Starting August 1, students living in UBC residences will have reduced access to commonsblock services.
The commonsblock is a communal space in residence with amenities including a front desk.
In an email sent to residents, UBC Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS) said the front desk will only be staffed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, while they ran 24 hours a day previously. The front desk closure will also restrict the use of various amenities including laundry rooms and study spaces to those hours.
SHCS cited staffing issues leading to “last-minute closures and temporary reductions of services to students” as the main driver behind this new program.
SHCS is introducing a new overnight mobile team that will work between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. to support students in residence when the front desk is closed.
The mobile team will work alongside campus security and connect students to emergency services.
However, many students were disappointed by the changes due to lack of consultation.
Shawn Fu, a third-year civil engineering student, said the change “is not something that works for [all] students' lifestyles.”
“Front desks being closed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. only works if students go to bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 8 a.m. every day.”
He said he felt the change was deceptive.
“Students need to be able to access the facilities that we're paying for. Especially after students have already signed contracts.”
In a statement shared with The Ubyssey, Andrew Parr, the associate vice-president of SHCS, said the safety and wellbeing of students remains their top priority.
“There will be three Overnight Mobile Teams of two people that will respond to situations in person in residence buildings,” said Parr.
Parr did not add any details about the functioning of the team in his statement.
Fu also disagreed with the change due to safety concerns.
“You have your phone, call the roaming team, wait for however long it is for them to get to your residence.” said Fu. “What are you supposed to do if you can't even get into your home?”
Parr also said campus security will continue to patrol residence areas overnight and assist residents as needed.
“If a resident needs to contact the Overnight Mobile Team and does not have access to a phone from a roommate, neighbour or friend, they can go to the nearest Blue Phone,” said Parr. “They can reach out to the trained Residence Advisors on Duty who live in their residence area, and are supported by Residence Life Managers.”
Fu added the change will increase the burden on residence advisors (RAs) as they are now the first point of contact for issues that were normally alleviated through front desk access.
“ I hope [RAs] are able to put themselves in a position to fight for fair compensation… It’s definitely gonna put a lot of undue pressure on residence advisors.”
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