This is not an attack on the abilities or standards of Residence Services. In general, Residence Services takes care of much more than the minor inquiries about outstanding phone bills, unnotified mail packages, delayed work orders/requests or why we pay a dollar to do our laundry. For the amount of people who live in Residence, there is a lot to maintain and, despite these minor glitches, the majority of people think Residence Services does a fairly substantial job.
According to MeriKim Oliver, the Residence Manager, most complaints involving phone bills, work orders, and the slow processing of received mail are being addressed.
The phone bills in Trad have been delayed for several months. If and when we do finally receive them, there will definitely be inquiries. We have been told that payment dates will be extended, but the semester is coming to an end and still no bills have arrived. Most of the Residence buildings are old and there are renovations taking place, but there are several internal building problems. The Trad heaters have circulated the air for a couple of years now, and when something goes wrong in your room or your apartment building, putting in a work order doesn’t grant you in any way the assurance something will get fixed right away. There have been many complaints about the lack of efficiency.
The reasons for the slow mailing process was explained: packages or mail get delayed for many reasons, as weekly delivered mail is sorted by an employee–often a student who only has a limited amount of time between classes–and weekend staff is limited. Even if your mail arrives, there is no guarantee you’ll immediately receive it.
What can be done? If Residence Services increases its staff, residence fees may go up. As for the staff, many in Rez complain about their lack of organization and inability to communicate with residents. Most of the employees are still new to their jobs; they don’t know the ins and outs of what goes in Rez, and that causes problems. The complaints are frequent and what causes even greater concern and frustration is the lack of communication. It’s not a question of whether Residence Services does a reasonable job, it’s more about how the job is done.
From MeriKim Oliver’s point of view, yes, there are delays and those minor glitches that cause continuous problems. I understand that most concerns in Rez go beyond delayed phone bills and for approximately 1,650 Residence students, of which 600 live in Trad, most problems are only minor. But if these issues are continuously ignored, problems will persist and this will undermine Residence Services’ credibility.