Home Sweet Home — UC students return to fake rats, trash, broken belongings
April 9, 2018
What do fake rats, pistachios shells and grime all have in common? Besides sounding like props from the strangest haunted house ever, all three were found inside University Center housing after recent renovations to the communal and interior areas of the residence hall.
Students returned to find their apartments and suites in a seriously different state than when they vacated their rooms for a few days to make room for the renovators.
Renovations to interior apartments by Schoenfelder Renovations, Inc. started with the 18th floor on Jan. 2, according to a Dec. 8, 2017, email to residents from University Center Housing.
Unit renovations include new paint, flooring, furniture and stainless steel appliances. Bathrooms are being remodeled on an as-needed basis, according to the Dec. 8 email.
According to the same email from the University Center Team, students were asked to remove all items from their bedroom walls, floors and closets. People living in suite-style units were told they had the option to leave belongings in their closets, and those living in apartment-style units were asked to remove items from kitchen walls and countertops.
Residents were also asked to take valuables with them while units were under construction and to vacate the units during work hours, according to Brooke Lopeman, executive director of the University Center. The residents were notified via email numerous times
before the beginning of renovations, which were estimated to take three–four business days from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to complete. Residents were also told all affected areas would be cleaned, and a UC staff member would do a final inspection to ensure cleanliness standards were met.
Sophomore theatre major Patrick Sprague was the first of his suitemates to return to his unit after spring break.
Sprague said he returned to the dormitory and found his roommate’s desktop computer and television cracked and on the floor under a pile of clothes and books.
“The room was ridiculous,” Sprague said. “The bathroom was also destroyed. There was dirt and grime all over. Boot marks, drywall and dust was all over. It looks like they had gone out and just dumped [a full garbage can] around the room.”
Lopeman said renovations typically generate complaints, especially when they are extensive.
“What can minimize those [complaints] is making sure residents have their items packed up, are utilizing the resources we have available, so their valuables are not sitting on top of the desk,” Lopeman said.
After returning from spring break, sophomore cinema and television arts major Thomas Starr also found his room in a different state than he left it.
“There was a couch that didn’t belong in my room. There was dirt on the floor, and my bathroom was a mess. There was towels in the sink. My suitemate’s fridge was in my room. I was missing a speaker,” Starr said. “A figurine my roommate had given to me for my birthday was broken on the ground in the bathroom.”
Jillian Kettman, a sophomore photography major, said she returned to her apartment after spring break to find her bag of pistachios half empty, and the empty shells in the unit next door. She added that her Amazon Firestick, cord, small TV and remote were all missing.
“It was not just a coincidence that the remote and wire went missing,” Kettman said. “All of it was missing.”
She added that she found piles of her belongings in her room and her Cubs jersey had disappeared.
Kettman said she was told to email University Center management, explaining everything that was missing from her unit. When she did not receive an email back, she went to the UC Management Office where they sent her email directly to Schoenfelder Renovations, Inc. Kettman added that it has been three weeks, and she still has not received a response.
“They should not have them still in our building. There [are] still people doing renovations rightnow, so it just doesn’t make sense, if they have had tendencies of stealing things, why are they still letting them into our building?” Kettman said.
Freshman multimedia journalism major Naomi Edwards said the week of her unit’s renovations was the most stressful of the school year due to the added pressure of vacating her room during the required times and the mess she encountered afterwards.
Edwards also said upon returning to her room at night, she found broken items and spilled paint that was not cleaned up from the renovations in her unit.
“I came back, my router doesn’t work, there was paint all over it, and the work was very sloppy,” Edwards said. “I’m like, ‘You took three days to do this?’”
Edwards also recalled finding a plastic toy rat, presumably left by one of the workers, as she and her roommates are unaware of where else it could have come from.
“I guess they thought it was really funny to leave it on my table,” Edwards said. “I don’t like rats; I almost had a heart attack. Who did this?”
The Chronicle requested to speak with Director of Resident Life Mary Oakes, but former Public Relations Manager Cara Birch said UC management was switched to Peak Campus after the building was sold in summer 2017 and redirected inquiries to Lopeman.
College Spokeswoman Anjali Julka said students who have any safety concerns involving the UC should contact Director of Security Andy Yocum.
According to an April 5 email statement sent to The Chronicle from Lopeman, students should contact the management office with any concerns.
Mackenzie Colvill, a sophomore photography major, said after the renovations to her own living space were complete, she found belongings she had placed on her bed and desk thrown all over the room.
In Colvill’s living space, she found her DVD player damaged with the the front casing broken off, she said.
“It would be nice to at least be given something back to fix broken items or just for the purpose of having my stuff tampered with,” Colvill said. “It doesn’t feel very good.”
Lopeman said Schoenfelder is under contract not to engage with media.
“We understand it’s not a perfect process. We’re trying our best to have everything available if we can for residents so the inconvenience is minimized as much as possible,” Lopeman said.
Lopeman added that there are cameras throughout the hallways, and during the renovation process, cameras are added to the units. University Center staff members are not present in the units during the renovations, but they are able to review the recordings after construction.
“They videotape through the entire process,” Lopeman said. “They’re videotaping continually, and they know who’s in the units, so that’s one thing that, as residents do bring complaints or concerns to us, we have video evidence of anything and what it looked like beforehand.”
Lopeman said although they have received complaints, the process generated minimal complaints relative to the number of rooms being renovated.
“Of the 1,730, we are experiencing a pretty moderately low level of complaints, and we’re very happy and thankful that the residents are overall excited about the renovations and understanding of what’s going on,” Lopeman said.
Renovations are ahead of schedule, according to Lopeman, and are expected to be complete by mid-May with brief pauses during final weeks so students are not inconvenienced or distracted from their studies.
