Res. Maintenance puts repair requests on line

Requests reported on the Web not necessarily faster than white cards In the middle of the night, Wharton senior and Ware College House resident Jeff Greenhouse realized he had not yet filled out a repair request form for his cracked sink, which was practically hanging from his bedroom wall. So he logged onto his computer and filled out a maintenance request on the World Wide Web. The following morning, he went to Residential Maintenance's offices to check on his request. Officials showed him an exact printout of the form he had filled out the night before. Instead of going through the hassles of filling out white cards at the residences' front desks, students like Greenhouse can now easily access maintenance repair request forms over the Internet, according to Department of Housing and Residence Life Associate Director Lynn Horner. Students can either find the request forms on the Housing and Residence Life homepage under "Services Request Forms" or directly at "http://www.upenn.edu/resliv/ resmnfrm.html". Like the white cards, these electronic forms can be used to request routine repairs, housekeeping and extermination services. Requests are not processed any faster with the new on-line forms, especially because Residential Maintenance staff currently have to type each request into the system manually, even though they originally came in over the network. In addition, on-line requests do not get priority over the white cards. Therefore, Residential Maintenance Assistant Director Jeff Rusling advises against the use of the on-line form for emergencies, especially because emergencies require immediate attention and on-line requests are only checked during normal business hours. "For example, if there was a flood on the fifth floor of High Rise East, people at the front desk need to know immediately," Rusling said. Once a student fills out the form, the information provided is immediately transferred to Residential Maintenance's e-mail account, according to Rusling. Rusling's staff checks the account nine to 10 times a day, he said. Each request is then re-entered into the maintenance management system, beginning the process of assigning jobs to the maintenance employees. Although requests are received quickly, the response time has not increased with the on-line service. Eventually, however, Residential Maintenance Associate Director Alan Zuino hopes the on-line forms will help to expedite repairs. "I hope since we receive more quickly, that we will respond more quickly," Zuino said. Every response received is prioritized by the maintenance management system based on certain established criteria. If the problem threatens the resident's safety, it will receive priority over a situation that is merely inconveniencing the occupant. Rusling said he lacks the staff to respond to all requests promptly. But Housing and Residence Life is in the process of improving the system. In the future, every request that comes in on-line will be automatically logged onto the system without staff having to retype it. Although residents will not notice the change, it will have a great impact on the workers in the office, Rusling said. Of the approximately 4,000 repair requests received since school started, several hundred were on-line requests, Rusling estimated. "We haven't received a lot everyday, but it's certainly increasing," Horner added. As the on-line service started up last week, students only found out about it through announcements on the Penn Video Network and newsgroups. Rusling said the on-line requests take advantage of the many residences -- all except the Quadrangle -- that are currently wired with ResNet. With more and more students exploring the World Wide Web, "it was self-evident that we have something on-line," Rusling added. Many involved with the creation and implementation of the on-line forms praise their convenience and ease. "It's an additional way that students can report repairs to maintenance," said Housing and Residence Life Assistant Director Nancy McCue, who did much of the advertising for this project. "It's a lot better? with access around the clock," said Residential Advisory Board Vice Chairperson and College junior Josh Rockoff, who assisted in the testing the Web site. Rockoff, an Undergraduate Assembly member, commended Residential Maintenance on their efforts to help students solve their problems faster. "It's also an example of how they are trying to get the job done even when they're understaffed," he said. Although Residential Maintenance has not fixed his sink yet, Greenhouse said he is pleased with the on-line method. "I'm a senior here and I've been long frustrated with the white card system," Greenhouse said. "This is an excellent and more efficient way to request repairs."