FAQ

Emergency Facilities Issue

In the event of an emergency, your first call should be to 911.

Facilities emergencies include, but are not limited to:

Running water: overflowing onto the floor, not a stopped-up sink
Electrical problems: sparks, loss of all room lighting/power
Safety issues affecting life or property: broken glass in the hall, body spills, inability to secure door/locks

During facilities emergencies, you need to contact a person. Don’t wait for a work order or leave a message, continue calling until you speak with a person.

For residential students, contact your Student Leader or other Housing Services Staff immediately. For Dining Centers and Student Centers, please follow your emergency operational procedures.

You may also contact the Student Affairs Facilities Help Desk at 540-231-1111, or, if necessary, the Virginia Tech Police Dispatch at 540-382-4343. Then, proceed to fill out a work order if possible.

Work Orders - who should submit?

For most maintenance or housekeeping needs, on-campus residents should submit a work order to the HokieServ website. Student Leaders (SLs) are generally responsible for reporting work order requests in common areas, such as the hallway, bathroom, or lounge, while students will enter work order requests for their individual room.

Student Affairs employees are encouraged to submit work orders for repair needs in their area of operation or when they may note an issue that needs attention within the dining center, student centers, residence halls, or offices.

Work Orders – Getting Help with a Repair or Service Need

Most work orders are handled within 2 - 3 work days with many being completed within 1 work day. At night and on weekends, our on-call emergency staff is able to respond to situations quickly by calling our 540-231-1111 number and following the prompts. Our office hours are weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To follow-up on a previous request at the Facilities Help Desk 540-231-1111 or the main housing office 540-231-6205 for residential students.

You can submit your own requests for repairs, replacement, or services, by using the work order system. You will be able to track progress on the request, and provide customer service feedback on the service received.

Work orders are completed on a priority basis as determined by the maintenance staff supervisors. Work orders affecting safety and those having significant impact on resident comfort are handled before convenience or low-impact work orders.

Emergencies: Any time there is uncontrollable running water (water flowing onto the floor, not a stopped up sink), electrical problems, or safety issues (broken glass, body spills, etc.) please contact the Student Leader staff immediately.

Pest Control/Extermination

Although not generally a problem, bugs occasionally appear in a community of our size. If you have a problem, please submit a work order using the HokieServ system.

Dining Centers use contracted extermination services for pest control. If an issue is found, please report to the dining unit managers or submit a work order and it will be routed to the appropriate location.

Routine extermination services are provided in the residence hall common areas on an on‐going basis with twice‐a‐month inspections and including required treatments as necessary by our trained environmental staff. If a resident has a pest (insect or rodents, or evidence of such) issue in their room, they should submit an online work order so that a pest control staff member may visit, evaluate, and treat as necessary.

Residents are responsible for practicing good housekeeping in their rooms and in the residence halls to help deter pests (e.g., proper food storage, clean bedding, prompt cleaning of dirty dishes/utensils and dirty laundry, regular trash removal from the room, including pizza boxes, and so forth). Residents who promote pest/vermin infestation will be responsible for the cost of extermination.

If an on-campus resident suspects an issue with bed bugs, please note that there is a specific process to determine if they are present and to treat affected areas. Please notify hall staff immediately before taking any other actions.

Bed Lofting Kits

All civilian resident rooms, with the exception of single-occupancy rooms in the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown Hall, have university-provided, loftable furniture. Most rooms already have a lofting kit present in the space; however, students may request a "loft kit" to raise their bed to the higher setting if one is not present. The student should either request such at the fall check-in station with the Student Leader staff or, if during the semester, submit a work order to have the kit delivered.

Slusher Wing and Tower have one bed lofted and one bed unlofted; the second bed cannot be lofted in rooms with built-in closets. Rooms with moveable wardrobes may have both beds lofted provided students have a path to egress the room in case of emergency.

Our special projects team may deliver kits to the student room and leave written installation instructions. If students want the team to install the kit, then the Student Leader should note that request on the work order and provide a phone number so that the team can schedule a time with the student directly.

Bathroom Cleaning Schedule

Community bathrooms are cleaned and stocked every day and the showers are additionally deep cleaned once a week by housekeeping staff.

