To: Dr. Vincent Bordreau  

From: Syed Ali 

Subject: The Elevator and Escalator Dilemma  

Date: September 8, 2019 

The purpose of this memo is to discuss the ongoing issue with the elevators and escalators in the North Academic Center (NAC). These issues are adversely affecting the efficiency and the attendance of students. 

Summary:                                                                                                                                  

The NAC is known for its criticism concerning the lack-luster means of transportation between floors. Of the four elevators only two are functional. Even though there are escalators, they are often out of service. Students should not have to run back and forth to figure out another way to get to the next floor, which is why I would like to consider a different way to tackle this issue. 

Discussion:  

The North Academic Center, better known as the NAC, is a 7 floored building housing a substantial portion of the school’s classrooms. Almost every attendee at City College has or has had a class in the NAC. The NAC is also the location of the cafeteria and the primary library of the school. Given its many essential facilities, the NAC should have the necessary accommodations to get students to different parts of the building in a timely fashion.  

As mentioned before, of the four elevators in the building, only two of them are functional. During the common class intervals there usually is a lot of traffic on the escalators. The elevators aren’t even a plausible option as they are on the other side of the building and usually take several minutes to come down. Due to the sheer amount of people visiting the NAC daily, looking into fixing the other elevators and making the escalators more consistent should be given high priority. The average cost of fixing or replacing an elevator depending on the severity of the problem ranges from 400 to 20,000 dollars. Although this is substantially greater than the cost of fixing the escalators, the escalators will need more frequent costs afterwards for maintenance and modernization.  

The difficulty getting to different parts of the building is an issue shared by many students across campus. Because of the popularity of this issue and its impact on a large part of the school, it should be given the utmost attention. This is a concern that will not be solved in a week or two so it’s necessary to begin on the solution immediately.  

Recommendation: 

I would recommend consulting the CS department about creating an app or system within the City College Student Life application that allows students to get real time service updates and locations of the elevators and escalators. This is an important first step, as fixing or replacing the elevators can take up to six months while making the escalators fully functional can take up to two months. While the app is being created, it would be best to start looking for agencies and firms who will fix the elevators and escalators for prices that fit our budget. After repairing both systems, it is important to enforce a system of maintenance so that these problems do not reappear. 

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