November survey - Quick fixes

These are some quick answers to points raised in our November 2015 mini feedback survey. Other, more complex, matters, will get their own posts as we work through your feedback in the next few weeks.


HOW TO REPORT FACILITIES PROBLEMS

"One thing which is difficult is communicating an immediate issue with the facilities. For example the women's bathrooms on the 3rd floor: [...] . These are small issues but the problem is I don't know if anyone has already reported it and they are soon to be fixed. Also I am not positive who to go to about these small issues."

Thank you for letting us know about these problems. There are two simple ways you can report this kind of thing: (1) write it in the blue maintenance folder which is always left open on the desk at main reception; or (2) send an email to suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk. Our housekeeping and maintenance teams can often fix this kind of thing within one or two working days.


NEWSLETTERS ARE HARD TO READ

"The necessary information is supplied although the email newsletters are usually quite overwhelming and not that easy to read - it would be possible to miss information this way. [...] Emails could be clearer if they were shorter (less to scroll down) or had a highlights section at the top."

Sorry about this! To send mass emails, we use custom-built software called Kinetics (it also contains all your payment details, contract, emergency numbers, and so on). But it's rubbish for emails: only plain text, no html, and it mixes some characters up.

We will send future newsletters either as a pdf attachment, or as a link to an html post on this blog.


LONDON LIVING WAGE

"With a job for my university, I am paid the London Living Wage and wonder if the staff at Connaught Hall are paid the same."

Yes, all University of London staff and contract staff (e.g. security, catering, housekeeping) are paid at least the London Living Wage.


CULTURAL EVENTS, NOT JUST DRINKING PARTIES

"I feel lucky to have the opportunity on carving a pumpkin on Halloween. There should be more meaningful events like this besides just drinking parties."

It's great that you enjoyed pumpkin carving! Since that event, we've hosted a Diwali celebration, a German night, and American Thanksgiving (with the chance to make hand turkeys!). Coming up, we've got Christmas decorating, Christmas dinner, Lunar New Year, Burns' night, and Valentine's day - all cultural celebrations where the focus doesn't have to be on drinking. We hope you enjoy them!


PEST CONTROL

"apparently many of my friends report having seen a few mouses on the lower basement, in the cafeteria or in the bar... "

Our pest control team are currently dealing with this situation. They have excluded the possibility that rodents are living inside the Hall - it seems they are coming in when doors are propped open on the lower ground floor.

Please, please report any rodent sightings to suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk so we can pass this information to our pest control team.


OVERNIGHT GUEST RESTRICTIONS

"increase the number of guests a month"

Although the basic allowance is 10 overnight guest stays per calendar month, I will almost always grant exceptions to this rule. You only have to ask me. See the green text at the bottom of this poster: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8aHo3-r-MQLdG9qWXE5aGg0dDQ/view


OPEN THE DINING HALL DURING THE DAY

"It would be great if dining halls are opened in the mid-day. So that when we order lunch together, we can eat there together. Or, sometimes we want to study together in the environment that is opened for discussion and Lang Room is often not the best place to do that. If dining hall is opened to us for studying, it would be wonderful."

We do allow you to use the dining hall for study during the daytime (between about 10am and 5pm, depending on how much cleaning the staff need to do after breakfast and before dinner).

You are welcome to use the toaster in the dining hall at lunch time. But we can't provide the bread or stuff to put on it.

If you go to use the dining hall in the middle of the day and find it closed, just ask in the Hall office (behind reception) so they can prompt the catering staff to unlock it for you.


BAR & GARDEN CLOSING AT 11PM

"Common rooms are nice but it is a shame that the bar closes at 11pm, even the garden. I understand that things could become 'rowdy' but it might be an improvement to give the bar staff some control over whether they kick you out - kicking out a small group of three or four chatting quietly at 11pm on a weeknight, for example, hardly seems necessary."

This is really about striking a balance between people who want to stay up and people who want to sleep. Because of the way the bar sticks out into the courtyard, noise inside the bar can sometimes be heard in ground- and lower ground- floor rooms facing the garden. We have been receiving noise complaints about the bar this term, and part of my response to the complainants is that I can guarantee that it always closes at 11pm. If we don't lock up at 11, the bar would have to stay open all night (I can't ask senior members and bar staff to stay up even later to lock up.)

