Maintenance problems cause stir in dorms

Melissa Acquesta

Maintenance concerns are yet another problem on campus these days. Adding to the housing complications currently in the dorms is complaints about heat, bathrooms and other odds and ends throughout the residence halls. A problem above all that students are whispering about is that Facilities is failing to respond in what they feel should be a timely fashion, if at all.
“The first request I put in was for my window, because it leaks a lot when it rains,” Kim McGrath, sophomore math/secondary education major, said. “And the other one was for the heat in our room. Since we live in a lounge now, our room is much colder than in the hallways or other rooms.”
McGrath said that it only took Facilities a few days to turn the heat up. However, the window is still not fixed.
Many students have been voicing their concerns for a while on campus but are not sure how long it is supposed to take until the problems are either solved or fixed.
“As an RA [Resident Assistant], they don’t tell us how long to expect a facilities request to be carried out,” Andrew Storti, Junior Finance/Accounting Major said. “It all depends on the severity of the issue. Some things can be done very quickly and handled immediately; other things may require more time.”
According to Storti, even after he put in a request to get a bathroom sink fixed, it took Facilities over a week and a half to come and repair it.
At times when large amounts of requests are filed, things can get backed up. Ryan Norris, a junior english/communication major works for Facilities and knows the lengths they go to in order to provide a working campus.
“As far as the heat is concerned. I know facilities has been here many nights – overnight, all night,” Norris said.
For students that are not completely sure how to request something to be fixed or possibly have been going about it in the wrong manner and do not understand why things are still broken, Norris has some tips.
“If a student fills out a facilities request, they will get a returned email saying that the task has been completed, or the facilities request has been finished,” Norris said. “When the student receives that email, if nothing has been fixed, then they should notify Facilities right away.”

Posted to the web by Marisa Gallelli