I. General Party Guidelines

A. All USCA houses and apartment complexes must follow all federal, state, and local laws at all times.

B. There should be no rental or lending of houses to outside agencies or individuals for parties, benefits, etc.

C. It is recommended that food and non-alcoholic beverages be available at all parties.

D. This policy is not meant to replace any existing house policies, nor does it exempt anyone from said policies. Both policies must be followed, and in the event of conflict between this policy and existing house policies, the stronger policy must be followed. II. Definition of a Party

A social gathering or event shall be defined as a party if any of the following conditions apply:

A. An event and/or gathering is advertised as a party.

B. A house-sponsored party is any social gathering or event occurring in common areas where non-house members number more than 50% of house occupancy or 20, whichever is larger, or any individually-sponsored party with more than 35 people.

C. Individual members may sponsor parties, but they must comply with Section X and all other applicable sections of this policy.

III. Advertising A. Party advertisements may be posted, distributed, or disseminated in any form inside of the USCA.

B. Party advertisements may be posted, distributed, or disseminated in any form within the University of California’s residence halls, provided that approval is granted by the proper campus officials. No party advertisements may be posted on the exterior of the residence halls’ buildings.

C. No advertisements may be placed anywhere outside the areas specified in Parts III.A. and III.B.

D. No advertising of alcohol, but BYOB is OK.

E. Advertisements must include:

1. Attendance criteria (see Section VIII.)

2. Disabled accessibility information.

IV. Alcohol

A. Houses may not advertise alcohol on any announcement for a party.

B. Elected house officers and managers, because they are official representative of the USCA, may not purchase alcohol on behalf of a house, apartment complex, or any collection of USCA members.

C. Alcohol may not be distributed to people under 21 years of age.

D. The house may not dispense or serve alcohol.

E. Houses may not use official house funds (i.e. individual house checking accounts, decentralized USCA funds, social budget, or any fees collected by managers, etc.) to purchase alcohol.

F. House members of legal drinking age may form private buying clubs, provided that managers do not take up the collections or purchase the alcohol.

G. Any sale of alcohol is strictly prohibited. This includes charging at the door or for drinks, wristbands, stamps, or cups, at parties where alcohol is distributed.

V. Controlled Substances

A. The possession, sale, and/or use of any controlled substances at a USCA sponsored event is strictly prohibited. An ongoing record of capital improvement requests and CMC re­pair suggestions shall be separately maintained for each house (and be forwarded to the houses at the time CI requests are being formulated).

VI. Money

A. There shall be no charging at any event where alcohol is dispensed or served by the USCA or its officials.

B. There shall be no donations at any event where alcohol is dispensed or served by the USCA or its officials.

VII. Party Approval and Responsibility

A. All parties (house sponsored or individually-sponsored) that will make use of common areas must be approved in advance by house council.

B. House council must designate at least one house level compensated manager to be present and to abstain from drinking alcohol and partaking of any controlled substances at each party. Two people are strongly recommended, especially for large parties. Responsibilities of said manager and other responsible persons shall include ensuring that the party is in compliance with the USCA Party Policy, coordinating safety and security, dealing with fire alarms, injuries, police, making sure that the music ends on time, seeing that the party ends on time, etc.

C. Social Managers must sign a form stating that they have read and understood the party policy; the house/apartment of the particular social manager will not be allowed to have a party until this is done. The VP-Safety & Maintenance Committee will keep the signed forms at the Central Office.

VIII. Attendance

A. Individuals, houses, or apartments may not hold open attendance parties. There must be some means of regulating who gets in. This must include one or more of the following: College ID (e.g., UCB ID), ID showing 18 years of age or old, and/or on the guest list.

IX. Safety and Security

A. The house is responsible for organizing sufficient house level security before the party.

B. The Safety & Maintenance Committee Chair shall speak with house management before the party to determine the number of professional security guards needed/required for the party. If adequate security has not been obtained, the party will be canceled.

C. When the party notification is received at the Central Office 10 days or more before the date of the party, the Safety & Maintenance Committee Chair or Member Resources Supervisor will be responsible for ordering security.

D. The House Social Manager, House Manager or designated house official shall meet with a representative of the security company prior to the commencement of the party to establish placement of security officers and specific duties of the same. Security charges will be covered exclusively by the house/apt.

Exceptions to the Party Policy.

F. Decisions of the relevant enforcement committees regarding Party Policy violations may be appealed to the Board of Directors only in cases of either:

1. Sanctions involving termination of contract(s).

2. Importance to the whole USCA.

3. Procedural irregularities at the original Cabinet meeting which substantially affected the outcome of the process, i.e., the Cabinet decision.

