Students should be allowed to remove furniture from dorms

By: Editorial Board

Posted: 10/30/08

The Resident agrees that no alterations, repairs, or modifications will be made to the permanent structure and fixtures of the room." And with that single sentence, the UConn Reslife Housing Contract eliminates the possibility of resident students from, among other things, wallpapering their dorm rooms, painting anything and temporarily removing furniture from their rooms.

One of those three situations doesn't belong, however - the temporary removal of furniture. It is entirely understandable that the university would not want students to damage or alter dorm rooms in a manner which would detract from the living experience of students in following semesters. But removing furniture, as long as it is returned by the check-out date at the end of the academic year, harms no one and provides utility to current residents. Thus, it should be allowed, if only due to the simple calculus of common sense.

The furniture provided for residents' dormitories is not always desirable or convenient. The desk chairs provided are infamously uncomfortable, and the dining-table chairs provided in the apartments are even worse. Even dressers, desks and sofas - under normal conditions desirable and convenient fixtures whose provision by the university is gratefully appreciated - can become a hassle if a student happens to own a superior alternative and wishes to switch out the university-provided furniture.

Yet, UConn's janitorial staff is overworked as it is, and does not deserve to be saddled with the task of carrying sofas and chairs and desks into and out of student dormitories. Therefore, it would be sensible to treat the removal and timely return of furniture just as the university treats, say, dorm room cleanliness or the return of library books - as a student's exclusive, personal responsibility. The university already conducts end-of-the-year room checks and would thus be able to easily ascertain if a room possessed all the given furniture. If that furniture was not found in that room the subsequent year, punitive and restorative fees could be assessed upon the resident. Simple.

However, if the university wanted to go one step beyond in terms of convenience, they might even offer up storage facilities to students so that they may more easily, temporarily house their large, unwanted items of furniture. The university could even charge rent for this service, if deemed necessary. The massive Central Warehouse, where surplus furniture is already stored pending its eventual sale at the Central Stores Public Surplus Store located on Depot Campus, would be an ideal location for such temporary storage - and again, the burden of placing furniture into and retrieving furniture from the storage location would lie entirely upon students. This is a nagging issue whose solution would be relatively cheap and painless, and might even bring a profit to the administration.