Students who live on campus have expressed concern over the absence of change machines in the laundry rooms in the residence halls. Some said they wonder why the decision was made to not include change machines when the laundry rooms were being furnished.
“It was essentially a decision we had when weighing the factors in place,” Jim Schlinsog, director of Residence Life and Housing, said. “The change machines themselves are costly, and they’re costly to maintain. Plus, change machines have a tendency to get broken in to.”
Students have the option of using the money on their U Cards, which act as a campus debit card as well as official identification, library card, meal card and an access card for those living in the residence halls.
Each laundry room contains a card reader in a centralized location where students can swipe their U Card and pick the machine they wish to use. The charges are automatically deducted from their account.
Those not wishing to use their U Card must bring enough quarters with them to complete the wash and dry cycle. At a $1.50 per wash and $1 per dry, the weight in quarters can be staggering.
Kolin Jarrett, a biochemistry freshman living in Meadow Lodge, sometimes goes to the Plaza Laundry mat on Grant Line Road in hopes of saving time and money.
“The machines there are bigger,” he said. “It’s nice [at the residence halls] but kind of expensive. It’s convenient at least.”
Plaza Laundry mat, the closest laundry mat to IU Southeast, does have larger washers and dryers, as well as change machines, but the cost increases are noticeable; they charge $3.50 per cycle for their largest washing machines and 25 cents per six minutes for their largest dryers.
The trend of doing laundry off campus, however, may be commonplace.
“We do see a lot of IUS students coming in here, but I don’t know if they live on campus or somewhere out in the community,” Ashley Anderson, a Plaza Laundry employee, said.
The lack of change machines means students not using their U Card will have to save their quarters until they have enough to wash and dry their laundry or find another place to exchange cash for coins.
The IU Credit Union is a facility on campus that is able to facilitate students — including those who are not members — needing to make change, but such requests are not often made, and they would need advance notice if a large group of students came in seeking a roll of quarters.
“Would we help them out? Sure,” Chris Kime, IU Credit union branch manager, said. “We’re here, and we’re good neighbors and not going to make somebody join to get change.”
That is why every student living in the residence halls is encouraged to utilize their U Card when doing laundry on campus. Every student already has a U Card account with different options for making deposits without the fear of a service charge.
The easiest way is by going to the Web site https://www.ius.edu/ucard/funds/ where they can transfer money from their off campus bank accounts into their U Card accounts.
They can also call the Bursar’s Office, 812-941-2335, and make a confidential credit card transaction over the phone or access one of the U Card kiosks in the Commons Area of University Center North where deposits can be made day or night.
The most common form of depositing money, however, is physically going to the Bursar’s Office and directly depositing the funds.
“Most students come in and do it here,” Marisa McKim, Bursar’s Office customer service representative, said.
Using the U Card exclusively does have risks, though.
Kolin Jarrett uses both his U Card and loose change because he doesn’t want to get caught between loads when his account goes dry.
“Sometimes your card will run out of money before you’re done,” he said. “Then what do you do?”
By TRAVIS STURGILL
Staff Writer
trsturgi@ius.edu