The Bell room and the Bamforth room, which are further removed from living accommodation, stay open all night. Noise in those areas is much less of a problem.


VACUUM CLEANER

"If my room is not cleaned / forgotten about (possibly), can I request for someone to vacuum it - or even request to use the hoover myself?"

Yes! There is a vacuum cleaner behind reception, which you can borrow by leaving your Hall ID card. Also, if your room has been missed on the day it should have been cleaned, email info.connaught@london.ac.uk to see if they can re-schedule for you.


PACKED BREAKFAST & PACKED DINNER

Quite a few responses asked for packed meals to be available at the weekend.

I can confirm that packed meals are available seven days a week.

You can order a packed breakfast for any day of the week (Mon to Sun) by leaving your ID card at reception before 5pm the day before the packed breakfast is required (e.g. before 5pm on Friday for a packed breakfast on Saturday).

You can order a packed dinner for any day of the week (Mon to Sun) by leaving your ID card at reception before 11am on the day.


DIRTY WASHING MACHINES IN LAUNDRETTE

"I have washed my clothes down the laundrette, and because the washing machine was dirty, all my clothes were polluted."

We reported this to WashStation, who manage our laundrette facilities. They sent an engineer who was able to resolve the problem.

If you find any problems with our washing or drying machines, you can report it directly to WashStation yourself, for a faster response: call 0800 141 2331 or email service@washstation.co.uk.



QUIET STUDY ROOM

"It would be nice to have another common room for studying. The one that is available is very close to the bar, so it's hard to focus there."

We hope to be able to re-open the Convocation Trust Study Room (on the lower ground floor, further down the corridor where the laundrette is) next term. It's had to be used as a storage room and workshop this term for the lower ground bathroom refurbishment.

CATERING STAFF FEEDBACK

A number of responses to our survey mentioned rude or unfriendly catering staff.

We wonder if these responses were demonstrating a lag effect. In late October, we identified some lapses in customer service in the dining hall. Some catering staff were redeployed as a result; and we were joined by some new servery assistants. 

We hope these changes have improved customer service in the dining hall - and the changes would have been happening just at the time that this survey was conducted, so might not have been reflected in your feedback. But as always, we depend on your comments (good and bad) to tell us how you're finding things. 

So keep in touch about this and let us know about your customer experience in the dining hall at suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk.



COOKING FACILITIES FOR RESIDENTS

The single most common suggestion in your survey responses was for there to be cooking facilities / access to a toaster in the daytime / larger pantries / more refrigerator space / fridges with lockable compartments.

As mentioned above, we do already allow you to use the toaster in the dining hall at lunch time. You must provide your own bread and toppings, of course.

Space is at a premium in Connaught Hall, as in all central London halls of residence. We unfortunately do not have any spare room available to put more fridges on each floor. And in the refrigerators we do have, we could only fit in maybe 6 or 8 lockable compartments, which is clearly insufficient for the 40+ residents on most floors.

On cooking facilities - we try to strike a balance between being a fully catered hall, offering SOME cooking facilities (microwaves, fridges, dining hall toaster), and preventing false fire alarms - and real fires - that can be caused by cooking. The policy on this - set by the central University of London, rather than by us at Connaught Hall - is that we are not allowed to offer ovens or hobs in our pantries. The same policy applies in all the intercollegiate halls.

Whilst we understand there can be some frustrations in not being able to cook for yourself, and we strive to take action on all feedback we possibly can, regrettably this is one area where we cannot adopt the suggestions put forward in our survey.

Results of Connaught Hall quick feedback survey, November 2015

Published below are the results of our quick feedback survey last month. Over the next few weeks, I'll be giving updates on what we're doing in response to your comments here: 

connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/November%202015%20survey

Noise survey

I have received so many noise complaints recently that it's becoming difficult to track what exactly is a problem, where, and when. Please help by answering a few questions about noise in this survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/connaughtnoise

Even if noise is not a problem for you in Hall, please answer that one question to tell us that noise isn't a problem for you. It will take less than a minute if noise isn't a problem for you. Otherwise we'll have very skewed results only from people who find noise a problem.

