The University is asking students to file detailed reports on the condition of their rooms this fall to create a record for housing employees to reference while writing up move-out damages.
The report will track 52 specific items, ranging from bed frames to window screens. The introduction of a tracking system follows a flood of complaints to GW Housing Programs after the office charged about 1,400 students for housing-related fees after move-out last spring.
The housing office saw a record number of appeals – 600 students who claimed the University charged them without justification. Director of GW Housing Programs Seth Weinshel declined to provide the number of appeals granted.
The $250 cleaning fees cost students a total of $225,000. Missing or damaged furniture fees totaled between $87,500 and $445,000, as fees range from $175 to $890. The housing office did not track the specific amount it collected, Weinshel said.
Weinshel said the University had a similar fee system in place “years and years ago,” but it was phased out as the office tried to make move-in more efficient. He said the policy has again become a necessity to combat the “poor condition” rooms are left in.
The report is due 72 hours after the last roommate moves in, and if it is not filed, residents run the risk of being charged later for damages without a basis to appeal fees.
Weinshel said he hopes the assessments, which will be checked by University staff before the forms are passed on to the housing office, will provide a “baseline” for all rooms on campus. Weinshel said facilities workers or house staff members – who typically manage dozens of students in their halls – will confirm the condition of each item as new, good, worn, damaged or missing.
A resident who does not fill out a move-out form before leaving their housing assignment will also be barred from appealing fees.
“The idea is to make the overall process better for both students and the institution,” Weinshel said.
Senior Associate Provost and Dean of Student Affairs Peter Konwerski said the new policy would reiterate the importance of taking care of your residence hall rooms.
“We want to be more transparent and make sure students understand that they’re responsible for what’s in the room,” Konwerski said. “We want to make sure it all checks out at the beginning of the year.”
FIXit – the handyman service often criticized for its lagging response times earlier in the year – will add five hours to its schedule, working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the first half of the semester “to get through the FIXit requests faster,” Weinshel said.
