Cranes, construction vests and “coming soon” signs; these are all common sights on UT’s campus.
What is not as common to see are wires hanging from the ceilings, fire alarms out of service and workers shuffling through an active dormitory hall day in and day out. This is what the 2025 fall semester has been like for Volunteer Hall residents, where a fire alarm project is being conducted throughout the building.
The project began over the summer, but has carried on into the school year and will most likely continue for a while longer.
Sophomore Harley Miller is an anthropology major with a forensic concentration. She lives on floor 10 in Volunteer Hall.
“They’ve been on my floor for pretty much two months straight,” Miller said. “It only took them a couple of days to work in my room, but they’ve been in the hallway everyday, Monday through Friday, nine to five usually.”
On campus, there are numerous construction projects happening at the moment, which is another reason why this fire alarm process leaked into the school year and has a ways to go.
This project got approval almost exactly two years ago in 2023. The approval form shows that the project’s budget is $3,000,000. Compared to other renovation projects on campus, such as Neyland’s $337,000,000 renovation, this is a small initiative.
It is all being handled under the Department of Capital Projects, which is responsible for over 200 active capital projects at the moment across the UT System, including the other schools in the system, such as UT Chattanooga or UT Martin.
The university provided a statement regarding the work being done.
“The Vol Hall fire alarm upgrade, which began in May, replaces the current system and will align Vol Hall with other residence halls. Once complete, all halls will be connected to a unified network of fire alarms.”
Maintinence crews work on fire alarm systems in Volunteer Hall. Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
They are not only installing new fire alarms in the hallways of the dormitory, but also going through residents’ rooms to update the alarms in the bedrooms and living rooms.
Nico Espinosa is a sophomore plant sciences major who also lives in Volunteer Hall.
“There was a day where some workers were right in front of my apartment door working on something, so I’m assuming that’s when they came into my apartment at some point, but I wasn’t there for it,” Espinosa said. “I haven’t gotten any heads up from my RA or an email, so I can only guess when it actually happened.”
While the updates to Vol Hall’s fire alarms are for the safety and wellbeing of its residents, there have been some downsides to the project. Because the workers are there every day during the week from nine to five, there has been a lot more activity in the dorm than usual.
“It definitely has been a challenge to not get distracted by all the sounds that they make,” Miller said. “They are always drilling or out in the hall, talking and clinking their tools and stomping around.”
Because of the constant work being done, there are often ladders, tools and other things strewn in the halls.
On top of this, on the floors where work is being done, wires hang from the ceilings out of the vents. The fire alarms that have not been taken out or not yet replaced have tape on them explaining they are “out of service” and not to be used.
“Because there’s exposed wires and different things going on, the fire alarm gets tripped and we have to evacuate,” Miller said.
One of the biggest issues Miller brought up was the effect it has had on residents with emotional support animals. During regular fire drills, people with ESAs are notified ahead of time, but that is not possible when the alarm gets accidentally triggered.
“If (the owner of the ESA) is not here or their roommate isn’t here, the animals just have to sit inside while the fire alarm is blaring which is terrifying to think about for a real-life situation,” Miller said. “It just doesn’t seem very humane for an animal to have to sit through.”
Once a floor has finished their upgrades, it is pretty much back to normal, and work begins on another level. Other than the noise of construction and the chanced triggering of a fire alarm, the project is being handled as efficiently as possible.
Maintinence crews work on fire alarm systems in Volunteer Hall. Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
“For the most part, I feel like my lack of awareness of when things were getting worked on on my floor definitely shows that the project is being handled well and in a non-intrusive manner,” Espinosa said. “I do feel like there could be a little more communication about when my floor was being done, but that could be an RA thing, not a project thing.”