Remember we have published guidance on how to deal with noise problems, as well as some tips on how to make sure you are not the subject of a noise complaint. Visit this page for more:

http://noise.connaught-hall.org.uk

WiFi in Hall - survey feedback

Some comments in last week's survey responses demonstrated that we perhaps have not been very clear about the WiFi provided in Hall. Some residents complained that their friends in Hall have WiFi but they do not.

There is no WiFi in study-bedrooms at Connaught Hall. The only supported internet connection in your room, paid for out of your accommodation fees, is the wired connection.

We do provide WiFi, through which you can access EduRoam if your college subscribes to this service, in most common areas, including:

• reception lobby;
• dining hall;
• Bell room;
• Bamforth room ;
• Convocation Trust study room; and
• Lang room.

Study bedrooms that are located near these areas may be covered with a weak signal, but this is not a supported service. In some other rooms, it is possible to pick up WiFi from the UCL and SOAS buildings that are our neighbours. But any WiFi signal in your study bedroom is, at present, there by luck rather than by design.

The University of London Computer Centre (ULCC) runs our internet and WiFi services. They are currently working on a project to deliver in-room WiFi across the intercollegiate halls of residence. So Connaught Hall will get in-room WiFi for every room, but it may be next year before this can be installed.

Discipline in Hall - survey feedback

82 per cent of respondents to our survey last week were either satisfied (29 per cent) or very satisfied (53 per cent) with the rules and enforcement of discipline at Connaught Hall. Of those who wrote comments, eight people said we have got things about right; seven people said we are too strict; and three people said we should be more strict (mentioning noise and smoking problems).

I have some perspective to add to this. In the first eight weeks of this first term of 2014-15, I have chaired more disciplinary meetings than I did in the whole of the last academic year. I do not yet understand why we are facing so many disciplinary issues this year.

So far this year, I have dealt with 21 disciplinary cases in eight weeks. That is extraordinary. I have never started a year like this before.

Discipline isn't why I do this job. No one enjoys the experience of a disciplinary interview - on either side of the table. And it's time-consuming. I should much rather spend my limited "Warden" time providing welfare support, promoting wellness initiatives, organising events, working with your elected Residents' Club Committee, and improving the social and community aspects of our Hall. 

But sadly, this year, I am spending nearly all my time on disciplinary investigations, letters, meetings, and administration of fines, etc. That detracts from the service I can provide to everyone else.

In general, I dislike financial penalties. In contrast to what happens in many other halls of residence, my practice has always been to arrange a face-to-face meeting with anyone who is alleged to have done anything more than the most minor infringement of the rules. That way, I can help people understand what the rules are and why we have them, give them a chance to explain themselves, and usually avoid imposing a fine. But I cannot keep this practice up this year, with so many relatively serious cases of misconduct. 

So it is with regret that I am implementing a policy of summary penalties for the following offences, with effect from midnight tonight (13 November 2014). If a senior member or staff member personally witnesses one of these offences, the penalty will automatically be applied in writing, without a disciplinary meeting being convened.

Offence	1st incident	2nd incident	3rd incident
Covering a smoke detector	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall	N/A
Smoking inside the building	£50 fine and written warning	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall
Smoking in other prohibited area	£25 fine and written warning	£50 fine and second written warning	£100 fine and final warning
Access to first-floor balcony	£75 fine and written warning	£150 fine and final written warning	Expulsion from the Hall
Access to other roof or ledge on the Hall exterior	£100 fine and final warning	Expulsion from the Hall	N/A
Having an open container of alcohol not bought from the bar inside the bar, Bell room, or garden when the bar is open	£25 fine and written warning	£50 fine and second written warning	£100 fine and final warning

You will note these are all offences that are very clear-cut: either you were seen doing it or you were not. Other complaints, like noise, bullying, and harassment are more subjective and I will continue to meet with people who are alleged to have broken those rules. We have to be fair, so if you receive a fine under this policy and you dispute the material facts of what happened, you will be able to request a meeting with me. If you are still unhappy with the penalty, then you have a right of appeal as set out in the Student Disciplinary Procedure: http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/documents/Handbooks/Intercollegiate-Halls-Student-Disciplinary-Procedure-2014.pdf.

