U. to refund painting fees temporarily

Under the new policy, which is only effective for the rest of this academic year, students’ rooms will be assessed by Facilities representatives at the end of the year, at which point fines may be imposed, Associate Director for Student Housing Lisa DePaul said Thursday in a follow-up e-mail confirming the temporary policy change.

“The existing policy is still in effect. Students are not permitted to paint their rooms and not permitted to re-paint their rooms,” DePaul said. “For this year only, we will charge students based on actual labor and materials, instead of an average cost. The restoration of rooms will be done after Commencement.”

The temporary reform resulted from negotiations between administrators and the USG after several students complained about the lack of publicity regarding the University’s policy. Before this change, students were fined as much as $640 for painting their rooms, The Daily Princetonian reported on Nov. 20.

“Once I started receiving complaints from students about the painting policy, I did some research into the nature of the policy,” Diemand-Yauman said in an e-mail to the ‘Prince.’ “Ultimately, I decided that the best course of action would be to recommend a more student-friendly policy.”

He added, “The USG has ensured that Housing will not process room damage charges until after students check out in May for repairs and paint jobs.”

Regarding possible permanent changes to the University’s room painting policy, DePaul’s e-mail only stated that students will be updated in the spring. Students’ financial responsibility to pay for damages will not change, however.

“Next year there will be a significant monetary fine upon discovery of painted or damaged walls. This will be in addition to the cost of restoring the room by professional painting staff,” DePaul said.