Housing officials strive to meet needs
Students living on campus at Utah State University deal with many different housing issues.
USU is one of the top universities for on-campus housing maintenance, said Steve Jenson, Housing and Food Services director.
“We have one thing that we’re really proud of,” Jenson said. “That’s our 15-minute maintenance plan.”
Three or four years ago, students complained about how long it took the university to address maintenance needs, so Housing changed its philosophy, Jenson said.
“During normal business hours, we’ll be there in 15 minutes after a call, and after business hours, we’re there within an hour,” he said.
In a recent national survey, USU ranked No. 1 in the nation for maintenance response, Jenson said. It is now nationally recognized for its efforts.
Very seldom does Housing have major complaints, he said. The main complaints this year have come from the south end of campus, where the construction is.
Candice Blood, resident director of the southern campus buildings, agreed that the biggest complaint this year has been about construction.
“They’ve changed it so that it doesn’t start until 7 a.m., but that’s still pretty early,” Blood said. “They just have to finish that building.”
Jenson said he realizes the construction has created a problem, but Housing has no control over it. Staff and residents just need to make the best of it until it’s over, he said.
Jenson said one of his goals is to keep more upperclassmen living on campus because of the mentoring they provide for the many freshmen.
Cortni Hillier, a junior in elementary education, is one of those upperclassmen living on campus. She lives in Summit Hall.
“It’s been good, but I’m a junior, and it’s been more geared towards freshmen,” she said. “It’s hard being a different age than the rest of them.”
Another reason Jenson would like to see older students living on campus is academics.
“Those that live on campus have a higher GPA than those that live off campus,” he said.
Christopher Ralphs, the area coordinator in charge of the Student Living Center, reported no problems with older students being mixed in with freshmen.
Jenson said 51 percent of those who live on campus are freshmen, although that is not an official statistic. Seventeen percent are sophomores, 11 percent juniors and 12 percent seniors. The remaining are graduate students. Fewer than 3,000 students live on campus this year.
Ralphs said his resident assistants are required to give residents a 48-hour notice before room checks are performed. His residents usually get closer to a week-long notice, though, he said.
“Only about one room per floor doesn’t pass,” Ralphs said. “We give them a three-day period of time to fix the problem and then they usually pass.”
Manti Su’a, a freshman who lives in Snow Hall, said his room was the only one on his floor that passed the first time.
“They’re really strict about room checks,” he said. “And, it’s usually little things that are wrong.”
Many of the happiest on-campus students live in the recently renovated buildings of the Student Living Center.
Su’a has liked his on-campus experience living at Snow Hall.
“It’s really nice,” he said. “There’s nothing to complain about.”
Others in the same general area do have complaints. Jordan Davis, a freshman living in Wasatch Hall, said his building is one that hasn’t been remodeled like the others around him.
“Our kitchen hasn’t been remodeled and there are stains all over,” he said. “The bathtub doesn’t drain all the way, and the fan in our bathroom only works for about two minutes – then it shuts off.”
Davis said he’s talked to the “maintenance guy” about the fan, and he just said all the rooms are like that.
He and his roommates didn’t pass their room check the first time, Davis said, because the bathtub wouldn’t drain all the way.
“We talked to them about it and worked it out, though,” he said.
Jenson said USU’s housing program has improved considerably over the past few years with the renovations of buildings and the new maintenance plan.
“We’re very proud of the organization that we have. We have a lot of great people, and we hope we can provide great service to those living on campus,” he said.
-emilieholmes@cc.usu.edu