Res life washes away old machines

The Office of Residential Living and Learning implemented several changes over the Christmas break that will directly affect students at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

"The changes will improve the quality of living on campus," Associate Director of Residential Living and Learning Hayley Jobe said.

The changes taking place this semester include changes to the universities laundry service, the cable television on campus, and the system the resident assistants use to submit work orders.

The department's new policies have coincided with a change in the department's location, moving from Whitley Hall to the Halladay Student Services Building.

"The move to the new location is a better change for everybody concerned, including the student," Director of Residential Living and Learning Dennis Koch said.  "Our office is right here on campus now, instead of being on the edge of campus in Whitley Hall. We are now the second stop shop on campus." 

According to Jobe, the university has transitioned to ASI Campus Laundry Solution. The laundry system was previously provided by Mac-Gray/Web Laundry Services. As a part of the transition, the campus received all new washers and dryers.  

Laundry cards students had used with the old machines will not work with the new appliances. According to Resident Assistant Shannon Baker, a resident can acquire a new laundry card through their building's RA.

The television service on campus has switching from Cable TV to being affiliated with Direct TV.

"We will have 70 channels," Jobe said. "Many of the channels we have now we still have, and I have added a few more like Sy-Fy, Game Show, ESPNU and a few more. One of the most exciting news is that we will also have a channel that we can program ourselves to show movies on."

The cable TV switch will not affect the Prairie Crossing Apartments immediately.  According to Jobe, Prairie Crossing is still under a cable contract the department will continue to honor, as it was in place when the property was purchased.

The list of the new satellite channels was sent to students living on campus through their campus emails.

"There is to be no additional charge for the satellite services on campus charged to the student," Jobe said.

The final change to take affect for Residential Living and Learning was the online system in which work orders are placed. Residents will now be in charge of placing their work orders directly to maintenance instead of going through their RA's for housing issues.