My primary hope is that this policy will act as a deterrent so that I do not issue even one fine under this scheme. But at worst, it will reduce the amount of time I spend on disciplinary matters, so I can concentrate on improving other aspects of your experience in Hall.

In addition to this policy of automatic fines, we are upgrading the signage around the building that tell you where smoking is allowed / prohibited, reminds you not to go onto the balconies, and other pointers to help ensure no one breaks the rules out of ignorance of what the rules actually are. 

The best outcome would be that we get to the end of the academic year without any of these fines being issued. You can help me: make sure you know what the rules are, observe them yourself, and if you see your friends doing something they shouldn't, tell them to stop it. I should much prefer that the Hall community police itself and that I never have to invoke the Student Disciplinary Procedure for anyone.

Study spaces in Hall - survey feedback

Several residents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and amount of study space at Connaught Hall in our survey last week.

All the following areas are available for you to study in. They all have WiFi with EduRoam access. As you will see below, we are investing money in improving these areas for you.

Convocation Trust Study Room 

This is our main study area, located on the lower ground floor, north side (turn left out of the lift), past the laundrette and housekeeping, opposite room LG15.

The study room was completely refurbished only a few years ago, but we have asked the Residents' Club Committee to for their input on how we can make it a more pleasant, inviting space. We are going to hang pictures on the walls and install a few more desks, aiming to complete all this before the start of term 2.

This room is intended for quiet personal study only.

Dining hall

You can use the dining hall as study space every day after breakfast / brunch has finished, until dinner time. This space is suitable space for group study and teamwork projects. During the daytime, it's the brightest room in the building, so it's a nice, refreshing, airy place to study.

If you bring your own bread and butter, jam, etc., you are also welcome to use the toaster in the dining hall; and if you bring your own mug, drinks from the dining hall coffee machine are just 10p.

Please ensure that all your work is removed from the dining hall in time for dinner.

Lang room

The Lang Room (next to the dining hall) is currently being used to store catering equipment. This is because one of the store rooms in the kitchen was refurbished in the summer but unforeseen structural problems meant this refurbishment has taken much longer than expected. 

When the work on the kitchen store room is finished later this month, we are going to redecorate the Lang room to make it lovely and fill it with bean bags and low tables so it will become a relaxed study area, due to re-open, fully refurbished for you, in time for the start of term 2.

Reception lobby

This is a popular area for relaxed study, and you can use our coffee machine for high-quality teas, coffees, cappuccinos, and hot chocolate - starting at 70p. 

We may be able to put a few more tables in the reception area to make it easier to study there and use your laptop - we will look into this.

Residents' Club Committee - survey feedback

In last week's survey, you told us that you want Hall events to be publicised better.

At last night's meeting of the Residents' Club Committee, your elected members discussed this and resolved to:

• give more notice of events;
• make announcements at dinner in the days leading up to events; and 
• invest in a printer so they can put up posters more easily instead of relying on Facebook alone for publicity.

Televisions - survey feedback

TVs that didn't work was a frequent complaint in last week's survey.

So William Stewart, Jemima Lovatt, and I spent yesterday evening figuring out what equipment works with what. We now have three working televisions in communal areas.

1. the bar

Our largest and newest TV is in the bar. You can use the buttons on the right-hand side of the TV to turn it on and switch between all FreeView digital terrestrial (DVB) channels.

The bar also has an AppleTV device, but this can only be used by bar staff when the bar is open - sadly, the one we had for public use earlier this term was stolen.

There is a vacant HDMI port so you can connect your own DVD player or laptop to this TV (only with permission if the bar is open and serving drinks).

The bar area (for the TV, pool, and table football) is open from 10am to 11pm, regardless of the bar serving hours. Please don't drink your own alcohol in the bar when it is open and serving drinks.

