In the month of August, Facilities Management received over 3,000 requests through the work order system, a “noticeable” increase from past years. On average, it currently receives 50 to 200 requests a day.
Work Control Supervisor Alice Manis says the increase is due to new resident buildings, such as One Tribe Place and the new fraternity complex. There have also been many requests from Chandler. Chandler will be renovated next year, but was selected as a residence hall at the last minute because of an uninhabitable wing of One Tribe Place.
Academic buildings also added to the requests. The moving and storage team has worked to move furniture to Tucker Hall and plans to move furniture from Tyler Hall in preparation for its renovation in Spring 2014.
“All of these factors have put a strain on the limited Moving and Storage staff that we presently have,” Manis said in an email.
Facilities Management collaborated with Residence Life this summer to prepare all of the new buildings for move-in.
“This past summer was an unusually busy one for Facilities Management with new construction and renovations making it a challenge for workers to complete all of the work orders,” Director of ResLife Deb Boykin said in an email. “We collaborated to prioritize the work but time ran out to get everything done.”
Moving and storage is just one of many departments in the Facilities Management team. The custodial department oversees housekeeping needs for academic and residential buildings. Operations and maintenance includes teams of electricians, carpenters and plumbers. The locksmith shop is responsible for exterior and dorm room locks. Fire maintenance checks that fire alarm systems are routed and working. Grounds department is composed of turf, landscape, arborist and green house workers.
There is also HVAC, which works to control heating and cooling in buildings. Facilities Planning Design and Construction works on capital and maintenance reserve projects. The Code Review Team checks to make sure all the buildings are code compliant. Finally, there is a Facilities Management administrative team.
These numerous departments feed into the Facilities Management team, which is comprised of 260 employees. There are three salaried positions for the moving and storage department, but only two of those positions are currently occupied. Temporary staff members are hired as needed.
“Their ranks are supplemented with temporary help as needs arise,” Manis said.
Boykin explained that ResLife and Facilities Management work closely together.
“Like any other department or individual on campus, Residence Life submits work requests to Facilities Management through the Work Order system,” Boykin said. “Because our residence halls comprise a large percentage of campus buildings, we work very closely with staff in Facilities Management to ensure work requests are clearly communicated and scheduled around our many summer occupants and projects.”
Despite the increased strain on the moving and storage department, Manis hopes missing furniture requests for dorms will be fulfilled by the end of next week. Facilities Management believes requests for furniture repair will be accomplished by the end of September.
