Every semester students who reside in the dorms at Texas A&M University-Commerce go through four health inspections, one announced and three surprise.
During inspections, the resident assistants (RAs) go through their assigned resident halls, checking every dorm room to make sure the students are in compliance with the Residential Living and Learning Handbook. The RAs check to make sure the floors are clean and up to standard, fire detectors are not covered up and university property is being used properly. The chief aim of the inspections is to guarantee the safety of dorm residents.
“It’s pretty effective,” West Hall Resident Assistant, Helen Magalnaea said.
Students are aware of the week when the RAs will be doing the inspections, but are not notified of the date or time they will actually be entering the students’ rooms.
“I understand it’s to keep us safe, but I also feel like it’s to see what’s in your room,” sophomore Business Administration major Denise Buford said.
One issue some students have is if their room is declared unsatisfactory they have to act immediately to fix the problems or face fines, but if there is an issue in the student’s room that is in need of maintenance, the time frame can cause problems.
“We have no control over when maintenance will fix a problem in a student’s room,” Magalnaea said. “We’re frustrated as well, because we put the work order in when a student complains, but there’s no response. It makes us look like we’re bad RAs, when we just have no control over it.”
Irritation can be a big factor when these health inspections take place. Buford said since students are expected to adhere to university standards, the school should also follow maintenance procedures.
“If I’m paying for my room, then I expect it to get fixed,” Buford said. “I think over the summer they need to fix everything. I’d rather have my full refund back, just because they haven’t been holding up their end of the deal,” Buford said.
Even though some students may have a sense of frustration towards these health inspections, according to Magalnaea the university is doing their best to keep everyone safe.
“Several years ago houses were burned down and people lost everything, due to unauthorized items in a student’s room, such as candles,” Magalnaea said.
One resident assistant warned students fire safety can involve a multitude of items.
“A lot of things are fire hazards,” Fadhal Almatari, resident assistant said.