Imagine living in these conditions: an insufficient amount of laundry machines, broken machines, a laundry thief, water pressure being too hot or too cold, and the fire alarm going off several times a day.

These are some of the issues students living in University Village Apartments (UVA) are facing. 

In a Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting on Nov. 13, 2018, regarding approval of new student housing financing, the university stated that demolition projects involving Algonquin Hall and UVA would be in process.

While Algonquin Hall is now defunct following its demolition in Summer 2019 as Atlantic Park Towers took its place, Vice President for Media Relations Joshua Glanzer says staff are still determining the future of UVA. 

“We are in the process of discussing a housing expansion and this will lead to a decision on the future of UVA,” Glanzer wrote in a Nov. 1, 2022, email.

Larry Faerman, vice president of student affairs, gave an update on the status of the housing expansion in a Nov. 15, 2022, BOT meeting.

“The first thing that we’re looking at is we’re going to expand our normal capacity,” Faerman said. “We do have some areas within our system that we have flexed to doubles before that will increase our spaces by about 80 beds.”

In that same BOT meeting, Gregory DuBois, vice president for Financial Affairs and CFO, discussed the possibility of UVA being used for graduate and international student housing. 

“UVA is at the end of its lifecycle, but could it be renovated reasonably to accommodate graduate, international students and would that be a better investment than tearing it down and redeveloping it?” DuBois said. 

In the wake of UVA’s demolition being undecided, students are still facing issues in the dorm. 

“I’ve gotten my clothes burned a little bit. I don’t mind the laundry room itself. I actually enjoy it because it’s outside too and I’m an outside person, but the machines aren’t good,” sophomore international business major Sarah Moreira said. “I would really appreciate it if they worked on the machines because there’s not that many either. It’s just annoying to have to wait for other people to come get their stuff.”

Students believe the amount of laundry machines are not only insufficient, but students may find their wardrobe dwindling due to a thief. 

“Other people have been getting burns on their clothes and someone has been going around stealing clothes,” sophomore music education major Max Norris said.

When the UP contacted the department of Housing and Residential Education (HRE), they requested to communicate through Glanzer. Catherine Kellman-Pitan, director of HRE, said UVA has an allotted amount of laundry machines based on the student population at the dorm.

“If a machine is not operating, a student should fill out a work order to report this to our staff. Housing and Residential Education utilizes a vendor which comes to campus weekly to conduct repairs,” Kellman-Pitan wrote in a Nov. 18, 2022, email. “As it relates to stolen property, students are encouraged to remain in the laundry area while completing their laundry. In the event of a theft, a student should file a report at fau.edu/report and contact FAU Police Department.”

HRE confirmed they are aware of the issues students are having in UVA. They encourage students to report facility matters through the work order system so that they can send out their maintenance team.

According to Vania Bocage, Boca Raton representative for Student Government, SG is not aware of the issues students are facing with housing. SG has a volunteer position for a housing liaison that is not currently filled, but she still encourages students to bring in their concerns. Students have the option to either share their situations at House meetings every Friday at 3:30 p.m., their social media or through email. 

“The reason why we haven’t discussed it, for one, it’s not concerns that students are bringing to us, they’re most likely bringing it to Housing,” Bocage said. “Unless we live in that building and you’re making complaints yourself, honestly we wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Editor’s note: This story is in the UP’s latest issue that can be found physically on the  distribution boxes around campus or digitally through our Issuu page.

Mary Rasura is a senior staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @maryrasura.