Visitor management can be a bear on college campuses, with residence halls representing perhaps the biggest and most pressing challenge. Universities handle dorm visitation in a plethora of different ways, and this fall Western Illinois University will be implementing a new guest policy.

The university's housing and dining services is rolling out the new policy that requires all on-campus residents to register any non-Western student guests that will be spending the night on campus. According to a report from the Western Courier, the new policy will help to ensure a safer environment for residents.

The new policy places a level of guest responsibility in the hands of hosts, holding both guest and host alike responsible for the visit. The new overnight guest policy has been implemented for the following reasons:

• First, to be able to provide information to emergency personnel as to who is in the building at any given time.
• Second, when there are issues involving visiting guests to the buildings, to be able to find out who they are visiting and the responsibility of.
• Third, to better track who may be violating the UHDS guest policy.

The process for registering overnight guests has been designed to be simple and convenient for students. Hosts simply go to the front desk of the residence hall where they confirm that their guest will be spending the night. There's no paperwork, as registration is conducted via computer. The guest will be required to produce an official ID and the host will show their student ID at which point both identities will be placed together in the system. The guest will be printed a guest pass, which should be carried with them throughout their visit as proof of visitor registration.

If a student wishes to have their guest stay the night again after the initial period they must re-register at the front desk. Hosts must also register guests individually if there are multiple overnight guests. Guest registration periods last up to three days.

According to the university, the new policy should assist in enforcing the previously established guest policies in the residence halls. Existing regulations allow residents to only have a guest for up to three nights in a ten day period, with the permission of the roommate. Hosts are also held responsible for the actions of their guests and should escort guests at all times.