Students on Central will no longer have to worry about trekking to laundry machines only to find that none are available.
A new laundry-monitoring service—called “Laundry Alert”—was installed over the summer on Central Campus. Laundry Alert allows students to log onto a website and check for available washing machines and dryers on Central. For each laundry room, the site, http://laundryalert.com, lists the number of washers and dryers available and the number of machines in use. The system also notifies students via email when their laundry is ready.
Campus Council—the University’s former residential government that was absorbed by Duke Student Government last Spring—introduced the idea to bring Laundry Alert to Central in the Spring of last year. Campus Council collaborated with Housing, Dining and Residence Life and Duke Stores to plan and fund the project.
Associate Dean for HDRL Joe Gonzalez said Campus Council contributed $15,000 to bring Laundry Alert to the University. Gonzalez added that the money came from five years’ worth of savings given to Campus Council from HDRL in order to make improvements to residence halls.
“This is just another way that [HDRL] is trying to improve the student experience here at Duke,” Gonzalez said.
Students living on Central have reacted positively to the new service.
“Everyone who has used Laundry Alert has loved it,” said Andrew Barnhill, a graduate resident for Central.
Central resident Chad Liu, a junior, said although he has not used Laundry Alert yet, he is excited to try it and has been encouraging his friends to take advantage of the services.
One challenge associated with bringing Laundry Alert to Central is informing residents about the new program, Barnhill said. He added that emails have been sent to residents about the new program but he does not think the site has been widely used.
Laundry Alert is currently a pilot program exclusive to Central Campus, though it may be expanded to other campuses, Gonazalez said. He added that Central was selected as a trial campus because laundry machines are less accessible there than machines on West and East Campuses.
A committee will convene later this year to discuss the possibility of expanding the Laundry Alert program at Duke, Gonzalez said.
“Laundry Alert will remain on Central Campus regardless of whether we decide expand the program,” he said.
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