Keeping Your Room Clean
Resident Responsibilities
What we ask of you:
- Please treat our staff politely and respectfully; they're here to assist you, and they're valuable partners in your campus experience.
- Take giant steps but leave small footprints. Show care and consideration for our shared environment.
Students are responsible for cleaning and maintaining their own rooms. This includes:
- Room Cleaning: Regularly tidying and cleaning your personal living space.
- Linen Changes: Managing and changing your own bed linens.
- Laundry: Handling your personal laundry needs.
In apartment and suite settings, students must ensure the cleanliness of their private areas, including:
- Bedrooms: Regular upkeep and cleaning.
- Bathrooms: Keeping personal bathrooms clean and sanitary.
- Kitchens: Ensuring kitchen areas are clean, free of food waste, and hygienic to prevent pests and odors.
While students are responsible for their private spaces, the university’s housekeeping team focuses on maintaining cleanliness in the public areas of the buildings. These areas include:
- Stairwells: Regular cleaning to ensure safety and hygiene.
- Laundry Rooms: Keeping these shared spaces clean and functional for all students.
- Lounges: Maintaining a tidy and comfortable environment for socializing and relaxation.
- Lobbies: Ensuring these high-traffic areas are clean and welcoming.
- Bathrooms: The bathrooms in our traditional residence halls are cleaned by the housekeeping staff. In residence halls where the bathrooms are inside the resident’s room, apartment or suite the cleanliness of the bathroom is the responsibility of the resident.
- Offices, Classrooms and Multipurpose Rooms: In many of our residence halls we have both formal and informal living, learning and collaboration areas. All of these receive regular service from our housekeeping team.
TIPS & TRICKS: 6 Ways to Managing Insects in Your Living Space
- Equip Yourself: A vacuum cleaner with an extension tube is your best ally for managing insects indoors. Additionally, a flyswatter can be handy for quick solutions.
- Understanding Common Insects: Beetles, crickets, and spiders are common indoor visitors on campus. While they may be unsightly, most scenarios can be addressed by simply vacuuming them up.
- Sanitation Practices: Maintaining cleanliness in your living space is key to preventing pests like fruit flies. Be sure to regularly remove items like old fruits, vegetables, and beverage containers to deter infestations.
- Debunking Myths: While encountering insects can be unsettling, it's essential to understand that we won't treat your room for every sighting. Most commonly, insect bites come from mosquitoes, not bed bugs. If you suspect an issue, contact us for inspection and guidance.
- Identifying Cockroaches: Different species of cockroaches exist in urban environments, with varying behaviors. While American and Oriental cockroaches are occasional visitors due to environmental factors, German cockroaches, commonly found in kitchens, can be quickly addressed using our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques.
- Insect Screens: Consider using insect screens to prevent unwanted visitors from entering your living space. These simple measures can significantly reduce insect encounters and ensure a more comfortable living environment.
Most of our residence halls require residents to dispose of their trash, recyclables, and compostable materials in designated receptacles outside the buildings. Housekeeping staff service all public area waste receptacles, including bathrooms, lobbies, lounges, classrooms, multipurpose rooms, and laundry rooms.
Some buildings have trash rooms on each floor where residents can place their trash, recycling, and compost in designated containers. Housekeeping staff will then remove these items from the building. The residence halls with trash rooms are:
- Oakland Hall
- Pyon-Chen Hall
- Johnson-Whittle Hall
- Prince Frederick Hall
To minimize our environmental impact, please separate waste from recyclable and compostable materials using the provided containers. Once disposed of, trash cannot be sorted, and contaminated recycling or compost may lead to landfill disposal. Help us maintain sustainability by doing your part.
Note: Hazardous materials cannot be disposed of in any waste container within residence halls.
Thank you for your efforts in living sustainably. Terps leave small footprints.
7 Easy Steps to Keep Your Room Clean
Keeping your room clean can greatly enhance your living environment and overall well being. Establish a routine if possible and set aside some time for cleaning. Remember consistent upkeep is easier than infrequent deep cleaning.
Here are some important practical cleaning tips:
- Vacuum or Sweep Floors: Regularly vacuum or sweep floors to prevent accumulation of dust and dirt. If you have a rug vacuum it weekly.
- Manage trash: Empty the trash bin regularly to avoid unpleasant odors and overflow.
- Clean as you go: Tidy up immediately after activities. For example wash any dishes right after eating or organize clothes after laundry.
- Laundry Routine: Establish a regular laundry schedule to avoid piles of clothes and dirty clothes odors in the room.
- Wipe Down Surfaces: Regularly wipe down high touch surfaces like doorknobs, light switches, desks, and electronics to prevent the spread of germs, and organize to maintain a productive study environment.
- Use Multipurpose Cleaner: Invest in a good multipurpose cleaner that can be used for various surfaces like desks, counters and shelves.
- Bathroom Cleanliness: If you have a shared or private bathroom, keep it clean by wiping down surfaces, scrubbing the toilet and cleaning the shower regularly.
Cleaning Spills : If you accidentally spill something clean it immediately to avoid sticky or slippery floors surfaces.