation policy that allows residents to sign in guests of both genders overnight.

"The main goal of that survey was to get a survey from students who had a modified visitation policy to see if there were any major concerns raised from that visitation policy," said Trish Cendana, director of WVU Residential Education.

"We wanted to find out if there was a negative impact on any of the students," she said.

More than 63 percent of the survey's respondents said they utilized the policy by signing in an opposite sex guest overnight during the year.

Forty percent of these respondents said they signed the same guest in seven or more times. Seventy-five percent said they felt "very comfortable" with their roommates overnight guests of the opposite sex.

The survey completes a two-part look at the policy first examined last year.

In February 2009, a survey was taken of more than 1,000 students from all residence halls on campus before the policy was put into place.

More than 95 percent of students said they would support the change in the 2009 survey.

"In most cases, the results were pretty favorable," Cendana said. "Generally the results look about the same."

Cendana said she plans to go over the two survey's results with the University's Visitation Policy Committee in October.

More research would be needed before any policy changes would take affect for the rest of the residence halls on campus, she said.

Ryan Campione, Student Government Association governor who is concerned with changing the visitation policy, said the survey's results were what he hoped for.

"Between this and the 2009 survey, we are building up an even stronger case for the visitation policy change,"

Campione said. "It basically matches the 2009 survey because it got the same results. It should not be necessary to do any further research."

The survey is an accurate account of the resident's opinions of the change even though a majority of residents did not respond, Cendana said.

The University will take into account that only those in favor of the survey responded. Also, the survey was issued at the end of the year, which could have affected the low number of participants, she said.