Director of Office of Residence Life, Dr. Joshua Lawrie, presented new changes expected to come to BGSU’s campus within the next few years. 

Lawrie shared the information during BGSU’s Undergraduate Student Government second meeting on Monday, Jan. 23. 

First on the agenda for Lawrie’s presentation was a pilot for a new laundry chute service, which will start in Kreischer, Founders and Offenhauer this spring. 

Lawrie said students can sign up for the service with their phones. They will then get a bag from the laundry company to place their dirty clothes into and put said bag into a locker. 

Students employed by the off-campus company will get notified of a locker being filled nearby and will then wash and fold the items before setting them back into the locker. Students using the service will get an email notifying them of their laundry being ready for pick up.  

Lawrie stated it will be $12 to $13 per bag of laundry, and BG Bucks or Falcon Dollars will not be accepted to use for payment, as it is not a BGSU exclusive service. 

“We are excited to try this out. A lot of campuses have been doing this. The closest campus to us that’s been doing this is Purdue University and they’ve launched it in all their residential communities,” he said. 

Lawrie also shared that the Board of Trustees has approved air conditioning in December for McDonald and Kohl Halls. Lawrie said the project is a $20 million project for the university. 

McDonald Hall will be closed starting spring 2023, and will reopen in the fall of 2024. Kohl Hall will close spring 2024 and open in the fall of 2025. 

When the information was shared, QTSU Senator Taylor Vanek said, “My initial reaction is where you are going to house the people who usually live in McDonald and Kohl. What are you going to do in terms of making sure you are not displacing students?”

Lawrie responded, “Right now, Kresicher is only half occupied…as we close McDonald, we are going to relocate all the learning communities in McDonald over to Kreischer. We should have enough beds over there.”

Lawrie said next fall will be tight, as McDonald is a large building and at full occupancy has a little over 700 students. 

However, he reassured everyone that, “it will work itself out. Once we get into Kohl being closed, that’s smooth sailing because Kohl is 313 beds going over to 600 beds.”