Because of low residency numbers on campus at Wright State, Residence Services will be closing down the fourth floor of Hamilton Hall for spring semester, forcing the students that live there to relocate.
Both the south and the west wing will be temporarily shut down and the two RA’s that work there have been relocated. Though the students on the fourth floor have been given the choice of where they would like to move, some are probably still upset about having to move, according to Director of Residence Services Dan Bertsos.
“There are still some people, I’m sure, that are unhappy because they had to move,” said Bertsos, "but sometimes we have to do things for the greater good.”
The floor was closed in order to reduce energy costs, according to Bertsos.
“We realized that we had more than enough empty beds to close down the top floor on each wing,” said Bertsos. “We talked to the folks over at Physical Plant about what kind of energy savings that would amount in. It was a substantial amount of money, over $30,000.”
Bertsos also said that with the money saved into their reserves, they can use it to make future improvements to the building.
No RA’s that are currently employed have been cut, though two positions that would normally be filled by new applicants have been given to the RA’s on the fourth floor.
“We usually have three to five openings in the middle of the year,” said Bertsos. “Rather than go out and hire new people, we let these two RA’s move into the open spots.”
Bertsos said that it was typical of residency to be down in the transition year from quarters to semesters, but he said that he is hopeful that things will turn around next year.
“I am very confident we are going to get back to previous levels,” said Bertsos. “We’ll bounce back.”
