While residents in the new Worth Hills residence halls enjoy key card access into their rooms, a kitchen to bake in and large common areas to study and socialize in, they are missing one important thing: cell reception.

“I don’t ever have cell service,” Lauren Schwartz, a sophomore business major and current resident of Pamela and Edward Clark Hall, said. “It’s not a strong enough connection to even make a phone call."

The reception is so bad that Schwartz said she must step outside to make a phone call.

And Schwartz is not alone. Sophomore business major and T-Mobile customer Noah Wilskey said he has heard numerous complaints from students with cell service provided by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

Bianca Newton, hall director for the new halls, said Housing and Residence Life is looking into the issue of cell reception on campus in general to make sure students have good coverage.

“There are companies working with TCU to make sure we have the best service possible,” Newton said. 

Students who do not have good cell reception, she explained, receive a phone number to contact someone who can help.

Newton said she is compiling a contact list of service providers for students who experience cell reception issues. The list, she said, will soon be posted on the Housing and Residence Life Facebook page as a resource.

The problem of poor cell reception worries some students beyond their inability to text. Students like Jackie Solitare, a sophomore education major, worry what would happen in the event of an emergency.

“If I had a problem and couldn’t get in touch with the RA, then I would definitely worry about it,” Solitare said.

Unlike last year, Director of Housing and Residence Life Craig Allen said resident assistants are now required to use personal cell phones when on duty. Previously, RAs used a "duty phone" that they passed from RA to RA.

With the new personal cell phone initiative, emergency protocols are in place to ensure safety, especially in the new residence halls, he said.

“We put in hall phones in the new residence halls,” Allen said, “so if there is an emergency, a student can easily get to a hall phone and punch in 7777 – TCU Police – or 911 if they need to."

In addition, all RAs have landline phones in their rooms, and there are two landlines at the front desk that are regularly checked, Allen said.