While the students are away, Pacific University Facilities Management play… or work, rather.
Creepy flickering lights, dead shrubs and outdated bathrooms are no match for Cindy Schuppert, Director of Facilities Management & Campus Public Safety and her can-do team of campus miracle workers.
“We set a work-order hiatus right after the school year finishes and set aside as much time as we can to take care of bigger projects,” Schuppert said. “We’ve just opened ourselves back up to work orders beyond summer focuses and requests are already pouring in.”
The biggest project facilities tackled was a tie between the Strain Hall HVAC replacement and the updating of the University Center (UC) serving station — due more to its noticeability rather than difficulty of execution — according to Schuppert. But those two undertakings only took up two bullet points’ space on an extensive summer to-do list.
“There’s always something to be done,” Schuppert said. Just like students who say, ‘Hmm, I just got done with this… so I can save that for tomorrow,’ facilities also plays a game of constant catch up with so much accomplished, but so much more left to do.
Completed changes and updates returning students may notice include:
- Refreshing of Marsh East Lawn
- LED light switching across campus
- Walter Hall kitchen renovations
- McCormick Hall bathroom and laundry updates
- Sidewalk replacement from Warner to Brown Hall
- Complete track resurfacing
- Pressure washing of Trombley Square and hall exteriors
These updates and renovations serve only as additions to what facilities already does each summer without fail. According to Schuppert, the team does a walkthrough with Housing and Residence Life spending approximately a week doing minimal repairs and updates in each building.
“We go through and assess if there are any damages and then work around Conference and Event Services as they hold activities across campus and house guests in the halls,” Schuppert said. “We work with custodial services too, so they can come in and do deep cleans like refinishing floors and cleaning carpets.”
Like any long to-do list, it’s difficult for facilities to complete each and every task before students start making their way back to campus. So, this fall will see the completion of a few projects that are still in the works.
Updates and renovations still going on include:
- Remodeling of 10 rooms in Clark Hall
- Replacing dead cherry trees with Black Tupelo trees
- Remodeling Berglund 243 to create two offices
- Upgrading electrical in Strain Hall
- Assisting in the refreshment of the UC serving area
- Replacing HVAC systems in Carnegie and Scott Hall
- Updating roofing on Marsh Hall
Many of these projects will finish up shortly, says facilities, while others may be put on the back burner as work orders are finally addressed after summer hiatus.
Students who discover issues with their dorm room or other common areas should reach out to their RA for assistance. While facilities finishes up the above projects and handles work orders, it may take a bit more time to get to small fixes. However, Schuppert encourages students to call Campus Public Safety (CPS) if there is an emergency like beeping fire alarms or leaks of any kind.
CPS on the Forest Grove campus can be reached via phone at 503-352-7207 or email at cps@pacificu.edu.
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