With the semester off to a great start, students expect things to work well on campus in order to get to their classes as quickly as they can without too much trouble. However, in my recent observation, I have seen that there are certain issues on campus; the elevators in the Healey Library are not working, and this is a type of issue that needs to be resolved before the semester gets busy. After all, unaddressed issues, such as the one in the Healey Library, could dampen the student experience.
In one observation, I saw that many students were forced to wait for one elevator to pick them up from the Lower Level of the Healey Library, since the other elevator and the stairs next to it were out of order. This elevator issue could very easily frustrate students, who need to get to and from the lobby level to their destination because half of the elevators are not working. There are supposed to be four working elevators running. It is important that this issue be addressed, especially as the spring semester has begun, because there are so many students who utilize them throughout the day between classes. The library is important for students to be able to use, and this issue is making it difficult. This issue could even dampen the experience a student might have starting their college career at UMass Boston. In the eyes of the student, it leads to a bad reflection, especially to a student who might have just started at the university and is not aware that issues like these happen on a regular basis.
My concern with this issue is as such: how much longer will this problem persist before it is fully resolved? The elevator repairs should have been completed during the winter break, yet the repairs still need to be made as the spring semester enters it’s second week of classes. The delay of the repairs show a lack of urgency to get things done on campus, as well as possible lack of care for the students who come to campus daily. This issue could be even be problematic over time because it very well could be a deciding factor of whether a student will transfer out of UMass Boston and into another university to finish their degree. The amount a student must pay for each semester is quite high, and having to deal with repairs that should be fixed before a semester begins should not be an added cost to their educational experience. However, if these problems keep occurring every school year, then a student will not want to come back to the university, which is unfortunate because UMass Boston is a wonderful place to obtain a well-rounded education.
If issues such as the non-functioning elevator in Healey keep occurring, I can see why a student would be hesitant to come back for another semester of classes. Regardless of needed repairs, a student deserves a quality experience from an institute of higher education while obtaining their degree. Seeing issues like the elevator issue in the Healey Library reflects badly on the university, where students might not want to come back due to the time it takes to repair these structural issues that could take months or more to completely fix.
The Healey elevators need to be fixed, and quickly
By Manny Malave
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February 7, 2020