The contract for laundry at Seton Hall's dormitories will be up for renewal in summer 2014 and the option for including it in the room rates will be discussed.
The University is currently under contract with ASI Campus Laundry Solutions and Coinmarch for the laundry services, according to Director of Housing and Residence Life Tara Hart.
She said that HRL has asked that in the process of selecting a new vendor for laundry that the possibility of laundry being an added feature of the room rate be included.
If this happens, students would no longer have to use Pirate's Gold for their laundry; it would instead be included in the costs of living on campus, according to Hart.
Hart said she can't possibly know yet whether anything will change with the laundry contracts, at least before the fall of 2014, but she said she thinks it can be a good idea for students.
"I would say that it is a good option to examine to determine if it could increase convenience and satisfaction for residents," Hart said.
Sophomore Xavier resident Ryan Kane said he thinks that this possibility would end up being beneficial for students who do their laundry on campus.
Kane, resident senator in the Student Government Association, said he does his laundry on campus every week and thinks adding the option for dormers to pay for laundry in the room rates would make dorming easier and cheaper.
"I think it would save students money in the long run for laundry fees to be included in dorm rates," Kane said. "While some residents don't use the laundry facilities, this benefits the majority of us."
Another sophomore Xavier resident, Doug Rynkewicz, said he does his laundry every week on campus unless he is going home for the weekend. He thinks that the idea might be a good thing but only if it doesn't add too much to the room rates.
"I guess for the cost it would really depend on how much more they would be adding to the room rates," Rynkewicz said. "If they'd be adding a lot to our room rates then I'd rather just add a few bucks to my Pirate's Gold whenever I have to do my laundry. It really isn't too much of an inconvenience."
Students will find out by the next school year if laundry will be added to the room rates when HRL completes the process of searching for a new laundry vendor, according to Hart.
Eric Hostettler can be reached at eric.hostettler@student.shu.edu
