Students Unhappy With Aged Ocean Facilities

By Victor Tence

 

City College’s oldest buildings on Ocean campus disrupt learning with facility issues.

Some 105 students were surveyed about their general impressions of the campus facilities as well as specific building issues.

Overall the school scored an almost even split between the ‘fair’ and ‘good’ categories that rated general campus quality. Only nine percent of those surveyed considered the campus to be in ‘poor’ condition.

However, classroom insulation and subsequent issues with the cold were the top issues noted by 57 percent of the students. Peeling paint came up as the second most marked issue at 52 percent, followed by 42 percent of the students who complained about poor lighting.

At least 30 percent of students who answered the survey commented on how the physical problems of their classrooms negatively affected their learning.

“It can be very distracting to sit in a freezing or hot classroom,” Jessica Agnos, fourth semester math major said.

Cloud Hall and the Science Hall garnered the vast majority of the student complaints which makes sense considering that the former was built in 1954 and the latter in 1940.

These are the oldest buildings on Ocean campus, and they are starting to show it.

Issues with the aging facilities have been documented in the past in The Guardsman with articles documenting student’s complaints specific to the oldest buildings going back eight years. This was prior to most of the remodeling done to make the bathrooms ADA compliant. However concerns about temperature and insulation issues mirror what we still see today. In 2015 the 100 year old Civic Center Campus was temporarily closed due to a report that it was insufficiently prepared for earthquakes.

Such persistent problems are leaving many students feeling a sense of neglect.

“It made me feel like I wasn’t thought of as much as I should be,” Faitala Togiaso, a sixth semester student said.   

Students dealing with facility issues are recommended to utilize the campus maintenance report system, Schooldude.

Schooldude is an online maintenance management system used by City College to address building issues. You access the system from the City College website by first clicking on “Employee Services,” which will drop a menu to access the facilities site. The link is embedded in the frequently asked questions page. First time users need to complete a simple registration before submitting a complaint so that they may track their request.