- OSGA Temperature Protocols: Our first idea is to lobby OSGA to legislate temperature protocols. Once the protocols have been passed by the representatives of the student body, we would initiate a marketing campaign to ensure every student is aware and understands the temperature protocols and why they have been put into place. If deemed necessary, the temperature protocols could be expanded to include a clause that makes tampering with any thermostats at Owen an Honor Code violation.
- Owen Snuggies: Who doesn’t love to snuggle when it’s cold outside? The same people that hate puppies. Anyway…as a solution to the poorly regulated temperature throughout the Owen building, we plan to promote the sale of Owen-branded snuggies for students to wear in class or the library when they find the temperature to be too cold. They will be for sale in the bookstore and available in two colors, black and gold, with a small Owen logo on the front. We will encourage students to store them in their lockers to ensure their comfort at Owen every day.
- Posted Thermostat Guidelines: The next possible solution to the fluctuating temperatures at Owen is a series of escalated attempts to get people to follow the new thermostat rules that we have designed. First, we plan to simply post guidelines next to each thermostat. If that approach proves to be too mild, we will then post a sign by each thermostat discouraging manual adjustment, highlighted with a red STOP sign for additional emphasis. Then, if that does not work, we plan to take matters into our own hands and set the thermostats in each room to the optimal temperature and cover them with duct tape that has "out of order" written on it to discourage anyone from even trying to adjust them.
Goldilocks Temperature Control
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Two thoughts: First, I cannot think of any way that tampering with a thermostat is an honor violation. It is not lying, cheating, stealing, or tolerating. Please don't go that route. As far as OSGA regulating the temps, that seems like a decent idea, although I'm not sure if it will solve the problem. If the problem is that students are always purposely messing with the thermostats, then I doubt they'll care about the OSGA.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I like your guidelines idea. A nice laminated card by each thermostat with step-by-step instructions would help a lot. You could publish the acceptable temp range on there to.
Great idea and one that I hope is implemented in some manner over the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe 3rd solutions seems to be the easiest from an operational viewpoint. And I think operations is the way to view this because it is an operationally focused issue. Small cards next to each thermostat would be a great way to get some "social force" behind prohibiting the thermostat changes. When someone sees someone else changing the thermostats, the class (or any person) will be more likely to call out that perpetrator if they have signage to back them up. It will soon become socially unacceptable to mess with the temperature.
I would not mess with Honor Code because making Honor Code about the "classroom temperature and comfort" cheapens the meaningfulness of the Honor Code itself and could damage people's respect for the Honor Code. Also, how would you police this as a violation? Do we have video camera's monitoring each of the thermostats? If we can't enforce it, then it won't make a difference.
Snuggies are just wrong. They should de-invented.
Great idea - I hope you can find a solution before I graduate!
ReplyDeleteThe snuggie idea is creative, but it doesn't solve the problem for those who are too warm. I think you want a solution that covers both the hot and cold temperature problems.
I like both #1 and #3 because it involves some sort of "policy" as well as a strong deterrent from acting otherwise. Making it an honor code violation seems severe, but will probably be the most effective. I would question if the solution is thermostats or the heating/cooling system itself, but the latter is probably too difficult to tackle in the next few weeks.
I think the Snuggie innovation is more of a fad and won't last long. Plus, I can't imagine ever putting on a Snuggie and wearing it in school. Why not just change the temperature or bring in a long sleeved shirt. I feel that the Owen Inventory of Snuggies will remain high as students will be too embarrassed to walk around in one of them, or even be caught purchasing one.
ReplyDeleteIt would be AWESOME if you could solve this problem! My favorite ideas are 1 and 3, not 2 only because it costs students money and does not address the problem when rooms are too hot. Also, I don’t see 1 and 3 as mutually exclusive. It might be most effective to consider getting OSGA to approve the room temperature standards and then to advertise this using idea 3.
ReplyDeleteShort of some serious expenditure of time and money to renew the temperature control system in the building, I think your ideas are great. One of the problems I have had with the thermostats is I have NO IDEA how to work them. They seem simple when you look at them, but trying to change the temperature is impossible, and once you do set a change, it seems like it has no impact. I think your idea with the cards on "guidelines and procedures" is perfect. First the guidelines set a basic foundation as to what the temperature should be, and in the increasingly rare cases where it needs to be changed, a procedural outline on how to do (i.e. only change it a couple degrees). One of the problems is people get hot so they turn it to like 64 then it gets really cold so people turn it back to 75.
