Princeton University

The Facilities Department includes several different units that serve the Campus.  It is useful to be familiar with the workings of a few of these departments; it is particularly important to know which departments respond to specific service needs.

• The Facilities Customer Service Center provides you with quality service for plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, custodial, housing, pest and a variety of other needs.  Contact us at 8-8000 (phone), 8-8001 (fax), online at http://www.princeton.edu/facilities/customer_service/ or via e-mail at service@princeton.edu.  Hours of operation are Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM.  For emergency requests after hours or on weekends, please contact Public Safety (8-1000).
• The Grounds and Buildings Maintenance Department (8-8000) primarily maintains and repairs Campus facilities.
• The Housing Department (8-3460) will assist you in all housing-related matters and provide you with services that will help make your time in University apartments enjoyable and comfortable.  Contact us with any questions regarding your apartment and housing services at 8-3721 (phone), 8-5898 (fax) or via e-mail at gradhsg@princeton.edu.  Our office, located in the MacMillan Building, is open 8:45 AM - 5:00 PM.
• The Engineering Department manages Campus utility systems, including the central heating and chilled water plants, and manages construction and repair projects that are primarily engineering in nature.

All requests for service or maintenance should be made to Facilities Customer Service (8-8000) Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM.  Call early to facilitate service.  Service charges are assessed for lockout services and calls involving resident negligence.

The University provides an emergency repair service.  Priority is given to situations that potentially jeopardize the health, safety or property of residents.  Residents in need of an emergency repair should call Facilities Customer Service (8-8000) Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM.

If an emergency occurs after normal office hours, contact Public Safety (8-1000) to report the problem.

The University has a contract with an exterminator for pest control.  However, the most effective means of pest control begins at home with residents.  It is essential that all residents contribute to this effort by keeping their apartments sanitary.  Food should be kept in closed containers and garbage should be disposed of quickly.  To do otherwise is an invitation to roaches, the most common pest found in apartments.

If you are having a problem with pests, call Facilities Customer Service (8-8000) Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM for assistance.

Squirrels and raccoons can easily enter through open windows; they search for food, destroy property, and, in general, annoy residents. The campus squirrels are bold and used to living among people. Students should exercise care so that they do not have any squirrels or other unwanted visitors in their apartments, risking the possibility of being bitten.   In all cases, please report any wild animal found inside a campus building to Public Safety at 258-1000.

While the likelihood of a bat, raccoon, or other wild animal found on campus being rabid is relatively low, you should always treat with caution any animal that behaves in a suspicous manner (lethargic/erratic moves), do not approach or handle the animal, and report it to Public Safety at 258-1000.

If a bat is found in your apartment, you should immediately report it to Public Safety at 258-1000. You should avoid contact with the bat, vacate the space, and, if possible, close doors and windows to confine the bat until Public Safety responds. Subsequently, any fruit or open food that was in your room should be discarded. Public Safety will secure the room until cleared by animal control personnel and determine who in the room may have been exposed. Important: If you awake to find a bat in your apartment , it should be assumed that you may have had some exposure while asleep. If you have had potential exposure, you are advised to go to McCosh Health Center for medical consultation and consideration of the need for rabies immunization. If the bat is captured and tests negative for rabies, there will be no need for immunization. If you cannot stay in your apartment because of pending clearance by animal control personnel, you will be offered overnight accommodations at McCosh Health Center. 

Window screens in apartments should be kept in place and in the closed position to prevent entry by squirrels and bats.  Students should contact the Facilities Customer Services Center at 258-8000 immediately to report any missing or broken screen.  

Your cooperation is requested during snow removal operations.  Please don’t leave toys or bicycles, or park cars, in areas that need to be cleared.  The University’s primary concern is to make all roadways passable for emergency vehicles.  Parking lots, driveways and walkways are cleared when time permits.

Keys are issued to each resident upon arrival by the superintendent.  It is the student’s responsibility to return the key(s) at the end of his or her contract period.  Only the original key will be accepted.  Return of the key(s) at the end of the contract period is necessary to show that the student has actually vacated the apartment and to avoid additional billing.  Under no circumstances may apartment keys be duplicated.

Students who do not return all their apartment keys when vacating are automatically assessed a lock change fee and the lock(s) are changed (Price varies per complex.  Lock change fees begin at $65).  This is a security precaution for future residents.  Lock change fees should be remitted by a check made payable to Princeton University.  The Graduate Housing Department will accept payment for these fees.

Lockout service is provided for residents who have left behind or lost their keys.  If you are locked out of your apartment Monday through Friday during regular office hours, please contact your superintendent or Facilities Customer Service (8-8000).

After office hours, or on weekends or holidays, please contact Public Safety (8-1000) for lockout service.

University Services operates a campus shuttle.  For more information, please visit their website or contact Public Safety (8-1000).

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