The following message was sent to all South Campus residents this past Friday.

Good Afternoon –

Welcome back to campus from what I hope was a restful winter break. As we communicated before the end of the fall semester, the University developed a plan for responding to concerns raised about mold in some South Campus residence halls. This letter provides an update to those efforts.

The Office of Residence Life and Housing is dedicated to fostering secure, comfortable, inclusive, and engaging learning communities. Student wellbeing is of the highest importance to each of us and our many campus partners. The plan we implemented was comprehensive, thorough, and with keen attention to maintaining a safe living environment for you.

Indoor Air Quality Work

In response to concerns expressed about mold and indoor air quality in some residence halls, the University undertook several measures over the Winter Break, in addition to its normal planned maintenance activities. The University takes those concerns seriously and took several steps to thoroughly investigate the situation and to address any issues discovered.

First, we are very pleased to inform you that none of the inspections found any systemic problems with any residence hall and did not reveal any major issues. That means that the inspections revealed no concerns about water intrusion, systemic mold growth or other indoor air quality issues. In some instances, certain surfaces like restroom floors/walls and interior window sills in older windows, showed normal dirt accumulation and mildew. Upon inspection, those surfaces were cleaned.

In addition to the normal inspection and maintenance work, the University took the following steps. In early November, an Environmental Specialist for the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection visited and inspected Johnson Hall and conducted a thorough assessment of common areas, restrooms, and several student rooms. Additionally, he reviewed the University’s Mold Management Plan. He determined there were no signs of any present mold or mildew issues and found the Plan to be well organized. He recommended a greater focus on, and more frequent inspection of, the manner in which students set up their furnishings and belongings to avoid blocking heating/cooling units.

Notwithstanding the excellent results of the Forsyth County EAP inspection, the University then retained an independent consultant to conduct further third-party inspections of the residence halls. That work included extensive professional visual inspection of student rooms, common areas and certain ancillary rooms within all freshmen residence buildings with a particular focus on looking for signs of active water intrusion, mold growth or other air quality issues. Particularly, due to concerns raised, air sampling was conducted in certain rooms in Johnson Hall.

The consultant determined there are no systemic mold issues within Johnson Hall or any other residence hallLimited examples of possible mildew growth were observed around windows in older residence halls at condensation points and in grout joints in restrooms in many buildings. In all cases, the conditions observed are common for the age, nature, and occupancy of the buildings and did not present any cause for alarm or concern. The consultant found no evidence of water intrusion problems in any building and the results of the air testing in Johnson Hall confirmed the results of the visual inspection, that no systemic problems exist in the building. The consultant did note that further attention should be paid to how students arrange furnishings and wall hangings and to the general cleanliness of student rooms.

After the inspections, with the consultant’s input and guidance, the University staff and outside contractors cleaned numerous surfaces in several student rooms, in restrooms and common areas. After completion of the cleaning, the University requested further air tests for Johnson Hall and those tests confirmed the building air to be normal and consistent with outside air. In fact, the indoor air had lower spore counts than the outdoor air. The tests showed no cause for concern or further investigation.

In an effort to further address air quality in Johnson and Bostwick Halls, including relative humidity and air temperature, the University installed new, remote control capable, digital thermostats in all student rooms and replaced the controls in the fan coil units themselves. The new enhancements include:

  • Digital temperature display;
  • Easy to use up/down buttons for temperature adjustment with range limited to 68-74 F degree range;
  • Easy to use push button fan speed selection.

The new system soon will also enable the University maintenance staff to monitor remotely selective temperature and humidity conditions.

Collins Hall Work

The University retained outside contractors to complete renovations of portions of the second-floor ceiling and shower stalls. Unfortunately, a contractor accidentally dislodged a sprinkler head that led to water damage inside the building. The contractor removed all water damaged material and debris. The University retained another contractor to clean and dry surfaces and materials. Dehumidifiers and air scrubbers were employed to insure thorough drying and air quality. If any room contents were impacted, the University removed the contents, had them professionally cleaned and replaced them. All repairs were completed back to a finish condition.

General Maintenance Work

In addition to all the activities noted above, the University undertook numerous planned and regular repairs and maintenance activities throughout the buildings ranging from removing carpet stains to replacing interior finishes to replacing filters within coil units. Extensive cleaning occurred throughout the buildings.As you know, the University maintains regular and vigilant maintenance and repair activities on all of its residence halls. Part of that activity includes a “work order” process to respond to building issues and, in particular, mold concerns. Any person (student, staff or otherwise) can alert Residence Life & Housing or Facilities & Campus Services of a problem with a building, a work order will be generated and issued and the appropriate staff will address and respond to the problem.

We encourage students and their families to communicate directly and promptly with the Office of Residence Life and Housing and/or Facilities and Campus Services regarding any concern related to a building condition in a residence hall.

Based on the extensive investigations and work conducted, the University is confident that no unsafe or hazardous conditions exist now or existed previously in Johnson Hall or any other residence hall. Again, all inspections confirmed that no systemic water or mold problems exist in any residence hall. In the future, if you have additional concerns, we strongly encourage you to communicate those promptly to the appropriate staff.

On our website we have provided a FAQ section we hope will help further address any concerns.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at housing@wfu.edu or 336-758-5185 and a member of our team will be glad to assist you.

Best –

Matt Clifford, EdD
Assistant Vice President of Campus Life
and Dean of Residence Life and Housing

Contact

To contact the Office of Family Engagement or Family Communications, please visit our contact page.

 

For mental health assistance: 336-758-CARE (2273) is a service that ensures someone will always be available (i.e., 24/7 M-F, weekends and university holidays) to provide caring and thoughtful consultation services for Wake Forest students in need of mental health assistance or support.