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College Life

Meals

The servery in the Dome is normally open as follows:

During vacations, the Dome is open for lunch from 12.30-13.00 (please book online before 10.00).

Most meals are self-service and inexpensive; most of the cost of their preparation is met by the Overhead Charge (see College Charges). The servery also sells milk. Vegetarian food is always available. If you have any special needs or questions, consult the Events Department (events@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk).

Formal Hall is a high quality waiter-served Dinner, a popular occasion for entertaining guests; sign for tickets online (by midnight on Sunday for Tuesday Hall, and midnight on Wednesday for Friday Hall). The cost of Formal Hall tickets will be deducted from your college card at the time of booking.

Graduates are invited to one Formal Hall per week free of charge (until they have completed the required number of terms for their degree, when Formal tickets will be charged at the student rate and billed termly in arrears). The Fellows invite all graduate students and their guests to sherry in the Fellows' Drawing Room before Formal Hall, from 19.00. During vacations they may eat dinner with the Fellows in the Fellows' Dining Room (please sign up online before 14.00).

Cooking Facilities

All rooms have access to kitchen areas where snacks and small meals may be prepared. Cooking is not permitted in study-bedrooms in the graduate houses, Canning & Eliza or Buckingham House (which have generous kitchen provision), or in Pearl House (New Block) where it triggers the fire alarms, and it is discouraged in other rooms for safety reasons. The cost of maintaining the kitchen facilities is met by the Overhead Charge.

Smoking

The College has a non-smoking policy. Any smoking should be out of doors; sheltered areas will be designated in case of bad weather.

Email, Post and Telephones

Most people in the College and University (staff and students alike) will assume that email sent to your hermes address (crsid@cam.ac.uk) will reach you, so you must consult it regularly. Most students make this their standard address while at Cambridge; if for any reason you do not want to do so, you must arrange that mail is forwarded appropriately. You can find addresses for college staff in the Murray Edwards College Directory, and for most members of the University (including students) via the University website.

Incoming mail is put in individual pigeon-holes by the Porters - the one below your name. Registered letters and parcels can be collected from the Lodge. There is a postbox for outgoing mail near the Lodge which is cleared by the Royal Mail at 17.00 on weekdays and 12 noon on Saturdays; there is also a Royal Mail postbox on Huntingdon Road which is cleared more frequently. The Porters sell a range of postage stamps. There is also a free inter-collegiate mail service for students, with a postbox also near the Porters' Lodge.

If at any time you find material circulated to pigeon-holes offensive, tell your Tutor who will try to see that your reaction is communicated to whoever produced the material (inside or outside the College).

Telephones on the University Internal Network are found on B staircase (top), F staircase (ground & middle) and H staircase (ground & top) in Orchard Court, Pearl House corridors and Buckingham House; these let you contact other Colleges and Departments free, using the last five digits of the full number. Messages to the main College number (01223 762100) can be taken by the Porter and will be put in pigeon-holes.

Noise

Colleges are densely occupied spaces. Unless everyone endeavours to prevent noise there is no peace and quiet for study and sleep, and you may need to modify your own behaviour accordingly. Playing music, and noisy movement or conversation either in rooms or in corridors, can be very disturbing to others; if you want to listen to music entirely freely, we strongly urge you to bring headphones! Please try to be patient about what is unavoidable. If you are disturbed by your neighbours, you should explain your needs to them and try to find an acceptable compromise; in difficulty, ask the JCR, MCR, the Dean, or your Tutor for help.

Music

Four music practice rooms with pianos and a harpsichord are currently available in the Coach House, the code for the door to which you can obtain from the Porters.

Good pianists (typically grade VIII upwards) are welcome to use the Steinway grand piano in the Fellows' Drawing Room at any time when the room is not being used; the Porters keep the key, and the President of the Music Society can be asked to add your name to the list of those allowed to use it.

The College Music Society welcomes new members and performers and holds regular concerts throughout the academical year. 

Except for those students reading Music, it is not usually possible to have a piano in a College room. For everyone else musical instruments and singing must be practised in a music room and not in study-bedrooms.

Religion

Unlike most Cambridge Colleges, Murray Edwards College is not a religious foundation in any sense, and has no rooms, facilities or staff related to any religion. The City (and the University) however have communities of most faiths.

Jewish students, please check the Cambridge University Jewish Society web site especially with respect to arrangements for Yom Kippur.

Art Collection, Art Room and Darkroom

A large, important and valuable collection of contemporary works by women artists is displayed throughout the college, including the student living areas; please treat them appropriately. Regular exhibitions are held in one of the Fountain Court corridors, commonly lasting a month. More information about the New Hall Art Collection and forthcoming events can be found on the College web site.

The upper room in the Coach House may be used as an Art Room, with white light; there is a sink in the room below. Downstairs is a newly equipped darkroom for photographic developing and printing.

Bar and Common Areas

The Froud Room and the JCR (H staircase, between Old Block and Pearl House) both serve as Undergraduate Common Rooms with newspapers and TV/video. The Graduate Common Room (the 'MCR') is located in Canning and Eliza Fok House; it is open at all times and houses a TV, video and CD player together with kitchen facilities and computers.

The College Bar is open most evenings and some of the weekend. It contains vending machines and a giant TV, and opens out onto Fountain Court.

The broad Walkway through the college also offers places to sit or gather, and you may use all the gardens freely except for the Fellows' Garden (signposted clearly) - there is no 'keep off the grass' rule at Murray Edwards College.

Safety

All students are required to comply with any instructions from College staff with respect to Health & Safety requirements. A College Policy Statement on this may be found on the Policies web page. For everyone's safety, you must report any accidents, maintenance problems or security problems you come across to the Porters.

Notices about Fire Precautions and what to do in the event of a fire are displayed in every student's room, and if you are in one of the rooms designated for a 'Fire Warden' there will be additional instructions for checking that all your neighbours are out of the building in the event of a fire. Please acquaint yourselves thoroughly with these instructions, and make yourselves aware of fire exits. Fire Practices are held from time to time and the alarm bells are tested regularly at Tuesday lunchtimes.

The College has a Security Officer, Fire Officer and a Safety Officer, who may be consulted for advice.

Photocopying

There is a photocopier in the library for student use. The machine is operated on a card system. Cards are available from the Porters' Lodge (cards cost £1 for 20 copies).

Laundry

There are laundry rooms for undergraduates, with washing machines, tumble dryers and ironing boards, in Canning & Eliza House, Buckingham House, and in the basement of Pearl House. These are operated by cash only.

There is also a laundry on H staircase, which is for graduate use only.

Multi-gym

There is a multi-gym at the lower level of Fountain Court near FC1, open to all members of the College; a small charge is made termly for its use. Before you are allowed to use it, you must ensure you are shown how to use the equipment safely: see the notice on the door.

Access

The Porters' Lodge is staffed 24 hours a day (though some services are suspended 23.00-8.00 and the porter on duty may occasionally be called away). Most of the College's external gates and doors are controlled by locks operated by the University Card.

External doors on B, F and H staircases are mortice-locked at 21.00 but students may enter or leave the College via other entrances at any time - using your University Card after 23.00.

Parties

You may not hold a party (defined as a gathering with more than five guests from outside the College) in your own room, nor in any of the College houses. However, various rooms and gardens (including the Bar) are available for meetings, dinners and parties, and can be booked through the Conference Administrator (conference@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk). Parties require permission from the Conference Administrator, Dean and Head Porter: the Conference Administrator will give you a permission form for completion and a sheet setting out what is permitted in each of the possible venues. The College Dean will help advise on larger functions.

Page checked and updated WK 10/11