By: Amanda Miller, Contributing Writer
Photo by Lindon Horn

Students living in the Beta/Gamma community have seen a decline in the reliability of their laundry facilities—especially within the last semester. 18 students in the Beta/Gamma dorms were anonymously surveyed on their laundry experience, and the results speak for themselves. Most of the students surveyed (73%) do their laundry once a week. 60% of those surveyed stated that they always see defective machines when they run laundry, 93% have had their ability to do laundry impacted by a lack of available machines, 67% have had laundry stopped mid-cycle by a defective machine, and 40% have had their laundry damaged by broken machines. With roughly one washer/dryer set for every 27 students, this inconveniences everyone. But, beleaguered students, there is a change on the horizon!

Our laundry facility was last renovated in 2017 when the university began a contract with CSC Service Works (CSCSW) for all laundry services. This states that the university will provide the utilities, while CSCSW is responsible for machine maintenance. They must provide and maintain the machines, fixing them within a certain time frame and replacing them if they go down multiple times. As many laundry facility customers can testify, their response rate is lackluster; most of the washers and dryers installed back in 2017 are still there today.

According to Jeremy Sheffield, the university’s head of housing, the contract with CSCSW closes this summer on May 21, after which a contract with a new provider will be implemented on June 1. The goal is to set our new contract at no longer than five years (as opposed to the current contract’s eight year duration). As a state organization, the university has to hear bids from multiple organizations and select the lowest qualified bidder (with qualification being judged by the university staff). The university is currently evaluating new contractors, but there are a few key points that all bidders offered as a part of their prospective contracts.

Remote machine monitoring is one of the heaviest hitters: wifi boxes in the machines will notify both the facilities office on campus and the maintenance company that a machine is down. Students will no longer be in charge of reporting outages. However, if clothing is damaged in a washer or dryer, the student must contact the company directly for a damage claim. There will also be a stricter maintenance policy for the new machines. If one goes down and cannot be fixed within 48 hours, the supplier will bring a replacement machine until the original can be repaired. 

All of this is great for the future, but the impact that these unreliable machines currently has on students should not go unacknowledged. The facility can’t be revamped while students are using it, so the soonest we can get relief is the summertime. After their contract ends, CSCSW will retrieve their machines from all campus laundry facilities. Within one to two days, the new contractors will install newer, more technologically up-to-date machines. Students will be notified prior to the switching day(s). According to Sheffield, this is also the prime window in which the university can investigate any possible utility problems in the building. Count the days and laundry loads, everyone—we’re hanging CSCSW out to dry for good.