Last school year, PLNU experienced the visitation of a bed bugs outbreak for the first time ever on our campus. Since then, we have learned that bed bugs have become a nation-wide problem, affecting hotels, universities and homes in the general population. Finding the best way to remedy this new challenge has been a learning process. Not only did we need to find the best way to kill the bugs, but other challenges arose. Our biggest concern was how this was impacting students, with the inconveniences that came with temporary displacement. During displacement students were temporarily without some of their clothing and belongings during the treatment/cleaning process, and other issues arose on an individual case-by-case basis. In all, 6% of our residential students were impacted.

What we did during the 06-07 school year:

• Set up a central point of contact to keep communications flowing across campus between departments, especially between Residential Life and Physical Plant.
• Made contact with parents and students so they would know where to turn with questions and individual case-by-case challenges.
• Set up a cleaning system for student belongings and developed new methods to speed up the process.
• Learned which treatments work best to kill bugs and their eggs.
• Reimbursed students for items lost or damaged in the process.
• Applied a room credit to the student account for the time of displacement.

What we did in the summer of 2007:

• Contracted with the best known bed bug experts for a campus-wide inspection/treatment of all rooms.
• Cleared the PLNU campus of all bugs by the end of May, including rooms for summer students living on campus.
• Re-inspected the whole campus to make sure rooms were cleared for all students prior to student move-ins.

To proactively deal with the possibility of bedbugs finding their way onto campus this fall, this is what we plan to do:

• During the week of Sept 10-14, 2007, all rooms and student lounge areas will be re-inspected, as students will be settled into their rooms for the fall semester.
• During the week of January 14-18, 2008, all rooms and student lounge areas will be re-inspected, as new spring students have moved in, and returning students will be back after Christmas Break.

If any bugs are found, procedures are in place to properly care for affected students, including relocation to temporary living quarters and the cleaning and treatment of rooms and students’ personal belongings.

For more information on bed bugs, please click on the following link: http://www.pointloma.edu/News/Headlines/BedBugInfo.htm

If you have any other questions, please call the Residential Life office, and we will be happy to assist you. (619)849-2482.