Call for transparency and responsiveness within townhouse heating problems

Starting in early September, the Townhouse’s heating system was turned on. As a result, students had no control over their temperature to the point heat exhaustion was prevalent. As a result, junior childhood special education major Kate McGoey took to Geneseo Speaks to start a petition for change.

McGoey explained, “The Heating Plant Facility decided to turn the heat on in early September when it was 80 degrees outside. So, our houses were 85 degrees. We had no control over the thermostat. We couldn't turn the AC back on, and they refused to shut the heat off.”

Originally, McGoey and her roommates thought it was only their townhouse with heating system issues. However, as they contacted maintenance, Resident Life and attempted to contact the heating plant, they soon realized that was not the case as more students in the townhouses shared their experiences.

She explained, “They just led us on this whole goose chase that they were going to fix it, and it wasn't until early October that they said that they couldn't do anything about it, that it wasn't their problem.” 

“Our houses were over 80-90 degrees, said McGoey. Personally, I was suffering heat exhaustion, nauseous, most of the time I was away from the house from just being way too hot, [and] all of our windows were open. All the fans were going and it was still over 80 degrees all the time.”

Even when speaking with maintenance, McGoey recounted, “They were like, no, it's not just you, the number of complaints we've received about this is like almost every house at this point, so they knew that it was the whole house.”

“When I reached out to the RD he knew that it was everybody, so they're aware that they have collectively made this entire population that was in the house suffer there. They're very well aware of that.” 

McGoey and the other residents of the townhomes felt as if “they [maintenance/Resident Life/the heating plant] just don't care... When we tried to contact [the Heating Plant], they were just unresponsive, and I sent some emails, my house mates sent some emails and we were all like, trying to [contact the heating plant], but they won't respond.”

McGoey reiterated her worry for the Spring semester of 2021. 

“The biggest issue I foresee is them not turning off the heat in the spring early enough.”

McGoey explained what she would like to see in the future as well. 

“First, [Residential Life should be] upfront [about] the fact that we don't have complete control, because we do have a thermostat, and the way we were all told that it would work was, we were allowed to set the temperature that we would like to live.”

In regard to the Heating Facility and its affiliates, “[They should] respond more to students. I sent several emails that were like ‘Hey, I'm physically ill. I'm dizzy, I'm nauseous. I cannot live in 80 degrees heat in my house the entire [semester]’. And they were like, ‘oh well.’”

McGoey noted that “their current system is just not helpful” when it comes to finances and student perception.

According to the Geneseo Website, “To ensure that we are able to meet our responsibilities, the Heating Plant unit in conjunction with both Facility Services and Environmental Health and Safety, have developed efficient customer service, maintenance, and safety programs which allow the unit to maintain a user friendly, safe and clean work environment.”

However, students like McGoey are still calling for transparency and responsiveness.