The Woods | Photo by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
A residential building in The Woods lost heat on Oct. 31. Wright State University Residence Life and Housing maintenance fixed the issue on Nov. 3.
Housing statements
Jennifer Attenweiler, director of Residence Life and Housing, explained that the Residence Life and Housing team tested the heating system for the upcoming winter. Attenweiler said it was then that they found that the building-wide heating system was not functioning properly on two of the floors.
The Residence Life and Housing team took action, although things were not completely solved until a few days later. This seems to mostly be due to having to bring in an outside vendor to fix all of the parts properly, including a replacement.
“During this time, the ambient temperature of the internal hallway was over 70 degrees,” Attenweiler said.
According to Attenweiler, Residence Life and Housing offered space heaters to students to use in their rooms while the heat was out.
Immediate response
In an email sent to the residents who live on the affected floors, Gina Birdsall, facilities administrator of student housing, said that the team considered this to be an “emergency situation.”
Birdsall explained to the residents that the plans were to locate and resolve the issue.
Later, residents received another email from housing maintenance that stated what would be happening to fix this issue. Essentially, maintenance had to drain, refill and replace a pipe.
Resident experience
Isabella Taylor is a first-year student at Wright State University. She lives in Pine Hall on one of the two floors that lost heating. She shared her experience and how the lack of heat affected her.
“I was actually sick during that time, so it was horrible for me. I didn’t want to leave my bed,” Taylor said.
Taylor went on to explain that she had to do her homework in her bathroom and turn the shower on so the steam would keep her warm. This, however, caused her window to frost over.
This issue is now resolved, and students should not be experiencing any heating problems.
To submit an emergency maintenance request, visit the Residence Life and Housing website, which also has information for non-emergency maintenance and internet services. The Community Center of Residence Life is located at the Community Building and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
