Ongoing concerning situation with state of dorms, expensive off- campus housing and Residential Life. Administration seems to be more focused on more edgy things than the need for clean, safe and adequate housing for its students.
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/09/04/office-of-residential-life-understaffed/
The article is about the live-in community directors, not the physical condition of the dorms. My son just moved into Perkins, which used to be in rough shape - all new floors, furniture, and built-ins. Itâs more than adequate and on par with other colleges. The current administration has done its job in upgrading and renovating dorms over the last few years, and parents should not be concerned about poor dorm conditions anymore.
Keeney Quad is in great shape as well. Good size rooms, well equipped gym and common areas, etc.
Newcentury you seem to be on a mission. Any recent, specific first hand experience?
Who would of predicted âfakeâ news being spread against Brown:)
Place looks great!
My sophomoreâs dorm (Hope) on the main green is fairly neglected. The door is hard to lock, itâs hot as heck (for now), the floor (I want to say tiles, but Iâm not sure material what they are) has some cracks, the mattress is old, and the shower has one drain for two stalls and frequently gets overwhelmed if both showers are in use at the same time. In addition, there the first floor lounge is now being used a triple room. There are only two washers for the entire building. We love Brown but I would say they do still struggle with housing after the (now delightful) Freshmen dorms. At least my student hasnât hasnât seen any mice, as referenced in the BDH article!
@CalDreamin Where is the reference to mice in the article? Iâm not aware that any of the dorms at Brown are air conditioned, and most schools in this part of the country donât have air conditioned dorms. My older son was in housing at Harvard for four years with no air conditioning and, frankly, he had very subpar conditions - visible mice and roaches in the main areas.
In the article last fall http://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/10/22/savello-18-reslife-fails-upperclassmen/ the author describes having mice in Grad Center room. As far as the heat â it is true none of the dorms are air conditioned, but some of the renovated dorms have better ventilation either due to layout, cross-breeze, or insulation. At least they all have heat in the winter! None of these issue are deal breakers but I think the posters noting the differences between first year and subsequent older housing are somewhat accurate. At least that has been our experience.
My kid is also in Hope College. My understanding is that Hope College (http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0210) is a highly desirable location. Heat in the past few days is definitely a big problem. But luckily it looks like for the rest of the month, it is going to be pretty cool. (https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/providence-ri/02903/september-weather/330414) I think more washers/dryers are needed. Those are so cheap but ⊠it seems there is no place to put them. My kid loves the room. Great view and charming. We also found the room extremely clean. We donât wear shoes in the room so the floor was thoroughly cleaned ⊠but did not get much dirt out of the cleaning. BTW, I think an almost 200-year-old building at its current state is pretty amazing.
And, as long as they are having to live in the lounge, that area converted to a triple looks super spacious for the kids housed in there. They could probably put another student in there in a pinch. They must still have a bit of a housing shortage to be putting kids in common areas, at least for this semester. (I know sometimes it varies a lot depending on students coming back from study abroad. There were students still waiting for housing quite late this year who had rolled over into the summer lottery.)
This problem can be found at many schools. IMHO consumers need to voice their complaints to the school(s). Parents and students are paying huge amounts of money for student housing and itâs time to remind the school we have choices.
Very happy with my kidâs Keeney Quad freshman room last year. Room in Grad Center D this year is close to being unacceptable. And Iâm not a fastidious person at all! Single shower for 6 singles, in a bathroom that has not been updated in any way since the 70s. His room was musty and dirty. No critters though! Heâs happy to have a single and doesnât really mind (though heâs already started showering at the athletic center), and we still love Brown, but itâs been our first cause to have a little disappointment with the school
My DD lived in Hope and also Wayland, which was refinished the year she moved out. Both were great locations with very large doubles and nice size singles. Her room in Wayland was at least twice the size of my freshman room at a peer school. She loved being in the center of campus and the friends she made at Brown. Itâs been unusually hot in RI and MA over the past couple of weeks and AC isnât in any of the dorms there as far as I know. For her it was about location and friends and the size of the room. As an RPL she had some choice of where to live and stayed in that area for three years before moving further out to be in an apartment.
And there is moreâŠsad situation. Anyone in charge ?
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/09/16/editorial-reslife-needs-reevaluate-structure/
@NewCentury : Our firm uses Indeed.com. You definitely donât want to come to our firm as an entry-level worker. Our firmâs rating is much lower than Brownâs. If you go to Indeed.com to check out employee reviews for Brown, you will read comments (https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Brown-University/reviews) such as this âŠ
If your kid is in the top group, you should feel lucky. I am sorry if you happened to be in the bottom group. The top group (students) is trying to help out the bottom group by writing the Editorial. These days positions which donât need high level of specialized knowledge tend to be low-paying and the prospect of salary increases is not good. If you have kids, try to encourage them to major in the professional fields to avoid this problem. The four CDs who left ResLife this year had had an average tenure of only 2.25 years. This is quite similar to the entry-level turnover rate in our firm. I was thinking maybe the school can train/hire/pay some of the students as part-time workers to fill those roles temporarily. I do believe salary increase for those full-time CDs are needed.
Maybe Brown administrators could take a look at what Harvard is doing for its staff. See the link below. Even if Brown does not want to pay a âliving wage,â it might consider the saying âyou get what you pay for.â Additionally, they reveal their values by what they are willing to pay for various positions across campus.
This summer, presumably due to the staffing crisis, there was no communication with returning students about move-in dates, where to get keys, etc. And no information about when the meal plan would start. For those returning students who pay for the meal plan, they could not use the meal plan until the dinner the night before the first day of classes! For financial strapped students who returned to campus expecting to use their meal plans before then, Iâm sure it was quite a surprise to learn that theyâd have to pay out of pocket for food until that evening before classes started. Thatâs pretty late for the meal plan to kick in.
See the Harvard article below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/business/economy/harvard-living-wage.html
Wow, thatâs pretty surprising⊠I was certainly expecting more from Brown. Well, still not enough to keep me from applying 
Folks, I think if you watch enough of those Generation Z videos, you will develop your own views on a lot of things about schools. There are enough of those videos showing Brownâs dorms. Yes, it is uneven. See for yourself. This âTHINGS I HATE ABOUT CORNELLâ video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XTxOIBAKUc) also has dorms as #1 on the list. If you love Whitman College in Princeton University, you have to put up with eating clubs. Princeton is associated with a lot of old money.
Watch this âCHOOSING THE RIGHT COLLEGE (Advice) | Why We Chose BROWNâ video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4NNEWPJhs). Regarding scholarships, I have mentioned in another thread that the only benefit of applying RD is that you can upload your acceptance offers from Brownâs peer schools. Someone in the video is much more straightforward than me. I also find the comments âI can choose how I sufferâ in the video pretty funny.
More thoughtful student commentary about the sad situation.
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/09/25/blatteis-19-pettit-20-need-fair-ethical-housing/
^Assuming you realize this article is focused on the cost of Providence home rentals and has almost nothing to do with Brown.
Newcentury what is your recent interaction or familiarity with Brown?
âSad situationâ, hardly. My kid loves his dorm and so do his friends. Most dorms rooms have seen recent renovations and are spacious, while the common areas have been updated and several have gyms.
You seem to have an ax to grind by highlighting a renters advocacy initiative as a Brown housing problem as opposed to the social justice initiative it is.