Much has changed the way students felt as they went back to their dormitories this semester.

From the former dirty toilets and the rusty pipes that channel water into the sinks and lavatories, these not so comfortable facilities before have been restored and even improved tenfold.

“The moment we talk about the former conditions of our toilets here at the dormitory, we imagine all the filth and odor there,” said one of the student-occupants.

“But starting this school year, these toilets are different and are now very comfortable,” he beamed, adding that he is expecting more changes to come.

Shortly after reporting to office, MMSU President Shirley Agrupis unveiled her transformation agenda, toeing the line of improving the infrastructure and facilities of the university, particularly those at the COED’s dormitory.

“I want the students to feel that they are in a university, especially those in the dormitories,” Dr. Agrupis said, adding that her heart bled when she saw the students’ conditions. 

The president said that most of the students occupying the dormitories are beneficiaries of the government’s Expanded Students’ Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) which is under the Pantawid Pampamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). She lamented that while the residents are called university students, they are living in a place worse than the condition of the places they come from. 

“First thing that I’m going to address is the worsening condition of the dormitories such as the dining halls and kitchen,” she said, noting that their rooms, too, do not have study tables and electric fans.

Dr. Agrupis said that what is devastating is “we are an academe that is supposed to develop in the students a wholesome personality because they are the embodiment of the quality of education that we are mandated to give to the people.”

“How can the 200 students (in the dormitories) attain that (personality) when they are deprived of internet connectivity, information from the outside world because of the absence of a television set?” she lamented.

Aside from the buildings’ facilities, the students are also complaining about the dark, rugged, and broken road leading to the dormitories at night since no single light bulb is installed along the 500-meter stretch.

“That’s why I promised that in the next few weeks, they will see some changes,” she said as she encouraged them that they should not only be recipients of what the university could give them but they must return these favour by doing good in their studies. The president assured that the students will not pay for the improvements they will experience.

“I gave instruction to the members of the finance committee to consider student accommodation not as part of our income generating projects (IGPs). Rather, it will be classified as student services. So, whatever things we can do to improve their accommodation in MMSU, that will be part of the student services,” she stressed.

In order to accomplish this, the president said she will devise a mechanism so that all money that the students pay for dormitories will be put in one fund and the amount will return to them in terms of the improvement of their accommodation.”

 “The restoration has begun,” Dr. Agrupis assured, adding that the journey to restore efficient infrastructure and facilities will be in place in the next few months.

Meanwhile, one priority project this year is the construction of another students’ dormitory located just across the road fronting the NTA building. The usual bidding process has begun.

 “Today, we begin the journey to provide a decent place for our students – a place  left in the mercy of the elements for years,” the president remarked, concluding that the move will also restore the students’ faith in the university which should demonstrate good academic governance. (By Reynaldo E. Andres)