Students whose air conditioning service had been terminated Sept. 4 will receive compensation, Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, said Wednesday.
Students living in a double room will be refunded $389 per person and students living in a single room will be refunded $513 per person, Hull wrote in an e-mail sent to Edens residents late Wednesday. He added that the credit will be posted Oct. 6.
The figures were calculated by the percentage of days during which air conditioning was available. Students had air conditioning for 12 of the typical 54-day cooling period.
For a double room, each student pays $500 more per semester than those without air conditioning and students in a single pay $660 more, Hull said.
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The cooling system was shut off due to the discovery of mold contamination-with no hazardous effects to student health-in the air handler unit.
Students said they are pleased with the administration's decision.
"I think it's the appropriate response," said sophomore Gregory Caiola, Edens 3A resident. "We paid for AC, didn't get it and got paid back."
Some residents, however, said the administration should have acted faster.
"It's annoying how long they took," said sophomore Rebecca Wong, Edens 3B resident. "[Their cost analysis] did not include inconvenience."
Campus Council President Jay Ganatra, a senior, said the University handled the problem very well.
"We were actually considering writing a resolution [asking for refunds]," Ganatra said.
"I'm glad they did it without having to wait for our input on it." The only further action needed is to fix the problem as soon as possible, he added.
Hull said the cleaning of the ducts is planned for winter break, when the rooms are not occupied.
Earlier last week, 41 window units were installed into commons areas and rooms where residents have an established medical need for air conditioning.
In addition, 160 fans were placed around the buildings and given to students, Hull said.
Students said the situation is much better now that the outside temperature is cooling down.
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