Parties can now be registered five business days before they are held under a new policy from the Departments of Residence Life and Public Safety. Previous policy mandated that parties be registered seven days prior to an event.University policy requires that "large gatherings, events with alcohol, and other events which may impact the community" be registered with the appropriate quad director by the event's hosts, according to the Rights and Responsibilities handbook issued by the Department of Student Development and Conduct.

The new policy went into effect at the beginning of the semester, Assistant Director of Residence Life Dean Gendron said.

Certain departments, such as public safety, need the advance notice to prepare their staff and schedule a detail officer, which is often necessary for gatherings of more than 50 people, particularly outdoor events such as Modfest and Rosenball, Gendron said.

"The new form is meant to alert the community to the fact that fun is going on, to make sponsors and students living nearby aware of each other," Gendron said.

While Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said he has not noticed a significant increase in party registrations since the policy's implementation, Gendron said he expects the new form to be "more widely and more frequently used" than the older one.

"The attitude about the form is different," he said. "There was some concern last year about it being an obstacle, but now students are seeing it as a tool that benefits them."

Callahan said the policy change will not disturb current departmental procedure and that the less stringent statute is "a positive change that adds benefit to students" socially.

The Residence Life staff has been open to shortening the seven-day policy for some time, Ziv and Ridgewood Quad Director Amanda Daul said. She said the old registration policy, which mandated that parties be reported a week prior to an event, kept some students from registering.

"We still need ample time to alert staff and make sure the party is safe, but registering a party the Monday prior to a weekend seems more reasonable," Daul said.

Sara Weiner '07 registered a party in Ziv Quad last weekend. She received two check-in visits, one from Residence Life and one from Public Safety, she said.

"It was definitely worth it," Weiner said of her suite's decision to register the party. "It lets everyone in the community know that a party's going on, and it's easier to deal with authorities if you have to."

Gendron said Residence Life made several additional changes to the party registration form to reduce bureaucratic barriers-Residence Life will now send registration forms to Public Safety instead of requiring students to drop the forms off themselves, for example-and to encourage interaction between students and quad directors.

He said that rather than being a hindrance to students, the new policy sends a "positive message" on party registration.

When Residence Life is aware of a party, they can help with audiovisual equipment installation, setting up chairs, and removing trash, Gendron said. Staff can also provide free soda and snacks to registered parties the evening of the event and may also check in later in the evening, he said.

"The staff is there not as a monitoring presence but as part of the community," he said.