2. the Bell room

Turn the TV on by pressing the centre button on the front. You can change the AV input and volume using the buttons on the right-hand side. The remote control is missing. Don't use the TV or DTV modes, because these don't work (DTV would work, but needs the remote control...).

To watch broadcast television, you have to use the separate Goodmans FreeView device. Select AV1 input and use the Goodmans remote control to change between FreeView digital terrestrial (DVB) channels.

There is also a working DVD player inputting to AV2.

The HDMI input is vacant, so you can easily plug games consoles, etc., into there.

Please don't swap equipment or remote controls between the Bamforth and Bell Rooms, so it doesn't all get confused again. Look after the remote control for the Goodmans unit, as without it, you can't change channels. Use the HDMI port to plug in your own devices - not the SCART inputs, as this will mean other people cannot later watch DVDs or TV without changing all the cables again. 

The Bell room is open 24/7, except if an external group has booked it for a conference during office hours. Please don't drink your own alcohol in the Bell room when the bar is open.

3. the Bamforth room 

Control the TV using the buttons down the right-hand side (the remote control is missing). Don't use the TV or DTV modes, because these don't work

Put it into AV1 to receive input from the Goodmans FreeSat unit. You can switch between all the FreeSat channels using the Goodmans remote control. The range of channels on this device is different from the Bell room, because the Bamforth room has free-to-view satellite channels.

There is also a working DVD player inputting to AV2. Again, the remote control is missing, so you have to use the buttons on the unit itself.

The HDMI input is vacant, so you can easily plug games consoles, etc., into there.
Please don't swap equipment or remote controls between the Bamforth and Bell Rooms, so it doesn't all get confused again. Look after the remote control for the Goodmans unit, as without it, you can't change channels. Use the HDMI port to plug in your own devices - not the SCART inputs, as this will mean other people cannot later watch DVDs or TV without changing all the cables again. 

The Bamforth room is open 24/7, except if an external group has booked it for a conference during office hours. You can drink your own alcohol in the Bamforth room 24/7.

Bell room DVD player - on SCART input AV2

For all our TVs, you must use the buttons down the right-hand side as all our remote controls have been lost.

Watch FreeView digital terrestrial channels in the Bell room using this box.
It's connected to SCART input AV1.
Look after the remote; it's useless without it!

Bell room setup.

Bamforth room DVD player - on SCART input AV2.

The team that brought TV back to Connaught...

FreeSat unit with remote control in the Bamforth room: free-to-air satellite channels. It's connected to SCART input AV1. Look after that remote!

Bamforth room setup.

Catering staff - survey feedback

A number of survey responses last week complained about the customer service provided by our catering staff. We have heard your comments. The Hall Manager and I will meet with the Regional Business Manager for the catering company next week to find a way forward on this.

Please keep on feeding back to us any incidents of unsatisfactory customer service: suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk. Emails to this address go directly to the Warden (me), the Hall Manager, and the catering comments inbox. We aim to reply to suggestions emails within three working days.

If you do not feel able to send an email with your name, you can send an anonymous text to my mobile - 07907753894. Please note, this phone is not attended 24/7 so do not use that number for emergencies. The response time is similar to emails (three working days). In an emergency, always contact the member of staff on duty via reception.

Radiators & heating - survey feedback

Many responses to our survey last week mentioned that the Hall has been too hot since we turned the heating on in October.

We are mindful that before we turned the heating on, many residents were complaining that it was much too cold in the building. So we have to try and find a happy medium.

In response to your feedback in the survey, we have modified the times when the heating is turned on as follows:

	Changed FROM	Changed TO:
Morning	06:00 to 10:00	06:30 to 09:00
Evening	15:30 to 23:00	16:30 to 23:00

If it's still too hot for you, remember you should be able to turn the radiator in your room off (turn the knob clockwise) and on (anticlockwise) to control the heat in your room. If your heat control does not work, log a request in the maintenance book at reception so we can take a look at it for you.

We had new boilers installed at Connaught Hall over the summer, so we think the greater efficiency of our boilers and higher pressure in the heating system is what is making the Hall so hot, despite the heating being on for less time than ever before.

