Tufts Students for the Improvement of Residential Life, a group of undergraduates lobbying for the improvement of campus dormitories, released a report evaluating dorm common areas on Monday.
"Simply put, if Tufts were judged solely on the quality of its residences and residential community, it would not long hold its position among the nation's elite universities," the 12-page report says.
The report outlines problems with dormitory common rooms and makes comparisons to similar spaces at other Boston-area universities and offers recommendations.
"We're not saying that any one person or office is to blame. We just think the university as a whole should be doing more to improve residential life," said freshman Chas Morrison, a Tufts Community Union (TCU) senator. Morrison sits on the Senate's Administration and Policy Committee and has submitted a resolution for Sunday's Senate meeting to endorse the report in its entirety.
The group, started by Morrison and fellow freshmen Shabazz Stuart, Brian Morganelli and Alli Lawrence, among others, has held two general meetings. Members also visited four Boston-area universities on March 7 to observe dormitory common areas, stopping at Harvard, Boston and Northeastern Universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"The basic question that kept coming up was why we should have to deal with ... facilities that aren't up to standards at peer institutions," Lawrence said.
The report focused specifically on common areas, although the group would also like to address other issues of residential life.
"As the living room is the center of a house, common spaces and lounges are the center of Residential Life," the report stated.
The report points out that many common areas at Tufts lack entertainment like pool tables and large televisions and have poor lighting and aesthetics. Additionally, Stuart noted that residential life is dealt with by two offices, the Department of Facilities and the Office of Residential Life and Learning, that have poor communication.
"I think it's the equivalent of running the T in Boston with one person in charge of the trains and one person in charge of the tunnels and not collaborating with each other," Stuart said.
Recommendations in the report call for an immediate evaluation of each common room, the installment of new furniture and the addition of televisions and gaming tables, among other actions.
One of the most sweeping recommendations calls for the appointment of a new position solely responsible for residential life as well as the formation of a student advisory committee to give recommendations on dormitory development.
Lawrence said that the Facilities staff on campus is unresponsive, in addition to other problems. Lawrence lives in Lewis and had to report a problem with mold in a bathroom multiple times, she said.
After repeated phone calls did not produce repairs, Lawrence called the Somerville Board of Health. The board said that the university was in violation of seven health codes. After Lawrence scheduled a health inspection by the board, Facilities responded and fixed the issue the next day, before Somerville could step in.
Lawrence said that Facilities did not completely fix the problem. "It made it a better environment but that's kind of what you have to do to get something done here," Lawrence said.
Director of Facilities Ron Esposito did not respond to repeated phone calls from the Daily.
Morrison said that the administration has been open with members of the committee. Morrison and fellow Senator Elton Sykes, a junior, met with Esposito to discuss the state of common areas.
"The university knows this is a problem, and they have been very proactive," Morrison said.
Morrison said that Facilities has a long-term plan of improving two or three dorms each year for the next nine years. Wren and Haskell will have common areas renovated in the near future.
Stuart sees the group as a vehicle for helping to address many different problems with facilities at Tufts. He said that improved facilities, as well as four years of guaranteed housing from ResLife, could help improve students' experiences and make undergraduates more likely to donate to the endowment in the future.
"We're trying to elevate [residential facilities] to be equal to the other attributes of Tufts University," Stuart said.
The organization has a Facebook.com group called "Tufts Students for the Improvement of Residential Life and Community." The group had 264 members at press time.
"I think it is a steep battle because there's only so much money to go around to the different priorities of the university," said freshman Sam Wallis, a TCU senator. "I think that with some student push we could boost up residential life ... boost it up on the priority list" for funding.
Both Morrison and Stuart emphasized that the group does not seek a confrontational or combative relationship with Facilities.
"To their credit they have been very cooperative, and they're working on securing more of the budget to be allocated to renovating and fixing the dorms," Morrison said. "We really are working with them."
