College Moms...when DO you step in?

Um ... Don't know how many times plastic bag has to be mentioned. She doesn't have to buy gloves, but she doesn't have to live in filth either. If she can handle working at a front desk, she can solve this problem on her own.

Honestly, not your DD's job to clean. That is what you are paying for.

I would not step in (2 girls who are freshman at college - one has to clean her own shared bathroom with 4 girls, the other shares with a hall)

I would help her write notes to whomever she needed and maybe tell her what steps to take if everything she did, did not work.

It sucks. It's wrong (you are paying room and board!). But in the end, it's your DD's job to fix.

I know that this is a very complex and difficult concept, but one could both clean the one bathroom/stall one uses regularly in the short term so one doesn't live in filth, AND AT THE SAME time continue to push up the chain for a long-term solution that involves the campus contracted cleaning service.

Complex, I know. But I trust that college students should be up for the challenge.

And honestly, I completely disagree with teaching young adults the lesson that if you aren't being paid for it, you should never jump in, literally roll up your sleeves, and help resolve a crisis temporarily. What a sad world it would be if everyone thought that way.

But, since this isn't the point of view that the OP wants to hear, I am prepared to have this response dismissed in yet one more snide way.

I went to a state school and our bathrooms were sparkling clean.  We all knew the cleaning crew and treated them with respect.  They were a part of our living just like an RA etc. 

When we got our son's bill, it was three pages long of things it paid for.  I need to go back and reread it.  I do have to laugh because my son shares a common bathroom with two other guys.  They each have their own room.  He NEVER poops in his own bathroom.  He finds a common bathroom to do his business.  This came up when I asked him if he needed more toilet paper.  (He is very similar to my two dogs.)

You said that obviously we had not been around teen girls. So I called to get a teen girls perspective. Not a big deal, really. 

And I am sure these bathrooms were cleaned more then once a month too.  Bathroom garbage cans would be seriously overflowing, the little receptacles for sanitary napkins/tampons overflowing, the mirrors a hot mess etc.  If the biggest complaint the OP's daughter had was a skid mark in the toilet maybe it's the the landing zone for that commode. I would think the lack of garbage removal would be more noticeable. Especially if the girls don't tie up the bag when it's full and replace it but rather wait for the custodial staff to come do it.

I haven't read all of the pages of replies.
I wouldn't step in in the sense of actually doing the calling but I would advise her to do this: Pick up the phone and call the Director of Housekeeping. Say, "There is a bathroom in building A, across from the front doors, (or wherever it is, let them know the location) that hasn't been cleaned properly in over a month. Please get it cleaned and monitor the situation. Thank you."
I worked in a hospital and on a few occasions called the Director of Housekeeping about a bathroom that an employee had obviously been slacking off on as part of their daily duties. The Director will know who is assigned to that particular bathroom and will pull them in and notify them that it needs to be cleaned and remind them of that cleaning schedule. Honestly, it could be a new employee who was not aware that bathroom was part of their area. Or it could be a lazy employee who just skates around it. Is the trash being picked up on a regular basis? That will tell you if they've been in there doing the bare minimum or not. Either way it is the Housekeeping Director's job to get on it and see to it that it stays clean. Don't hesitate to call again if the cleaning starts slipping. Enough complaints and that housekeeper will be written up.
As for puke, a tampon, etc. a call should be made at the time it happens that there is service needed. In the public bathrooms across the hall from my office, people were always making a gross mess. One call and the appropriate person was paged to clean it up.
The main switchboard operator will have a way to put your daughter in contact with the Housekeeping Supervisor. There may be a phone list on the computer somewhere. Just have her call. Easy.
Now, if she called and it was not addressed that day, I would have her call again. And again if necessary, perhaps getting someone in authority to make the call. If nothing got done after going through these proper channels a few times, I guess I as a parent would make the call, since I was footing the bill to go there. But that probably would not be necessary after one call to the right person.

I lived in two different dorms. The first there was a bathroom for our hallway. The second there was a bathroom between our room and the girls next door. In both cases the dorm housekeeping staff cleaned our bathrooms. It was part of their responsibilities, vacuuming the halls, common areas, and our rooms (floor had to be picked up). We didn't have access to a vacuum or anything like that.

Cindy, is there an update?

Since this is an older thread, we covered this pretty well.  A plastic bag would have worked.  But really, they should just be able to call housekeeping and it should be taken care of immediately.  My DS is the one down the road from Cindy's DD.  Similar sized private colleges.  Housekeeping cleans public areas day and night from bio hazards.  For the men's dorms, this includes vomit at 3 am (including restrooms and a shared dorm bathroom would be considered a public area).

DS had the stomach flu last week.  He managed to get to a trash can.  But can you imagine if vomit like that was left all day?  We know he was contagious and so was the vomit!