It’s all a part of living in the dorms. Sure, the rooms are small and everyone has to share a bathroom. But one thing is often overlooked, but always is a concern to residents, is controlling the temperature.
The temperature in dorms such as Bridgman and Sutherland is controlled by one or two rooms per cube section. A valve on the room’s heating vent controls the temperature for the entire section. And usually the students living in that room have no idea where their heat is coming from.
UW-Platteville recently completed plans to install thermostat controls in every room and Eau Claire should consider doing the same.
Housing and residence life has said the installation of thermostats probably will happen in the future, but not for some time.
If thermostats aren’t to be installed right away, the people living in the room with the controlling thermostat not only should be aware of the impact they have on the floor, but also should be designated the responsibility of knowing the temperature. These residents could work under the direction of the hall director to try to ensure other students in the dorm of having the ideal temperature in their rooms.
People are different and many react badly to the temperature variants. It would be beneficial to the university’s on-campus students if there were some sort of option for them. Not all dorms have to be be equipped with changeable thermostats. The university could start with installing them in certain buildings and people could fill in those rooms on a merit basis.
A simple step the university can take is adding a question to the resident survey at the end of each semester. As of now, there is no effective way for students to voice opinions on the temperature issue except for a special section of the survey.
At the very least the university should look into installing thermostats. It’s one way to make living on campus that much more enjoyable.