ReplyDeleteIdea #1 seems too negative. People already struggle with this temperature issue, and don't need to be bullied around more. A positive solution like idea #3 is much more palatable.
Idea #2 is certainly funny, but definitely lacks true credibility. I guarantee most folks won't wear a snuggie. I appreciate your willingness to be creative, however, and think that in a different context this might be the right solution!
Good problem to solve, as it impacts the whole community.
I think you are best off going with Idea #3. The idea of the OSGA somehow policing temperture controls seems a little off-putting and Snuggies, while an interesting fundraising idea, don't really address the problem you are trying to solve. I think #3 would work in that Owen students are generally respectful of posted rules.
ReplyDelete#2 would be great, simply because I looked for a vandy snuggie and they don't make one. Owen would be even better.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, #1 seems like it would work, but we'd have to know more about how the heating/cooling system works (increasing temperatures in one room could set another room to oven-like temperatures). Similar for #3.
I think the biggst issue that you face would be monitoring, because even if guidelines are posted or changing the thermostat is an offense, it would be hard to monitor all the thermostats and who is tampering with them. In addition, everyone has different temperatures at which they are most comfortable, so it will be hard to find a level that everyone can even agree on in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for 3. Setting a guideline for an operations instructions would be a great idea. Like N Pittman said, we usually have no clue on how the thermostats and over adjust, leading to more changes in temperatures. It would be great if there were instructions on not only how to operate the thermostat but also how much or how little to adjust.
ReplyDeleteIdeas 1 sends a negative signal to people, and would not fit the original concept of "honor" . Idea 2 is cute, but would not address the "too hot" issue.
Ideas #1 and #3 are the most worthwhile. Some sort of combination of protocol and guideline seems the best approach. Or, people can stop complaining and just put on a jacket or dress in a way that will have them be comfortable knowing that some rooms may be cooler or warmer than others.
ReplyDeleteSomething that wasn't mentioned here, and I feel works - is posting a thermometer all the wall of the classrooms, just like how there is one posted in the library. When people see that it isn't actually THAT cold or hot, a lot of the complaining ends.
You may want to consider looping the alumni relations department in with your "Owen Snuggies" suggestion. Based on the habits of both my sister and wife, plus my own observations of my female coworkers in freezing cold workplaces, temperature control is an issue that travels well beyond the four walls of Owen. So many people keep a stack of sweaters or cardigans in their desk drawers to combat the issue. Imagine if our alumni across the country opted instead for an Owen-branded Snuggie? It would ensure that Owen stays top-of-mind with a potential donor, plus it would serve as a marketing tool for anyone walking by who might notice the logo.
ReplyDeleteFor the #1, honor code enforcement would not work because honor code only applies to academic.I like the posted thermostat guidelines, people need visuals and this is definitely a good one.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this is a such a pervasive problem at Owen that it would be awesome to get some resolution. However, I'm wondering why there are such extreme variations in temperature in the first place. Is there a mechanical problem that causes this, or are students the ones to blame? If students are the culprits, then I think solutions #1 and #3 are appropriate.
ReplyDeleteSolution #3 seems the most viable and easily implemented. I've seen lots of people -- both students and professors -- crank the thermostats way up/down, thinking that it will heat up/cool off the room faster. This causes the opposite extreme in temperature for the next class to arrive in the room. It seems like the school's HVAC folks could provide some good guidelines for you to use.
By the way, I'm digging your team name.
I like the 3rd solution to the fluctuating temperature. One, it doesn't negatively effect other aspects of our school such as cheapening the honor code with such policy. Two, it is not costly to display a message telling students not to tamper with the thermostat. Third, ducttaping is a great aggressive way to prevent students from tampering with the thermostat.
ReplyDeleteThe guidelines idea sounds good. It can be co-implemented with help from OSGA. Students walking around in Snuggies may promote an unprofessional image, but it would be cozy.
ReplyDelete