Safety & Policies

Items we recommend you bring with you on move-in day or obtain once you are on campus:

• flashlight and extra batteries
• first aid supplies including band aids, sterile gauze pads and tape, gloves, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic ointment, pain relievers, masks
• extra soap, toilet paper, towelettes and tissues
• anti-bacterial (waterless) hand sanitizer
• cleaning supplies, including mild disinfectants
• heavy duty gloves

Additional items to keep readily available, in the event you need to leave your room with very little warning:

• cash, small denominations, some in quarters (credit cards, ATMs may not work if regional phone demand is too high)
• any prescription or over-the-counter medicines
• personal items such as a cellphone, glasses, contact lens solution, cherished photos
• valuables such as laptop and jewelry
• copies of financial papers, bank account numbers, other important documents
• hat/cap, sunscreen, insect repellent
• "go bag" with sturdy shoes, socks, changes of clothing
• menstrual products
• inventory of belongings left behind in room, especially any valuables

Additional items you should always keep on hand in your room:

• up to two-week supply of bottled water
• up to two-week supply of non-perishable foods
• extra supplies of food and other things you like and use the most
• campus and area maps
• airtight containers for food
• blanket

Students with disabilities who are living in a residence hall should:

• Obtain fire safety instructions for residents who require evacuation assistance (ask your RA for a copy)
• Assess their ability to respond to the emergency procedures described in this document
• Know how they will safely exit their room and building in an emergency when evacuation is appropriate (e.g., fire alarm sounding), keeping in mind that elevators should not be used during an evacuation and that automatic door opening devices will not operate when electrical power is lost
• Determine whether special assistance by authorities would be necessary in the event of an emergency, and, if so, submit a current and detailed written request for any such assistance with their 24-hour Service Desk, asking at that time to be named on the Evacuation Assistance List.
• Identify another person (e.g., roommate, close friend) who would check on them in the event of an emergency
• Know they can reach a Resident Life staff member by dialing (301) 314-7484 or (301) 314-6255 during regular business hours or by dialing your Service Desk after regular business hours, on weekends and on holidays
• Register with the University's Office of Accessibility and Disability Services and receive assistance in planning for support of your academic and personal needs
• Update records provided to University offices such as Accessibility and Disability Services and the University Health Center as often as warranted (including temporary conditions such as wearing a cast)
• Ask to have their names removed from their Service Desk's Evacuation Assistance List whenever doing so is appropriate.

For additional campus information, please visit Accessibility at UMD's Emergency Preparedness for Persons with a Disability page.

All bomb threats reported to the University are taken seriously.

If a bomb threat is received:

• Call 911 or University police at 301-405-3333 to report the emergency
• Call your service desk   

University police will respond to your location and assess the bomb threat. Once the police have assessed the situation, then the police will initiate appropriate action. Only the University of Maryland police will decide if an evacuation needs to occur, when it will occur, and how the evacuation will be announced and residents notified to evacuate. The notification to evacuate may be accomplished by the police activating the building fire alarm system, or they may decide to choose an alternate method of evacuation notification (air horns, phone, door-to-door) based on the circumstances and after assessing the situation of the particular bomb threat incident.

The University Health Center monitors communicable disease cases that may affect the well-being of students, faculty, and staff and send out email communications with recommended actions.

If you have reason to believe you or someone you know may have contracted a communicable disease:

• Inform your loved ones
• Consult with a personal physician or staff at the University Health Center
• Immediately contact the University Health Center at (301) 314-8180
• Be prepared to identify your current state of health, any symptoms of illness or disease, all recent contacts with persons who may be exposed to a disease, etc.
• Avoid contact with others

The campus's Early Warning System is designed to provide instant notification to students, faculty and staff of imminent dangerous conditions. In such an emergency, sirens around campus will sound continuously for at least three minutes. When danger has passed, a single 30-second siren blast will sound.

Please note that siren testing occurs at 11:55 a.m. the first Wednesday of every month.

If you hear the Early Warning siren:

• If in your residence hall or apartment, stay inside/in your room, and seek information from the sources below.
• If outdoors, seek shelter inside the closest building.

Instructions for responding to an emergency should be learned by checking:

• www.umd.edu
• WMUC 88.1 FM
• (301) 405-7669 (401-405-SNOW) (recorded message)

In an emergency (such as fire, flood, storm damage, or extended power outage) residents may need to be temporarily relocated from their rooms. Resident Life staff will work with students on an individual basis to assign temporary spaces.

In an emergency that results in a closing of the campus (such as approaching hurricane or pandemic flu), residents will be expected to vacate rooms within 24-48 hours. Individuals who are unable to leave by the time the campus is closed may petition Resident Life for permission to temporarily occupy a designated temporary emergency shelter.

Displacement

This is our term for the rare occasions when students are forced to relocate from their rooms because their floor or building is:

• Scheduled for renovation or closing
• Being converted for use by the opposite sex
• Being converted for students in a special University program, or
• Uninhabitable because of an emergency

Normally, announcements can be made several weeks or several months in advance. Under normal circumstances, no student has to leave on-campus housing, and there is an opportunity to select one’s new room using the regular room change, Room Selection, and “pull-in” procedures.

If there is a fire:

• Sound the fire alarm by activating the nearest fire alarm pull station
• Leave the building using the nearest exit or stairwell
• Call University Police at 301-405-3333 to report the emergency once safely outside
• Remain outside until informed by emergency personnel that it is safe to re-enter 

You must leave the building immediately when a fire alarm is sounding. If safe to do so, close your window, room/suite/apartment doors, and safely exit the building at once using the nearest stairs.

If you see or receive an unexpected letter or package that looks suspicious:

• Call University Police at (301) 405-3333
• Call your service desk
• Do not touch the item or disturb it in any way; do not open, smell or taste it
• If you inadvertently pick up the item and first become suspicious at that point, carefully set the item down, ideally in an isolated location
• Stay away from the item, and keep others away from it

Signs of a potentially suspicious letter or package:

• No return address, restrictive marking such as “Personal” or “Special Delivery”
• Excessive postage, tape or string; possibly mailed from another country
• Misspelled words, badly typed or written, name doesn’t match address
• Package or letter is lopsided or uneven, wire protrudes from it
• Package or letter has strange smell or has oily stains, discoloration or crystallization

All reports of suspicious mail and packages are taken very seriously and are investigated thoroughly.