MSU dorm residents can enjoy a few new perks this semester due to new laundry installments and technological updates.

Pierce Hall, Killingsworth Hall, McCollough Trigg, and Bridwell Court Apartments have been provided with a new laundry system on each floor along with technology provided to allow students more ease of access to these facilities when they need them.

Residents now have a laundry fee included in their rent payments so there is no need to purchase pre-paid “debit cards” for laundry use.

According to MSU Housing Director, Michael Mills, the new laundry system in the dorms was approved after the Residence Hall Association conducted a survey asking residents if they would mind an increase in their rent to subsidize the updates and the positive responses were overwhelming.

Rent for dorm residents increased only slightly between 3-4%, Mills said, and they try to keep any rent increases in any fiscal year at about 3%, depending on utility costs.

In most cases, rent increases in any fiscal year are lower than 3%, he said.

“Increases in rent are subsidized only through rental and housing fees, and do not come from tuition fees or state appropriations,” Mills said.

The new laundry machines are rented through a company called Mac Gray that also provides maintenance and upkeep of the new system.

“They (Mac Gray) will provide all the maintenance, service, and technology for the students,” Mills said.

While the dorm buildings all remained locked at their main entrances, a resident student ID card is all that is needed to gain access to the building.

Therefore, there is a possibility of students abusing the new laundry system by propping open doors for visiting friends or relatives.

“No thefts have been reported, and the old laundry system could have easily been abused in the same manner,” Mills said. “If I were to walk into Killingsworth Hall with a female’s ID card, I would immediately be stopped at the security desk, because it is an all-female facility and they would know that I don’t belong there.”

According to Mills, the Housing department has only received one complaint of a non-resident doing laundry in Bridwell Court over the summer, but has not had any problems reported since.

If more issues arise, the Housing department might consider implementing more policing of the dorms to prevent abuse of the system or theft of property, he said.

Students may also go online to check the availability of washing machines and dryers for their building and floor.

An application is also available on your mobile device that actually shows you a picture of which washers and dryers are in use in a particular dormitory.

The application will also send the student a text message notifying him or her when the washing or drying cycle is completed.

These updates solve the problem of students lugging laundry down to a specific floor, only to have to wait an hour on someone else’s cycle to finish.

In addition to the new laundry system, approved at the university level for the upcoming fiscal year, the entire campus, dorms included, will be completely wireless.

The change is currently in progress along with a new single-sign-on student portal that will allow students to log in to all of their MSU accounts (WebWorld, Web Mail, and Desire2Learn) with only one sign-in prompt.

Currently, all dorm students must plug in a wired Ethernet while in their dorm rooms to gain access to the internet, and students must log into each individual student account separately to view their information.