University housing deals with dorm damages after students leave

Though the mass exodus of summer vacation-bound students from the dorms has left much of campus uninhabited, University Housing expects to stay busy through the summer.

More than 10,000 people are expected to live in the dorms during the next few months including students taking classes during the summer sessions and groups using the rooms for camp programs, but University Housing will be making renovations, installing microfridges and carpet for next year's tenants and cleaning the aftermath of another school year in the dorms.

Kirsten Ruby, Assistant Director of Housing for Marketing at the University, said that maintenance workers will perform routine inspections of rooms left empty during the term.

Ruby said that workers will also "deep clean" dorms and communal areas such as bathrooms and hallways while itemizing any damage tenants may have caused to their rooms.

As a result of the inspections, students who leave campus with their dorms in poor condition might find an unexpected charge to their student account.

Fines for damaged dorms can include $30 for nail holes on walls, $20 to replace a window screen and $250 to repaint a room. Ruby said that the charges are necessary to recoup the cost of the repairs and are not meant to be punitive.

"The things we charge for are things that are extraordinary, things we've asked (the residents) not to do," Ruby said.

Stephen Koehler, junior in Business, remembers leaving his Forbes Hall dormitory in much worse condition than when he and his roommates moved in during his freshman year.

"We had taped stuff to the ceiling, so paint from the ceiling was coming off when we took it down, and there was a lot of sticky stuff on the floor because we had carpet taped to it," Koehler said.

Despite the damage to the room, Koehler said neither he nor his roommates received a fine.

"I was definitely kind of surprised," Koehler said. "I thought we'd get charged quite a bit."

Ruby said that normal wear and tear is taken into account when determining whether a fine is necessary. She added that the University makes every effort to charge only those tenants who are responsible for damage.

"The RAs check everyone out, and most of the time we can identify specific people who are responsible for damage," Ruby said.

Additionally, the room inspections will coincide with heavy construction at many housing facilities. Ruby said that projects include a new building on Gregory Drive, new main lounges at Garner, Forbes and Hopkins residence halls and a new dining facility at the Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls.

"We're very excited about it," she said.