Shortly before the beginning of the spring 2015 semester, an email containing information about updates and changes in the housing policies was sent to all students.

The email stated that the kitchen in Skaptopara I will be refurbished during the summer. Lydia Krise, Dean of Students, explained that even though there have been plans for the refurbishing of the kitchens for the last several years and nothing was done, this time it will be different.

Skapto I Kitchen

“I have been promised by the Facilities that when you guys come back in the fall, there will be a new kitchen in Skapto I and the other kitchens will be cleaned up and fixed,” Krise said. According to her, the “really nasty” Skapto I kitchen will be moved to a new place.

Todor Kehayov, Director of Residence Life and Housing, said that he’s talked to the Facilities Office and for now the plan is to have the new kitchen in Skapto I on the same floor where it is now, but in the lobby space instead of the small room. The Facilities Office told him it’s doable. “I hope it [the new kitchen] happens, because it is needed,” Kehayov said.

Another change that will occur is that some areas in Skaptopara II will become permanent 24-hour quiet hour areas “to better meet the needs” of the students. The designated quiet area will most probably be the wing of Skapto II closest to the library. A Housing Committee, with the input of students that are part of it, stands behind the making of that decision.

According to fourth-year student Ina Gjika, if there is such an area only in Skapto II, “this would bring chaos in the other two Skaptos.” She believes that “it is fine as it is now,” as there are other places students can study during the day and there are quiet hours at night. Teodor Emilov,  second-year student, expressed a disbelief that it will work. He said that he does not think that students can keep quiet 24/7, so “it will only bring conflicts and will make the work of the RA’s harder.”

Dean Krise said that the decision was taken because students were asking for it “because they are tired of listening to other people’s music.”  She acknowledged the fact that the establishment of such a wing might lead to potential conflicts but thinks that anywhere where there are a thousand students living together conflicts are inevitable. “It is interesting because it is a new idea for us, not a new idea for schools in other places,” she said.

Ilian Velev, first-year-student, said that he is not a “big fan” of quiet hours so the idea does not sound appealling to him. “I guess if a lot of people need it, it would be a good thing,” he said.

Skaptopata II; source: www.aubg.bg

Stoil Stoilov, fourth-year student and Resident Assistant in Skaptopara I, thinks the idea is great. “I think we can make it effective. Of course, the people who are signing up for that wing, they shouldn’t expect every single day everything will be super quiet. Probably there will be exceptions like outside parties…but I think that the simple fact that you are bringing together people in one floor who want to have quiet time that’s going to reduce 90 per cent of the noise.” 

The email also pointed out that “at the current time, one-third of the housing available on campus is designated as hypo-allergenic to better serve students with allergies.”  However, the area will be increased annually. Dean Krise said that they have consulted with the medical authorities in Blagoevgrad on what the hypoallergenic rooms should be.

“There are no soft surfaces, there’s no carpet. It’s all laminate or tile flooring,” she explained. “All of the furniture is new, the beds all have new mattresses on them with mattress covers.” In her opinion, Residence Life does its best to make the rooms easy to clean but “after that is a matter of whether students keep their rooms clean or not.”

Along with the other changes, students removed from Skapto housing for disciplinary reasons will be obliged to pay 25 per cent of the housing fee for each of their remaining semesters and will not receive a refund for the semester of removal. The decision was made by the President’s Council and the reason behind it is that “bad behavior should not get you want you want,” according to Dean Krise. She thinks that it is not fair students who behave “very badly and been removed from the residence halls” to be taking advantage of the facilities and pay for that. “They are actually taking away from you, as students,” she said. Thus, charging the removed students with 25 per cent every remaining semester is a way to protect the other students.

Gjika said that this is not a fair punishment, “because this is mostly intended to bring profit to the University, rather than punish the people.” She pointed out the only facility that can be used in Skaptos is the kitchen, which cannot be reserved without a student ID card of someone who lives there.

Velev,on the other hand, said it seems a reasonable decision. “Just because you do not live in Skapto, does not mean that you can use the facilities,” he said.

Dean Krise

Krise explained that the policy starts from the spring 2015 semester. Students who have been removed before, will not be affected by it. “Keep in mind, this is only people that behave so badly that get removed from housing. That’s like two students a year,” she said. “This is not affecting the whole student body, I mean for the most part this is a very, very tiny portion of the student body.”

Emilov said that he sees a need for either stricter policies or for better enforcement of the existing ones when it comes to students who were “kicked out of campus,” but he is not sure that making students pay extra is the way to solve the problem.

Stoilov is not against the measure. He wondered whether the measure was punitive or for getting more funds into the residence halls. “My concern is, if you are pushing people beyond the limit that they can pay,” he said. “People might take leaves of absence, they might drop out…Otherwise, as a punitive measure, I don’t see harm in it.”

On this question, students were not asked about their opinions. Dean Krise said that in the Student Handbook it is stated that housing policies and other rules for housing can be made without students’ input. “That’s pretty standard. Of all the places I’ve ever worked, I think there is more student input here into decisions being made than pretty much anywhere else, ever,” she said. “I think that’s actually a really, really good thing, but there are some administrative things that just have to, need to be done.”

This article was the joint effort of AUBG Daily’s owls Veselina Apostolova and Yana Aladzhova

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