{"id":141848,"date":"2026-02-03T12:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141848\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T12:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:17:08","slug":"usf-works-to-fix-heating-issues-as-cold-weather-hits-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141848\/","title":{"rendered":"USF works to fix heating issues as cold weather hits Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Students said they are feeling an intense cold at the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications. ORACLE PHOTO\/YSABELLA ARDON<\/p>\n

Tampa is facing a historic cold front<\/a> and is expected to stay below average temperatures for the season for the next two weeks, according to the National Weather Service.<\/a><\/p>\n

And while USF students are running to their class buildings to escape the cold, some said the chill is following them inside.<\/p>\n

Catarina Tapias, a senior psychology major, said she has a class on the third floor of the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications this semester.<\/p>\n

Still, Tapias said the building\u2019s temperature has been distracting and affecting her energy in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt the weather change, and the classrooms didn\u2019t adjust to the weather,\u201d Tapias said. \u201cIf I\u2019m shivering, then I\u2019m not paying attention. It\u2019s definitely disruptive for my learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

USF spokesperson Ryan Hughes said the university is experiencing air conditioning issues specific to its hot water system.<\/p>\n

Hughes said the university is working with its facilities services contractor to make the necessary repairs, which are expected to be completed within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile work is ongoing, the contractor is using alternative methods to raise the temperature, so impacted buildings should already start to feel warmer,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

Hughes did not specify how many buildings are being affected or which methods are being used to stabilize them.<\/p>\n

Still, some USF students said varying temperatures in multiple buildings across the Tampa campus have left them on edge and unmotivated.<\/p>\n

Related: USF Tampa campus to receive new hot water system to prevent outages<\/a><\/p>\n

Sylvia Huh, a junior biomedical sciences major, said she has a class on Cooper Hall\u2019s first floor this semester.<\/p>\n

Huh said her classroom is often uncomfortable and hard to focus on because of the air conditioning issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just very cold in there, \u201d Huh said. \u201cI understand that the building\u2019s really old, but a lot of the stuff that\u2019s problematic interferes with how much I can focus in class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper Hall was built in December 1970, according to the USF interactive campus map<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Huh said she wears almost four layers of clothing to feel more comfortable and focused in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my way of surviving in the classroom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But Huh said she is not the only one affected by the temperature, as her classmates often talk about the same issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople I take classes with would always complain that it\u2019s so cold in the classroom,\u201d Huh said. \u201cAlso, it\u2019s not just that room. I think the building itself is just very outdated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Huh, Tapias said she uses multiple layers to make going to class more manageable.<\/p>\n

And to add to the cold front, Tapias said the classroom feels the same as the outside temperature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the clothing I can get through it, but I would prefer I didn\u2019t have to be worrying about that,\u201d Tapias said. \u201cAnd the sleepiness is still there, even if I\u2019m wearing layers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s water has elevated chemical levels but still meets safety standards<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joel Lindo, a freshman biology major, said he has a class on the second floor of Cooper Hall and has also noticed that the building has been colder than usual this semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s relatively colder in the room on the second floor than in a different room on the first floor,\u201d Lindo said.<\/p>\n

Lindo said this is the only class he has to wear a jacket in, even when it isn\u2019t as cold outside.<\/p>\n

He said the classroom temperature is one more thing he has to worry about on his way in and out.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Lindo said the cold disrupts his mood and learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompared to other classrooms, where the temperature isn\u2019t something I\u2019m considering, having to bring an extra jacket or having to already worry about the class is something to consider,\u201d Lindo said.<\/p>\n

Related: USF Juniper-Poplar residents return amid frustrations, AC issues<\/a><\/p>\n

Bodie Gregory, a senior mass communications major, said he has classes on the third floor of the Zimmerman School this semester.<\/p>\n

Gregory said he feels an intense cold in the classroom with extreme temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe temperature is easily in the 60s in a classroom, and we usually have to wear jackets in order to be comfortable,\u201d Gregory said.<\/p>\n

He said professors have notified him and other students to \u201cbundle up\u201d for class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s worse on the third floor than it is on the first floor,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cSo at the higher levels, it\u2019s colder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gregory said the air conditioning being out of order in extreme weather conditions is a problem that should be addressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, typically, you don\u2019t really need heating in a Florida school all the time,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cBut when you get a really bad ice storm we had recently, where the temperature is dropping below freezing, then, yeah, you need to make sure that the heating is working.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students said they are feeling an intense cold at the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications. ORACLE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-141848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}