Suite bathrooms and showers are cleaned by the occupants during most of the semester; however, these units are cleaned at winter and spring breaks by housekeeping staff. These bathrooms and showers are located in Cochrane, East Ambler Johnston, Harper, Hillcrest, New Residence Hall East, Oak Lane Housing, Payne and Peddrew-Yates and Private Room bathrooms and showers in Donaldson Brown/GLC and New Hall West. During these breaks residents should remove all personal hygiene products and/or organize and keep these areas free of clutter so housekeeping can effectively and thoroughly clean these areas. Housekeeping will not move or organize any personal items. Disorganized or cluttered personal items may prevent cleaning of these spaces during the breaks. Toilet paper is available throughout the semester for the suites and private baths in the following locations:

Ambler Johnston East: 4^th floor housekeeping closet (D335)
Cochrane Hall: 3^rd floor lounge
Donaldson Brown-Graduate Life Center: 2^nd and 3^rd floor near elevator lobbies
Harper: 1^st floor laundry room
Hillcrest: 3^rd floor across from room #316
New Hall West: 4^th floor across from 423
New Residence Hall East: 2^nd floor across from B13
Oak Lane Buildings A-J: laundry rooms in each building
Oak Lane Buildings K, M, O, Q: Women’s common bathroom
Oak Lane Buildings L, N, P, R: Men’s common bathroom
Oak Lane Sigma Phi Epsilon House: Laundry room
Payne: 2^nd floor across from 225
Peddrew-Yates: 2^nd floor across from B5

Mold

Student Affairs Facilities and Operations staff review and implement recommendations regarding mold and environmental quality based on the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air‐Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the university’s Environmental Health and Safety office, the Virgina Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and other guidelines as appropriate.

Mold spores are omnipresent in the campus environment, both inside and outside buildings simply by individuals moving between the exterior and interior environment and open windows. The focus of the facilities team is to monitor the factors that either inhibit or promote mold spore activation and growth.

The goal is to target a summer temperature range for indoor comfort is 73‐79º F with relative humidity (RH) of 40‐60% with a target of 55% in conditioned buildings (buildings with air-conditioning systems). Winter guidelines are for indoor temperature range of 69‐76 ̊F and RH range of 30‐50% in conditioned buildings. In the event of a leak or flood, dehumidification and increased ventilation within the space to limit the conditions leading to spore growth is used.

When an occupant suspects a mold concern, they should submit a work order for the trained staff to check the space. Staff will use a combination of temperature and humidity readings, visual inspection, and smell test to describe the scope of the issue. If something looks like mold, smells like mold, or there are environmental conditions that may support mold growth, the area is treated. Additional investigation or suggestions may be made to help prevent reoccurrence.

Often, individuals ask for mold tests to be completed. Both the EPA and Virginia Department of Health are reluctant to recommend mold testing since visible mold is an unconditional reason to clean and address moisture problems. Both agencies also consider musty odor and presence of excess moisture a definitive way to diagnose the potential for, or current, mold problems.

Asbestos and Lead

According to the University’s Environmental Health and Safety Services, individuals should leave ceiling, wall and floor materials, pipe insulation, trim paint, and window putty undisturbed because they may contain lead or asbestos. If left undisturbed, these surfaces are safe. Areas with asbestos‐containing materials are inspected to ensure that the materials are intact/encapsulated. Damaged areas will be repaired using approved containment and monitoring processes.

MicroFridges

Each student room includes a MicroFridge, a combination microwave and refrigerator/freezer section. No other microwave or refrigerator is permitted. Residents are responsible for submitting work orders for any concerns with the unit and for using the units in an appropriate manner and keeping the unit clean during their occupancy period. Upon move‐out, the unit must be defrosted if necessary, dry, and cleaned. All parts must be within the unit at move‐out. Residents will be charged for damages or for not cleaning the unit appropriately.

Units are serviced by a contract with Melvin Corporation. When student submit a work order for a resident room MicroFridge, that work order is submitted immediately the company. Students may also call the phone number on the label provided on each unit. Many service request calls may be prevented by checking that there is power at the outlet (by plugging in another electrical device to check for power) or adjusting the thermostat inside the refrigerator unit.

Extension Cords

Alterations of any kind to the electrical system are strictly prohibited. Power outlet strips must be UL listed, have a maximum ampere rating of 15, and have an integral circuit breaker or fuse (a reset switch or button). Power outlet strips can be attached to a cord or plugged directly into an outlet, both types must have an integral circuit breaker. Each power strip or multi-plug device must be plugged directly into a wall outlet. In a student room, only two per student are permitted. Extension cords are not permitted except for short-term, attended power usage (i.e. using a power drill by a technician). This policy applies to both student rooms and university offices and common spaces.

Space Heaters/Air Conditioners

?The use of space heaters in university offices is generally discouraged per University Policy 5505. They should only be considered as a temporary solution and must never be left unattended. Office occupants should use space heaters only when present to ensure safety. If your office experiences heating or cooling issues, we strongly recommend submitting a work order through the facilities management system. This allows our maintenance teams to address and possibly rectify any climate control concerns efficiently.

Of note, the information above pertains to university offices. Within the residence hall student rooms, space heater is not allowed.