This article is part one in a series addressing student reactions to the Commonwealth Honors Complex.
The recently constructed $192 million Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community (CHCRC) at the University of Massachusetts has attracted both freshmen and upperclassman in search of the best housing options possible.
“I thought it would be cool to live somewhere new, see what it was going to be like,” said Shannon Moore, a junior living in the new dorms. “They’re really nice. I do like living here.”
But even as some students enjoy living in the CHCRC, there are also some still experiencing problems in the buildings.
“I think there are still a lot of adjustments that have to be made since it’s all new,” Moore added.
Some students have noted that some of the dorms have inadequate cell phone reception. Kimberly Wong, a sophomore, said that despite having a reputable cell service provider like AT&T, it is nearly impossible to make a call or send a text from her dorm room.
“In my suite I don’t get service,” she said. “It does bother me because not only do you have to pay a fee to be (a student) in the honors college, we’re also paying more for the dorms themselves. To be paying so much and not be able to make a phone call from your room is really frustrating.”
Sophomore Julie Morissette added that many students with different service plans are experiencing different issues.
“I have Verizon, so Verizon is always good,” she said, adding that those with other providers like AT&T typically have problems.
To combat this, many students have noticed that telephones have been installed in the hallways. But some students don’t think this is a solution to the issue.
“They put phones on every floor, right outside our door we have a phone, but I don’t know if we would ever use that,” said sophomore Colette Kramer.
One of the biggest perks that attracted students to the dorms in the first place was the promise of their own personal air conditioning and thermostat. And while many say that it came in handy during the first few blistering hot weeks of September, it has definitely not been without its problems.
“You can’t really control it,” said sophomore Byron George Georgellis. “You can’t really customize it to what you want.You have a variance of two degrees or three degrees.”
Sophomore Ali Strand added that there have been times when temperatures have been uncontrollably high, presumably over 90 degrees, causing students to post to the Maple Dorm Facebook group wondering what was going on. Some students added that there are times when having the thermostat for the air conditioner feels pointless.
“It’s really nice but honestly it’s not necessary in the winter,” said sophomore Jordan Greenberg. “I feel like we are wasting money and energy.”
Some students also said that while the CHCRC dorms have many new and improved amenities, like the Roots Café and classrooms in some of the buildings, the lack of lounge space in the residence halls is a big disappointment.
“It’s kind of a bummer because I got a lot of my homework done in lounges last year,” Strand said. “It was an easy spot to just hang out and anyone would come in.”
Without lounge space readily available, some say it is a challenge to just meet their neighbors in these dorms, especially since unlike most residence halls, the dorm room doors don’t stay open on their own. Many students have to get creative when it comes to keeping their door open, like freshman Amanda Pellerite, who has a doorstopper and a flip flop shoved under her door to keep her room open and inviting to her neighbors.
“If there was more space to commune, I feel like you would get a better idea of who you are living with,” said junior Ezra Dantowitz, who knows very few of his floormates.
And for some, these issues all come down to money. The 2013-2014 rates for the Honors College dorms were $3,107 for a first-year shared room and $3,417.50 for a shared suite style room, while the price of a shared room in most of the other residential areas is $2,807. Prices for single and apartment style rooms in the CHCRC are even higher.
Moore said that with the added price of living in these dorms, planning to live there all four years of your college career may not be worth it.
“It’s kind of tough that we paid more and because we are like the first year of this happening. There’s a lot of stuff that’s gone wrong,” she said.
Dantowitz added there has been so much hype from UMass that these dorms were supposed to support a community feel, but he doesn’t think that is completely true.
“They have been talking it up as like building a whole community,” he said. “I feel like there is still kind of a disconnect between what they are saying and what they actually are doing.”
Jaclyn Bryson can be reached at [email protected].
