By Owen Meech
Quinnipiac University Office of Facilities will soon take over day to day facilities management of all University-owned off campus properties.
In a statement Feb. 13, Associate Vice President of Facilities Operations Keith Woodward announced that effective April 1, 2019, management responsibility will transition from Palmer Property Management to Quinnipiac University’s own team.
A Quinnipiac owned off campus home on New Road.
Although the University provided no explanation for the switch, Woodward assured students via email that no complications would arise.
“I am optimistic that this will be a seamless transition as providing excellent service to students remains a top priority for the Office of Facilities Operations and the University as a whole,” Woodward said.
But despite Woodward’s promise of a smooth turnover, students have had mixed reactions to the news. While some students are embracing the change, many remain wary of Quinnipiac’s decision.
Residents of Quinnipiac owned off campus properties have noted a discrepancy in care and maintenance between off campus housing and on campus dorms, such as Julianna Pliskin, who lives on Ives Street.
“When we moved into the house, there was mold on multiple walls in our laundry room,” Pliskin said. “Housing inspections work both ways. Quinnipiac should’ve taken care of that before anyone even moved in.”
Additionally, Pliskin said she has a broken microwave, multiple stove burners that don’t work, and broken kitchen cabinets, including some without knobs. She hopes that the switch from Palmer Properties next month will make things easier, as her and her roommates have had to fix many problems on their own.
“I’m actually happy about the switch because I think by Quinnipiac using their own service, it makes it a little bit easier to put in our work orders,” Pliskin said.
New Road residents Amanda Perelli and Christina Popik concur, and said their home also has no shortage of issues.
“A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that the floor in our downstairs bathroom started to crack, and if you push down on the toilet it starts to push down on the tile and appears to be pushing down into the basement,” said Perelli. “Eventually I have a feeling that our toilet is actually going to fall into the basement.”
A toilet at a New Road home that appears to be sinking into the bathroom floor.
Palmer Properties employees came to Perelli’s house and told her and her roommates that they were very concerned with the situation. They instructed her and housemates not to use the toilet until a new one is installed over spring break.
Although Perelli’s home also has rusted drains, an outdated shower and broken kitchen cabinets, she says she is most upset that she doesn’t have a dishwasher.
“When we moved in we noticed that our dishwasher had been taken out, so there’s just an empty space in our kitchen,” Perelli said. “Other QU owned houses along this road have dishwashers and we pay the same price, so it’s weird that they didn’t replace it or give us an explanation.”
Popik echoed Perelli’s sentiment, and calls her home “pretty gross.”
“We had a moth problem last semester. They were honestly flying from everywhere, they were inside of our food,” Popik said. “Last week I found larva in a cup that I had, there were three little nests.”
A broken cabinet located in one of Quinnipiac’s off campus properties on New Road.
Cameron Silver, another New Road resident, said his home has a major drainage problem.
“The sink hasn’t been working, and when we take a shower the water is up to our ankles,” Silver said. “With all that drainage being stuck in the house, it also affects the basement downstairs. It’s leaked through the ceiling and there’s mold. You can smell it, it’s not safe.”
Silver said he has put in multiple work orders, but the sink was the only problem that was addressed.
“Everything else is still the same. It’s been taking a while,” Silver said. “It’s been happening pretty much the entire school year.
Quinnipiac’s decision comes only a few months after Palmer Properties employees installed deadbolts on all exterior doors of Quinnipiac owned off campus houses. Residential Life informed students in Dec. 2018 of the additional safety measures following a string of burglaries at Quinnipiac owned houses on New Road.
In addition to the management change, students learned Feb. 5 that Danielle Demers, former residence hall director for off campus properties, had accepted a position at another university.
“If you need assistance for the remainder of the year, please contact your CA (community assistant) and they can help you directly or connect you to the proper resource,” Demers wrote in her departing email.
A replacement residence hall director has not been announced.