As the semester begins, students on campus face a multitude of issues with their dorm rooms.

Ethan Spurlin, a resident of Southwest Hall, said flooding became a major issue for students living on the first and second floors.

“A lot of the first floor had some minor [flooding],” Spurlin said. “A lot of people had major flooding is- sues such as their bathrooms being filled up with water.”

Spurlin said his roommate reached out to their resident assistant for maintenance help. Spurlin said maintenance did a room inspection and then drained water that was bulging from the bathroom ceiling.

“I heard a lot of people had damage to electronics like cables and power outlets,” Spurlin said. “I heard someone’s sandals floated off into the hallway.”

Spurlin said he felt some of the issues at Southwest Hall have been ignored, such as rusting and mold.

Ben Taylor, a fellow Southwest resident, said a pipe burst in the south wing preventing access to water for nearly a week. Taylor said he has a friend whose toilet began overflowing in the middle of the night, requiring an emergency maintenance request.

“The dorms in Southwest are fairly nice,” Taylor said. “I would say the maintenance is not as responsive as it was last year.”

Taylor said he doesn’t blame the maintenance since there are many issues happening at once, but he does think there are some communication issues. He added that mold on campus is not being properly addressed.

“I definitely think there needs to be some sort of fashion to solve the overall problem instead of just spot-treating it,” Taylor said.

Abby Blum, a resident of Pearce Ford Tower, said she has also noticed issues with mold.

“We have lots of trouble with people’s air conditioners molding,” Blum said. “I just cleaned mold off mine.”

Blum said she knows people have put in maintenance requests for similar issues, but have yet to hear back from maintenance.

Cate Weaver, a resident of Pearce Ford Tower, said the covering on her light is broken and maintenance has yet to respond.

Jace Lux, director of media relations at WKU, said response time for maintenance on campus has been approximately the same.

“Because Regents and Normal are both new halls, they are under warranty, which means the university sometimes has to involve a third party to resolve the issue,” Lux said. “But in general, response times are no longer than they typically are at this time of the year.”

Lux said the primary issue on campus so far has been related to HVAC units, which is normal for this time of the year.

Lux said that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented “personnel challenges” for maintenance staffs nationwide. He added that maintenance priorities are determined on a case-by-case basis and longer wait times may be a result of less immediate issues.

“Work orders are prioritized based on the severity of each individual situation,” Lux said. “In the event of emergencies, students should report the issue to their front desk or university police.”

News reporter Madison Carter can be reached at [email protected].