Caption: Water leakage on the 16th floor of dormitory B female building
Photo credit: Destiny Gonzalez Rubero
The start of Incheon Global Campus (IGC) Housing for Spring 2023 could have been smoother. The IGC and IGC Housing have been going through constant managerial and facility issues, causing dissatisfaction for many students. Although enough time has passed for IGC to be better prepared, problems still need to be solved. Three significant issues caused inconvenience and serious struggle in the students’ use of dorm rooms: short notice of temporary hotel use, unstable Wi-Fi connections, and water leakages.
For Spring 2023 dormitory applications, there were concerns made by many students who failed to register for housing. Right before the start of the semester, construction was in progress in the dormitory buildings. Along with the shortage of rooms compared to the number of students who wanted to apply, the construction caused many students to be unable to move into the dormitory. For this reason, some students had to involuntarily stay at a hotel near Incheon National University temporarily until the building was finished.
Due to this situation, issues arose during the registration and application process. Minsung Kim, a student in GMUK (Conflict Analysis & Resolution, ‘25), explained the short phone call he got from IGC Housing on the day of checking in. He said, “When I got the call, they notified me that I could not check in that day and asked if I had other places to live nearby our campus.” Other students also struggled to make adjustments because of the sudden notice, without knowing the exact day for check-in. For example, during the dormitory check-in process, the TB and Rapid Antigen tests are mandatory for check-in according to housing policies. However, some students had to pay an additional fee for the tests, as they were not informed about the construction plans. The student stressed, “I would not have had to do the two tests if I had been informed at least a day before the check-in day. The most important thing I expect is for them to let students know in advance when this kind of issue occurs.”
Wi-Fi in IGC dorm buildings has been inconsistent with its connection for a long time. A student in GMUK (Global Affairs, ‘23) living in Dorm A complained, “While taking the exam with Lockdown browser, it was impossible to see whether the Wi-Fi was working normally. It is critical because when the Wi-Fi is off, the test is not fully saved, and it is hard to go back to the exam and redo it. If there is a problem in the connection, the test will not be saved properly, leaving the students no time to re-take the unsaved questions.” Recently she mentioned that she had an important interview through Zoom and had trouble connecting to the Wi-Fi. It shows how these issues have caused massive inconvenience for Mason Korea students due to the careless management of IGC Housing.
Worsening matters, there was a water leakage on the 16th floor in dorm B. It occurred abruptly in the afternoon on April 15th, and students on the 16th floor were all shocked to find out that water was falling from the ceiling. Due to the broken water pipe, the hallway was flooded. One concern here is that it is suspected that not only the 16th floor has water leakage, but there is a possibility that the whole building is now suffering from water leakage. The ceiling of other floors, especially on the first floor, already looks decrepit and wrinkled due to defective facility management and inspection.
It is inevitable for the Incheon Global Campus Foundation and Housing to manage students and their residential lives properly. However, if the dissatisfaction and inconvenience are continuous, it signifies a need for fundamental management and system change in IGC housing. IGC should take careful notice of the problems that students have been experiencing and find ways to better their administration and facility management and stop the ongoing issues. Suppose students keep getting disadvantages from careless handling and repetitive mistakes. In that case, they should compensate for the struggle and the additional expense caused by inactive communication and improper ways of dealing with the problematic situation. IGC should remember that students deserve quality housing facilities and management and can claim compensation for their pay.
Written by Suhyoung Ji| Staff Writer
Revised by Soram Hong|Managing Editor
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