We do rely on your feedback to get this right, so please email suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk if there is a problem with the heating generally in the Hall.

Smoking - survey feedback

The single most frequent complaint mentioned in your survey responses last week was about noise and cigarette smoke from people smoking on the steps outside the main entrance, and close to the windows in the courtyard garden.

So please take note of new signage in these areas:

Security and Senior Members will move you on if you are smoking in these areas.

Quick survey results

Thank you to everyone who answered our quick survey last week. 76 residents responded - so that's a response rate of 33%.

The results of the satisfaction scales are below.

We will carefully be going through all your written comments over the next week or so. Those of you who requested that we write back to you about your comments should expect to hear from us within 14 days - and probably much sooner.

We will update everyone with the action that we take based on your feedback in this survey.

Remember, you can always write to us with your ideas, suggestions, compliments, and complaints at suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk.

Or if you want to write to us anonymously, you can text the Warden at 07 907 753 894. Please note this phone is not monitored 24/7, so do not use this number for emergencies. The response time is similar to our target email response time (72 hours). If you need to contact someone in an emergency, call reception and ask for the person on duty.

Survey results summary 2013

I have been producing a quick, colour-coded summary of the residents' survey results for Connaught Hall in a standard format every year since 2007. I've just published this year's results at surveys.connaught-hall.org.uk, where you can also compare the chart with results from previous years.

This is one of a series of posts responding to the results of the residents' survey. You can see all the posts here: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Survey%202013.

suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk

The email address to give feedback about anything at Connaught Hall is suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk.

Some respondents to the residents' survey were not aware of this address (stating they didn't know how to give feedback). One respondent was unhappy upon finding out that his/her email about catering had been distributed to some members of the Residents' Club Committee. Another said s/he expected emails to the suggestion box would be anonymised.

The full distribution list for suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk is:

• the Warden;
• the Hall Manager;
• from the catering company - the regional Catering Manager and our local Chef-Manager, as well as the company's own "comments" email address, cateringcomments@london.ac.uk;
• the Facilities Committee Senior Member (and this year only, the McSF Senior Member);
• the President and Secretary of the Residents' Club Committee.

This distribution ensures that the right person receives your email straight away, helping us to provide a timely response. By not anonymising emails, we can reply to the person who writes to us and let them know what action we have taken, or ask if we need more information about the complaint or suggestion.

The existence, purpose, and distribution of the suggestions email is well advertised online and in Hall --

On our website:

On the table-top fliers in the dining hall:

And on posters:

The address is also mentioned at several places in the residents' handbook. 

In light of the survey comments, I have looked at what we already have on this and cannot at this time see any way in which I can make the existence, purpose, or distribution of suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk any clearer. 

It would be possible to have emails reviewed by one person (probably me) initially, then anonymised and forwarded to the person(s) who need to see it - e.g. if it's a complaint about catering, it would be sent only to the catering team. Such a system, however, would have disadvantages over the present arrangement:

• it would slow down receipt of the email by the person who needs to act on it by up to 72 hours, if the email were sent on a Friday morning and the reviewer could not review and forward it until Friday evening, to be received by office workers on Monday morning;
• anonymised emails would not be replied to, so you would never know what action had been taken;
• it would prevent the Residents' Club Committee, facilities Senior Member, and Hall Manager from reviewing the whole spectrum of complaints, so we wouldn't see patterns of complaints that might need action higher up that at the individual service level.

Of course, if you are worried about your identity being known, or about your email being read by people not directly involved in your complaint or suggestion, you can always write to me (warden@connaught-hall.org.uk) with your ideas or complaints ans ask me to pass them on - anonymously if you prefer - to the relevant people or offices.

If you have any feedback on the publicity we produce for our suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk address, or any thoughts on a better way of providing feedback, please get in touch with me. I should be especially interested to hear your views on the distribution of emails sent to the suggestion box: are you uncomfortable with your suggestions being seen by everyone on the distribution list?

This is one of a series of posts responding to the results of the residents' survey. You can see all the posts here: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Survey%202013.