G. It shall be the duty of the Administrative Committee (or Cabinet, if the Administrative Committee initially acted as the enforcement committee) to determine whether an appeal of a the enforcement committee’s decision may be appealed to the Board of Directors under these criteria. If it sends an appeal to the Board, Administrative Committee/Cabinet must state the reason for granting the appeal.

H. A record of all complaints and sanctions shall be kept by the Safety & Maintenance Committee Chair.

E. No mass advertising, i.e., posting flyers is permitted for individual parties.

F. The party host will be held responsible for the conduct of all party attendees.

G. All parts of the USCA Party Policy apply to individually sponsored parties.

XI. Notification

A. Each house/apartment complex, or individual that is having a party with more than 35 attendees must submit a USCA Party

Notification Form to the Central Office front counter at least 10 days before the party is to take place or the party will be canceled by the Safety & Maintenance Committee Chair or the Director of Safety.

B. Advertisement flyers must be attached to the Party Notification Form, and they must not be posted until approved by Safety & Maintenance Committee Chair or the Director of Safety.

C. It is recommended that the house inform the police that their party is taking place and who the police can contact in case of an emergency.

XII. Neighbor Relations

A. In order to maintain good relations with their neighbors, the house/apartment complex, or individual shall inform their neighbors of any party at least 3 days before the party.

B. Notification shall include a list of house contacts and their phone numbers.

C. It is recommended that a house elected official maintain a list of neighbor contacts.

XIII. Ending Time

A. Amplified music shall end no later than 1:00 a.m.

XIV. Enforcement

A. Cabinet shall be responsible for enforcing the USCA Party Policy. If Cabinet is unable to meet at any time during the semester, the Administrative Committee shall have the responsibility for enforcing this policy. These bodies reserve the right to implement sanctions (financial or otherwise) in the event of a violation of this party policy. The extent of the sanctions shall reflect the severity of the violation.

B. When an alleged violation of this policy is discussed, the house/apartment complex or individual(s) involved shall have the right to be present or send a knowledgeable representative to the meeting at which the alleged violations will be discussed.

C. If Cabinet or the Administrative Committee decide to impose financial sanctions, it is recommended that the house/apartment complex shall be fined an amount not to exceed $15 per resident, except in exceptional circumstances.

D. In the event of non-financial sanctions, the relevant enforcement committees may take actions including, but not limited to: sending people to the house to discuss the violations, party probation, requiring any of the recommendations in this policy, or termination of individuals’ contracts.

E. A house/apartment, or individual may petition the relevant enforcement committees in advance for specific exceptions to the Party Policy.

I. All fines collected for Party Policy violations shall be deposited into the USCA Scholarship Fund.

XV. Sanctions for Alcohol Violations (see Section IV)

A. The first infraction for a house within one school year or summer contract period shall be punished by a fine of $2.00 -$5.00 per house member.

1. The house shall be given written notice of which violations have been found to have occurred.

2. The house’s Social and House Manager(s) shall meet with the enforcement committee to discuss the violation(s) which occurred, how to remedy the situation, and what circumstances would be involved should there be a second violation.

B. The second infraction for a house within one school year or summer contract period shall be punished by a fine of $3.50 -$7.50 per house member, and a one-month probationary period in which the house may not hold any parties.

1. The house shall be given written notice of which violations have been found to have occurred.

2. The house’s Social and House Manager(s) shall meet with the enforcement committee to discuss the violation(s) which occurred, how to remedy the situation, and what circumstances would be involved should there be a third violation.

3. The enforcement committee’s chair shall attend a house council meeting and explain to the house members what the first and second violations were, the consequences of a third violation, and how that could best be prevented.

4. A member of the enforcement committee shall inspect the first party at the house following the end of the probation.

C. The third infraction for a house within one school year or summer contract period shall be punished by a fine of $10-15.00 per house member, and a probationary period determined by the enforcement in which the house may not hold any parties.

a. The house shall be given written notice of which violations have been found to have occurred.

b. The house’s Social and House Manager(s) shall meet with the enforcement committee to discuss the violation(s) which occurred, how to remedy the situation, and what circumstances would be involved should there be successive violations.

c. A member of the enforcement committee shall inspect the first party at the house following the end of the probation.

D. The punishment for a fourth or even further number of infraction(s) for a house within one school year or summer contract period shall be determined by the enforcement committee.