For tasks that can’t just be solved by a hand-me-down toolbox, the various maintenance staffs throughout campus are on standby.
On campus, all residence halls have their own maintenance staffs.
“I’ve had to call for maintenance before,” freshman accounting major Kadie Klauer said. “I never saw anybody working in person, though.”
According to Klauer, she and her roommate were having trouble with their heating unit in Williams Hall. They contacted their Resident Advisor, who called maintenance for them.
“It was always extremely hot in our dorm room, and we would open the windows to keep it cool, but then I guess it was registering that cold air was getting in, so the temperature went up even more,” Klauer said. “Maintenance didn’t come to fix it for a very long time, but one day it was just better.”
For students living in the St. James apartment complex, there is a separate maintenance department. Students can fill out an online request if they need something fixed, or call an emergency maintenance number.
As for maintenance entering students’ rooms, junior English major Meghan O’Hern said they believe there needs to be more communication.
“[Maintenance at St. James] just walked into my apartment without warning,” O’Hern said. “It’s not okay. I have to make sure that I’m aware they’re going to be entering my apartment. They need to tell you specifically in advance when they’re going to be in your apartment.”
However, some students said they didn’t mind the maintenance practices performed at St. James.
“I feel that the warning they give is enough, because they knock on the door and yell ‘maintenance’ and wait five to ten seconds before coming in if no one answers the door,” Aris-Allen Roberson, senior theatre arts major, said. “I personally don’t have a problem with the way they do that because they’re just doing their job.”
Another off-campus housing location with its own maintenance department is Main Street Commons. While Main Street is not owned by Bradley University, it leases exclusively to students during the school year.
“I’ve never had the need to call maintenance before, but they have come to my apartment,” senior nursing major Megan Ewan said. “I was home once when it wasn’t during the scheduled maintenance times, and they banged on my door really loud and just came in. I was confused why they were there, but they just measured stuff and were in and out. They got done what they needed to do, so I’ve never really had any issues with them.”
However, other students have had mixed responses from the maintenance staff.
“They were really awkward, and they never actually fixed anything,” senior English major Jenny Cundiff said. “In fact, they tried to fix the grout in our kitchen tile once, and it just made the issue worse.”
According to Cundiff, the maintenance staff also left a mess while she was out of her apartment at Main Street Commons.
“When they came in over break to replace the shower heads when we’re not here, they left my bathroom torn apart, so I had to put it back together when I got back to campus,” Cundiff said.
Haley Castrejon, Office Support Manager at both St. James and Main Street Commons, said neither residence locations hire outside maintenance staffs.
“For any work order request we receive, we write down the name, number, and time the student requested, and we get to that request within the next business day,” Castrejon said. “Some issues, like the more major ones, get bumped further up sometimes.”
Castrejon said it is normal for Main Street Commons and St. James to post signs in advance of routine inspections, as well as notifying residents on social media and via word of mouth.
“We like to check back in with residents to make sure we’re getting done what we need to get done,” Castrejon said.
