As the city rounds off another wave of triple digit heat, some students and faculty are finding unbearable conditions in classrooms.
Several professors have reported having to make adjustments such as moving their classes to Zoom in order to maneuver the unaddressed heating issue.
“This has been a big problem this semester and it seems so unnecessary since these rooms were just retrofitted a few years ago,” said web design professor Rusty Robison on Saturday. “I have had to hold class online these past couple weeks. I would hate for this to continue.”
Robison is currently hosting her advanced web design class on Zoom because the classroom is simply too hot to teach and learn in. The class is usually held in the Grosse Industrial Tech Building Room 298.
Students throughout campus are also complaining about hot, stuffy classrooms.
“The third floor of Food Science is unbearable,” a student and Collegian reporter said after a class on Thursday.
Other Collegian reporters experienced high temperatures in buildings including Grosse Industrial Tech and the North Gym.
The Collegian recently reported that due to the Central Utility Plant Replacement Project and a state requirement to be more energy efficient, building temperatures were set to cool no lower than 78 degrees and heat no higher than 68 degrees.
With temperatures in Fresno still reaching triple digits, it’s frustrating that students and staff are expected to sit in a building that is almost 80 degrees, some students say.
“The heat gets you so tired,” said James Morris, who also has class in Room 298. “We usually have to have four or five power fans running.”
The Collegian sent a query to University Communications regarding the extreme temperatures in buildings to distinguish whether the temperatures were due to CUPR or an air conditioning malfunction and they have not provided an answer.
As of Sept. 9, students and staff are still experiencing high temperature classrooms.
At California State University, Long Beach, the College of the Arts has created a School of Art Heat Relief Plan.
Their website details the new cooling technologies that are being implemented in the school’s Fine Arts buildings. The page is updated at 6 a.m. daily during high heat periods. It also provides a range of temperatures with each range having a colored tier and what to do if temperatures drop below a certain degree.
Fresno State has not announced any sort of strategic plan for extreme heat conditions. The university hasn’t addressed the state temperature requirement to students. The Collegian reported this information.
“If room temperatures become too hot or too cold, department administrative assistants or faculty need to call Facilities Management to report an issue,” said Debbie Adishian-Astone, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, in a previous Collegian report.
