University Business - May 2010 - (Page 46)

Fast, Friendly Fix-Its they’re here eight, maybe 10, hours and then they leave. If it wasn’t for the students, we wouldn’t have a job.” DU’s White says prioritizing simply requires common sense. “If it’s going to damage the building, if it’s a health/safety issue, we don’t ask for a work request but get right on it.” And, he notes, “we respond to the chancellor’s office really quickly.” As Morales points out, there are certain “creature comforts that you’ve just gotta have. ... We have to provide an environment that’s conducive to learning.” His department views students as “paying customers,” but he notes that everyone trying to perform their jobs on campus must also be comfortable so they can be productive. “I recently submitted a work order to have a problem with my desk fixed, and in a matter of one hour it was complete,” shares Krissi Timmerman, communications coordinator for Webster. The facilities team members, she adds, “are constantly working with a smile on their faces, and many of us know them by name.” For large universities, instantaneous service and that personal touch are greater challenges. Readey describes Ohio State’s facilities response line as “a small command and response center” that’s staffed 24 hours a day. Work order requestors get an e-mail confirmation, and while the average response time for non-emergencies is currently three days, the department is working to bring that number down, says Readey. After emergencies, customer requests (e.g., leaky pipes, door jams) are the next priority level, followed by preventive maintenance and then billable services. Those are services, such as minor renovations, equipment installations, Preparing for Move-In: Facilities’ Role As with mAny cAmpus offices, fAcilities tends to be busiest just before and at the beginning of the academic year. Albright College in Reading, penn., solved the challenge of getting dorms ready for move-in day by introducing “white Glove” service in 2005. it involves a group of staff and faculty volunteers inspecting each of the 550 rooms in the residence halls to make sure they’re move-in ready. the challenge is in the timing: with summer camps operating on campus, there’s generally just four or five days to handle it all. “As part of our commitment to service excellence, we wanted to make the move-in experience top notch since the first day of school for a new student, and parents, sets the tone,” says Barbara marshall, associate vice president for college relations and marketing. “we realized that the number of facilities requests for repairs—even minor things like an air conditioner not working, or a towel bar missing—was more than we wanted it to be. ... to minutely inspect all of the rooms was a very large job, so we did our usual Albright thing and brought in the troops from across the college to help.” the inspections look for anything a quick look might miss, marshall explains. that means opening and closing the blinds, opening the drawers, inspecting mattresses for tears, checking for loose or missing tiles, and more. “it’s a white glove my mother would love,” adds marshall. the service was dropped in 2009 after four years because it was less necessary. staff had done a better job of keeping up with necessary repairs on a day-to-day basis, says Amanda hanincik, director of housing and residential learning. for this year, she anticipates the program, which had expanded to include “Blue Glove” inspections conducted by it staff, will be back. “not my job” kind of tone to the work. that’s a good thing, as one never knows what will turn up during a room inspection. As hanincik shares, she once came across The early days of the school year are more relaxing for students because facilities staff and others from across campus work hard at summer’s end to ensure every room is move-in ready. on average, there have been 50 white Glove volunteers, each paired up. each year, any concerns got logged, collected by hanincik’s office, and turned over to facilities; then she and Kevin m. Gaffney, director of facilities services and operations, discussed them. “there’s a fine line between what is an issue you can solve and what is a deferred maintenance issue,” he notes. hanincik says she found the volunteers to be “excited, motivated, and extremely helpful in identifying concerns.” there was hardly a something interesting in a minifridge. “one of our honors students, also a bio major, thought it would be a great idea to preserve cow brains in her fridge so that she could brush up on her dissecting skills!” By move-in day, those fridges are clean. And along with facilities staff, volunteers from across campus are out in full force again. As Gaffney notes, seeing vice presidents and the president helping to carry luggage and bigscreen tVs is common. to the staff at Albright, it’s all in a day’s work. 46 | May 2010 universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2010

University Business - May 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Models of Efficiency
Fast, Friendly Fix-its
Go With the Flow: Campus Traffic and Parking Solutions
What’s New
Community Colleges
End Note

University Business - May 2010