by Daniel Covington
I think I can speak for everyone when I say that just about any issue with your dorm is not only annoying but also stressful and time consuming. Many students, including myself, find that issues are not fixed fast and efficiently.
In my own experience, Pearl has suffered constant breakdowns with not only washing machines but also dryers. There is an app that students and RAs use to report when equipment stops working, but this hasn’t seemed to help. Of the 5 washers and 5 dryers in Pearl, there was a point where over 70 percent had issues at the same time. Even though people were reporting issues/breakdowns as soon as they happened, the washers and dryers often were not getting fixed for weeks. Currently, 2 of the 5 washers do not work, and haven’t for a month. One of the two has been broken since the start of the semester. Every other machine has had issues off and on. Worst of all is that if the machine does not completely stop working, it will not be fixed.
This reflects poorly on those in charge. Students need to have access to working and clean equipment. This is unacceptable, and it wastes students’ time. If all the washers and dryers were working, I could get my clothes done in about an hour and a half. As of now, it usually takes me over twice that time if my clothes don’t get stuck in the washing machine. Again, this is ridiculous, and is only one of many issues that students face.
After dealing with this for almost the entire semester, Julie Wheeler sent out an email making sure she knew what was really going on with washers and dryers as well as any other issues. I sat down with Julie and she was receptive to discussing the issues. We as students and RAs were doing everything we needed to do to ensure things were taken care of in a timely manner. In this case, CSI, the company who owns and manages the laundry on campus, is consistently doing the bare minimum. This is a company that almost exclusively works for schools, and consistently has dropped the ball for Centre College. Julie has tried her best, and she mentions that even with all of the issues, this company is much better than the last one. Julie has also put in to get all new washing machines and an extra dryer to try to speed up the laundry process. Given all of this, I was happy to know that Centre College is doing what they can for the students in this area.
From other students, I have heard much much worse. Mold still seems to be a huge issue at Centre. Across every dorm I’ve lived in, I’ve seen it in one way or another—and it’s no joke. I have seen mold in the AC vents, in the seams of the showers, and in my first year dorm, growing all over the ceiling within a week or two. In addition, students seem to be blamed for this mold, when in reality, Centre is not taking the measures to deal with and prevent this mold, and so it continues to grow.
Meanwhile, Northside study rooms are still being used for single dorms. Some have no windows to the outside world, and are very small. If you ask RLO, they will say these singles are appropriate and fire safe. They will also disagree about not having a window, since there is a window looking out into the hallway. But let’s be real here. If the only window in your dorm is the size of a laptop and overlooks the hallway, that is no window! How the institution is allowed to put students in these tiny rooms is unfathomable, and it is unacceptable.
I could go on all day about the laundry list of dorm issues at Centre College. On the student side, we always need to make sure to report the issues as soon as they happen. For example, Julie shared with me that “the heat was out for 2 days [in Breck] before I ever had a report.” As students it can seem frustrating why things like heat are broken, but no matter what, don’t rely on the next person to do it. And if you choose to report the issue to your RA, please follow up! As long as the issue is documented, it is now Centre’s responsibility.
In conclusion, in some cases, such as the laundry, Centre is trying to improve things and it shows. However, in many other respects, it seems like Centre often doesn’t have the will or resources to fix the facilities in a timely manner, and students often suffer.
What improvements could Centre work on? Aside from the outstanding issues listed above, personally, I would like to see a system of better communication. For example, when you submit a request to ITS, you are immediately followed up with an email letting you know the request was received, as well as a ticket number. That would be nice for dorm-related reports. On top of that, I would love to have some type of estimated repair time. This would give students a sense of how much time it will take to get something fixed, and when it is scheduled to be fixed. Also, I would like to know in advance if there will be maintenance staff in my room, because sometimes you have to prepare ahead of time for that. Whether you rent a house or apartment you must be notified of these sorts of things, so why not at Centre?
We all pay good money to be here, and on top of that, we work hard. Students choose Centre College because it’s one of the best colleges in Kentucky, but when it comes to dorm life, it can be of the worst.