Keeping the campus in tune!

At UD, resident students have access to a piano in every dorm under a program that began years ago. In addition to providing the pianos in public areas, they are manintained as far as minor repairs go and professionally tuned twice and sometimes three times in an academic year. In the past twelve months we have embarked on a program to trade in our older models with a dozen or so like new models that have significantly raised the bar for the whole inventory across campus. One of the locations for one of the newest models is in Smyth where an old baby grand piano was replaced this past week with an almost brand new model that has already earned praise from some of the residents. Other spots where the newer ones went in included Harter, Lane, Thomas McKean, and Christiana Commons. In the photo is the new grand in the Smyth main lounge.

No "Ceiling" on fixing things up!

In Dickinson D basement, a summer maintenance issue required the removal of all the previously glued ceiling tiles. The tiles were not appealing looking and rather than replace them one for one, it was decided to "suspend" a ceiling with gridwork when going back to make the area in this study lounge more professional when you do have to look up. The finished appearence is preferable to the old, even if it is "just a ceiling."

Bigger isn't always...but is usually better!

This fall we are in the process of mounting all the flat screen TVs that previously were on shelves, mostly in East and Central Campuses, onto adjacent walls. This should not affect in any way the actual viewing experience. The TVs attached to the walls have not become victims of theft as have some of the units sitting on the shelves. While in the process of attaching them to the walls, several locations will receive larger screen units like in Russell C main lounge and in the photo depicted from Smyth Hall basement lounge.

Rodney E/F storage to be converted to more "thoughtful" purpose

This fall, a storage room for extended housing furniture in the basement of Rodney E/F will be re-purposed into a dedicated study room. This will allow residents of Rodney E/F to enjoy the same advantage that the other four Rodney buildings have, namely a room just for studying in the basement. Although the extended housing furniture will still be needed in the future, there are other locations around the Complex and nearby the buildings where the furniture can be more suitably stored, allowing the room to be set up for studying. Updates on the status of the new studying room and when it will be opening will be communicated through the Rodney Residence Life Staff.

Dickinson B "scores" new rubber floors...

In addition to Christiana East, the Dickinson B floor lounges were used as "guinea pigs" for a new flooring solution that can be used in place of carpet. The new rubber flooring is much easier to maintain in high traffic areas and also in lounges that get alot of late night studying and snack eating in addition to just regular wear and tear. The floor lounges were also painted a few years back to give them a more modern look and the final piece will be looking into new lighting that will look less "institutional."

Prepare to be floored in Christiana East!

This summer, we removed the old worn carpet in the first floor short hallway of Christiana East Tower and replaced it with a new rubber floor. The rubber floor is a new surface for the campus that should be easier to take care of and keep clean as this is a major traffic area for folks entering and exiting the East Tower. The best part was that the flooring was free to UD as part of a promotion from the manufacturer. If the new flooring is a success, we plan to put it in the short hallway on the third floor of Christiana West, which also gets a lot of traffic from people coming in and out from the parking lot.

"Addressing" dresser issues in Dickinson Complex

Last fall, Dickinson E and F residents moved in to new dressers in each room. The dressers they replaced were more than 20 years old and smaller than any other dresser on campus. The primary reason that the smaller dressers were purchased many years ago was to give residents more room by taking up less space. When a decision was made to replace the dressers as their life cycle was up, Residence Life and the Dickinson Complex Community Council were contacted to see what the current residents would like for a new dresser style. We gave them some samples to try that were more in line with what was supplied in other areas. The feedback resulted in the model that we selected for Dickinson, which was 6" wider than the old dresser, but about the same height. Residents seem pleased with the new model so this summer we purchased enough new dressers from the same supplier to "complete" the Complex from A through D. The old dressers were removed from Campus in June by a liquidator that intends to re-use them. In the photo, the new dressers are lined up in the Dickinson C/D tubeways awaiting delivery into the rooms.