RESIDENTIAL LIFE & HOUSING STAFF BUSY WHILE RESIDENTS ON BREAK

While student residents were away on Winter Break, Residential Life and Housing staff were busy performing maintenance and housekeeping projects, even when the rest of the university was closed. Cougar Place and Calhoun Lofts staff were also overseeing the residents who did not leave campus during the break.

Residential Life and Housing (RLH) never closes down. There are RLH staff members working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There are also students living on campus 365 days a year. During Winter Break, the students who remain on campus and normally live in Moody Towers, the Quadrangle or Cougar Village are moved to Cougar Place both to bring them together and to allow Maintenance and Housekeeping the ability and time to perform tasks that can�t be done when the halls are occupied. Those residents who normally live in Cougar Place or Calhoun Lofts remain in their same rooms.

Many of the residents who remain on campus are international students or students from out-of-state who cannot return home for the holidays. For others, the University of Houston is their current permanent address. Residence Life staff members continue to build a sense of community with these residents. Although some of the residents do not celebrate the holidays traditionally observed by many Americans at this time of the year, the students may be away from families and friends and feel especially isolated. Residence Life staff provide opportunities for socialization, provide a holiday meal and check in on residents frequently during the break.

In the meantime, RLH Maintenance and Housekeeping tackled projects best done when the halls are empty. For Housekeeping, these projects include: shampooing carpets in the common areas; striping and refinishing hard surfaces; cleaning upholstery; pressure scrubbing walkways and stairwells; washing public restroom walls and cleaning vacant rooms and spaces. Maintenance projects include: remodeling apartments in Settegast Hall and Law Residence Hall; remodeling the Taub Hall lounge; cleaning the coils and changing the filters on all air handlers; painting rooms; cleaning and testing fire alarms; arranging fire inspections and addressing any areas of concern arising from those inspections; replacing the Moody Towers kitchen elevator; working on landscaping around all of the facilities and performing a number of smaller projects and tasks. For many RLH staff members, the Winter Break, even when the rest of the university is closed, is one of the busiest times of the year.

For more information about Winter Break work, contact Javier Hidalgo, Interim Executive Director of Residential Life and Housing, at 713-743-6070 or email jhidalgo@uh.edu.