On The Quality of Frostburg State’s Dorms
By
William Everett, Elijah Lynch, Rainier Ramos
Frostburg
(MD)
(
1,550 words, 5 interviewees)
Frostburg – On February 17th, 2018,
residents of Westminster all were forced out of their warm beds and into a
howling blizzard as the fire alarm sounded off once again. Many of the disgruntled students crowded into
the dining hall entrance just down the road to take shelter from the battering
snow and cold wind.
 |
Firefighters drive
through the snow en route to Westminster
|
Some wild stories may claim that the fire department
comes to Westminster so often because of students using a certain herb.
However, in most cases, when the alarm sounds off and white lights flash
throughout the hall, it is because of excess smoke from one of the kitchens.
In Westminster, the kitchens are old, operating on dated equipment that often leads to accidents, such as excessive smoke from the stovetop heating up much more than the user intended. Sometimes students have to move from one kitchen to another in search of equipment that actually works. For example, sometimes the stovetops don’t heat up at all. And some of the ovens aren’t even usable because their racks are missing.
 |
Good luck making a pizza
without a rack
(Hayden
Grossman, resident of Westminster Hall)
|
While Westminster residents are sometimes forced out
of their dorm due to faulty kitchen equipment, it is not the only problem they
face. For example, their laundry machines, washers and dryers, are notorious
for their unreliability.
Some washers are known to the rumble and shake around
the floor, moving around while in operation. Some of them leak out water. And
the ones that do work often have an inconsistent timer, taking longer to wash
clothes than what it says it will take.
As for the dryers, they have been known to leave burn
marks and holes in clothing unless the temperature the heat is set to a low
setting. On top of that, some dryers
fail to produce any heat at all.
Some students discover this for themselves when they leave
their clothes in one of these machines for an hour, only to discover that they
are still wet and they have to lug their heavy clothes to a different, working
dryer on another floor.
Lastly, as a dorm with six floors, the elevators are
arguably the most important machines in the dorm for students who don’t want to
hike up a flight of stairs after a long day of classes. Unfortunately, these,
too, are not entirely reliable.
The elevators sometimes open their doors randomly, with no one pressing the button to summon them. Sometimes they fail to work, which is especially problematic for anyone carrying heavy boxes. In fact, the safety certificates in the elevators are outdated.
 |
The Safety Certificate in Westminster’s right-hand
elevator
|
 |
The “Valid Until” date reads March 2nd of
2018
|
While Westminster Hall has its
problems, it is far from being the only dorm at Frostburg State in need of
attention. Most residence halls, if not all of them, have certain problems that
their occupants have to deal with.
Olivia Berge, an RA for both Simpson
Hall and Frost Hall, reveals some of the issues with both of these dorms. She
says that the appliances in both halls “are not as
good as they could be.” The ovens in these halls seem to never work properly,
as they either produce too much or too little heat, which results in food being
cooked unevenly.
Additionally, Oliva says that the
washers and dryers are “constantly breaking.” The dryers in Frost Hall, in
particular, produce so much heat that they will singe clothes inside of them.
Lastly, the shower heads and curtains in these halls are outdated and in need
of attention.
There is also a notable lack of air
conditoning in every freshman dorm other than Frost Hall. Freshman who enroll
at Frostburg State are required to live on campus for at least one year, and
this is being extended to two years for the class of 2023 and beyond.
As summer tends to gets hotter with
each passing year, every freshmen living in these dorms may find themselves
feeling even more uncomfortable than the last students to live in their rooms. Rainier
Ramos, who once lived in Gray Hall, said, “I remember
being extremely hot and sweaty in my dorm in Gray Hall since they have air
fans, not air conditioners.”
 |
This chart displays
the high temperature at Frostburg on September 1st for the past six
years. It ranges from 75°F to 86°F
(This information was
provided by usclimatedata.com)
|
The only housing with air
conditioning that freshmen can opt for is Edgewood Commons, which is not an
option for everyone as it is both expensive and rather distant from the
university’s academic buildings.
Even in the newest residence hall,
Cambridge, there are a few issues. Most notably, there is only one washer and
dryer on each floor. This means that, on each floor, these lone machines must
be shared by twenty four to even forty eight different people.
Additionally, Jason Weatherly, a Frostburg
Alumni, had a few things to say about Westminster Hall. “I never used the
kitchen, but I always heard that they were having major issues.” He also says
that there were “situations when I would be sleeping at 12:30 in the morning
and there would be random fire drills.”
Lastly, Patrick Pruitt, an off-campus
student, says that dorm life “wasn’t for me.” He elaborates by saying, “if they
took a little bit more care of the appliances and the elevators then people
would actually care more for the dorms.”
So, why are the appliances in Frostburg’s dorms so
lacking? Arguably, the low quality of all these appliances is contributing to
the declining number of students enrolling at Frostburg State. In an attempt to
attract more students, the university has decided to build a new (currently
unnamed)residence hall in the lower quad of campus.
Construction of this hall is set to begin
in summer of 2018 and finish by 2020. This new dorm will have 125,000 square
feet of space, 431 new beds, and modern amenities. While this new dorm sounds
very nice, it begs the question: what about the other dorms? One might assume
that the university, particularly the Residence Life Office, may try to sweep
these issues under the rug.
However, an interview with Sean McNalley, Associate Director of
Residence Life, sheds some light on this issue.
Although one might think that the Residence Life
Office controls everything related to the residence halls, Sean McNalley says
that RLO actually acts as a “middle role” between the students and the people
who fix the appliances. RLO’s primary purpose is to help pair like-minded
students together as roommates to “create a safe learning environment,” rather
than oversee the dorms themselves.
However, they are not entirely uninvolved. When a
student files a complaint, either directly to RLO or to an RA, RLO reports the
problem to the company that makes the appliances, who then step in to solve the
problem.
Rather than addressing the problems themselves, RLO is
limited to this position while advocating for improvements and renovations to
the dorm. So when it comes to faulty laundry machines and missing oven racks,
RLO is not to blame.
McNalley says, “We do listen to student
feedback,” and he wishes that Residence Life could solve all the problems in
the dorms. He emphasizes that RLO can advocate for improvements, but does not
have direct control over the dorms.
On November 19th, 2017, Frostburg State’s president,On November 19th, 2017, Frostburg State’s president, Ronald Nowaczyk, shared an email with Frostburg's students that explains these budget cuts.
Revenues of that year were “less than expected,” so
the university has kept new hires to a minimum and has taken actions to reduce
travel costs for school staff. He also explained that funding for new buildings
on campus was provided by the state of Maryland, rather than the university
itself.
Fortunately, RLO’s advocacy has not fallen on deaf
ears. Currently, Cumberland and Annapolis Hall are closed as they are receiving
renovations. This is part of a “campus master plan,” according to McNalley,
which aims to improve the quality of life in Frostburg’s residence halls over
the course of five years.
Once renovations in Cumberland and Annapolis are
complete, which is expected to happen in the 2018-2019 school year, the
university plans to renovate Frederick and Westminster, though only one at a
time. These renovations will include replacing roofs windows, and “mechanical
systems,” as well as updating the dorm’s lighting and other electrical parts in
the halls.
This could mean that elevators, laundry machines, and
kitchen appliances will be repaired and/or replaced by newer, more reliable
models. However, the exact details of these renovations are currently unknown.
Additionally, it is not known if halls other than the ones in the lower quad
(the freshman dorms in the upper quad) will be receiving renovations after
Frederick and Westminster.
For
more information, please see the following links:
Information
on the new residence hall
Information
on the Residence Life Office
Information
on housing options at FSU
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