2008 Woodie Awards
Sherrod residents voice concerns, hear university response at forum
Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: News
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Residents of Sherrod Hall voiced concerns and heard from John Delony, director of residence life, Police Chief Jimmy Ellison and Bob Nevill, director of physical resources, at a forum Thursday night.
After complaints of poor safety and living conditions were levied at the university housing facility, Delony scheduled a meeting Sept. 11 with Kevin Watson, associate vice president for administrative services and chief operations officer, and Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of student life, to discuss Sherrod's future. Delony asked the residents, among whom only four families were missing from the 20 living in the complex, to e-mail him by Monday morning so he could compile a recommendation. At the meeting, Delony, Watson and Thompson will discuss Sherrod's future -whether it should be torn down, phased out or renovated.
"We're not going to put you on the street," Delony said.
Delony appointed a student assistant director, Rebecca Cates, graduate student from Olathe, Kans., and Sherrod resident, to act a lesion between residents and the university, filling a position that has been vacant since this summer. Cates will e-mail Delony a copy of every maintenance request to create a paper record of requests.
At the meeting, Nevill said in the past year, 300 work orders have been put in for Sherrod; requests were responded to in an average time of four days. Currently, 34 work orders are open, with about 10 preventative orders and seven cricket complaints.
"Sherrod apartments are in terrible, terrible physical shape," Nevill said. "Sherrod's a long list of really serious, expensive infrastructure issues."
But Nevill said residents should not feel isolated, and part of the problem could have come from poor communication between past residence directors who failed to report problems to his office.
"If you call, we come," he said.
As for safety, Ellison assured residents the patrol frequents the area. In 2006, the complex had 11 criminal instances, Ellison said, which were part of a campus-wide car break-in epidemic.
After complaints of poor safety and living conditions were levied at the university housing facility, Delony scheduled a meeting Sept. 11 with Kevin Watson, associate vice president for administrative services and chief operations officer, and Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of student life, to discuss Sherrod's future. Delony asked the residents, among whom only four families were missing from the 20 living in the complex, to e-mail him by Monday morning so he could compile a recommendation. At the meeting, Delony, Watson and Thompson will discuss Sherrod's future -whether it should be torn down, phased out or renovated.
"We're not going to put you on the street," Delony said.
Delony appointed a student assistant director, Rebecca Cates, graduate student from Olathe, Kans., and Sherrod resident, to act a lesion between residents and the university, filling a position that has been vacant since this summer. Cates will e-mail Delony a copy of every maintenance request to create a paper record of requests.
At the meeting, Nevill said in the past year, 300 work orders have been put in for Sherrod; requests were responded to in an average time of four days. Currently, 34 work orders are open, with about 10 preventative orders and seven cricket complaints.
"Sherrod apartments are in terrible, terrible physical shape," Nevill said. "Sherrod's a long list of really serious, expensive infrastructure issues."
But Nevill said residents should not feel isolated, and part of the problem could have come from poor communication between past residence directors who failed to report problems to his office.
"If you call, we come," he said.
As for safety, Ellison assured residents the patrol frequents the area. In 2006, the complex had 11 criminal instances, Ellison said, which were part of a campus-wide car break-in epidemic.
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