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More students request residential services

Sophomore Lauren Hall does her laundry Thursday afternoon in the basement of Richard Hall, opting out of the laundry services.
Sophomore Lauren Hall does her laundry Thursday afternoon in the basement of Richard Hall, opting out of the laundry services.

Courtney Day, Campus Editor

Sophomore Lauren Hall does her laundry Thursday afternoon in the basement of Richard Hall, opting out of the laundry services. (SAMANTHA LUDINGTON | The Miami Student)

A record number of students are utilizing the residential laundry and room cleaning services this year, according to Brian Woodruff, assistant director of housing and meal plan services.

Woodruff said this is the third year the services have been offered and the number of students served has risen each year. This fall, 238 students are signed up for weekly laundry service and 159 students are using the room cleaning service.

First-year Francis Jules said he selected the laundry service option on his housing contract because he figured it would save him the extra time and hassle of doing laundry.

"It's extremely convenient," Jules said. "I'm just lazy I guess."

Joe Suman, senior building and grounds manager, oversees the laundry service. He said the housing department provides students registered for the service with a laundry bag and a lock. The students place up to 20 pounds of laundry per week, including clothes, bedding and towels, into the bag and bring them to the laundry room in their residence hall on the hall's designated laundry day. The students receive their laundry folded, bagged and delivered to their room within 24 hours.

Jules said he dropped his laundry off on Monday and it was returned Tuesday.

"It saves a lot of time," Jules said. "I'd recommend it to friends."

Jules said he thinks the service could be cheaper, but for him it's definitely worth it.

The cost of laundry services is $319 per semester. Room cleaning is $105 for monthly service and $165 for bi-weekly service. Charges are billed to the student's bursar account and show up on their semester bill.

Students who sign up for service midway through a semester pay a prorated fee based on when they begin using the service, Woodruff said.

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Suman said he has received mostly positive feedback from students and parents about the service. In one incident, however, a student signed up for the service without consulting their parents, and the parents called to cancel service.

The cleaning service, Suman said, includes the cleaning of all hard surfaces including doors, doorframes and hinges, cleaning of appliances, changing of bed sheets (if students lay out a clean set of sheets), vacuuming of carpets, cleaning of mirrors and interior glass and removal of trash and recycling. He said the housekeepers only clean what is accessible to them without moving students' personal items.

Suman said the housing department employs two laundry specialists to assist the residence hall housekeeping staff. They check to be sure items are washable and properly cared for.

Of the students who sign up for room cleaning services, 86 percent are first-year students and 14 percent are upper-class students, according to Woodruff. For laundry service, 67 percent are first-year students and 33 percent are upper-class students.

Suman said he thinks students hear about the residential service both through word of mouth and from seeing the option on housing contracts and MyCard accounts.

"We're really happy they're growing," Woodruff said of the services.