Ohio University has had fewer service workers since 2009 to tackle the unsightly presence of stuffed trash bins, landscape overgrowth, leaking appliances and jammed windows.
“Basically, (service workers) are the ones that do everything behind the scenes to let everyone else enjoy the campus as it is,” said Mike Gebeke, director of Facilities Management.
Gebeke said that in 2009, job cuts eliminated 40 positions from the maintenance, grounds and custodial departments. Ever since, the facilities department has faced a tight budget and small staff.
As a result, the department continually falls behind in maintenance requests. Currently, the department is seven to eight weeks behind.
“They cut a little too much on our side,” Gebeke stated of Facilities Management. “Everything we’re supposed to do gets done, but the problem is the details don’t get taken care of.”
Tony Turnbull, a university custodian for the past 25 years, added that after the cuts, he worried about his job security and the expansion of his daily responsibilities.
“It did bother me, not just for myself, but for the people that have been here for several years,” he said. “It takes a long time to get a job here. They drag you along and drag you along, then it seems like you have to backtrack.”
Turnbull said he noticed a decrease in how quickly service crews have been able to fix and care for places of concern, including rotting windows and Bryan Hall’s crumbling foundation that falls onto the residence hall’s patio.
“It’s a safety and health issue,” Turnbull said. “I’ve been complaining about it, and nothing has been done … No one seems to be taking an initiative to get it fixed. They just don’t have enough manpower.”
Despite the layoffs, some employees were given the option to leave the university or enter a job pool, which is an employment waiting list, while others were hired to fill a different position.
“We are given the option to work somewhere else or join the job pool,” said Lisa Williamson, a custodial worker at the university for the past 15 years. “But, if you’re in the pool, you aren’t guaranteed any hours.”
Gebeke said the lack of staff and equipment was most noticeable after the large storm that came through Athens this past summer. He said he is working to improve the security of the jobs under his supervision and add more employees to the grounds crew to cover high-priority areas as he attempts to adjust the centers’s budget.
“Right now, overgrowth and the smaller things are an issue,” he said. “We get what we need to do done and safety-wise, everything is fine, but we don’t do as much trimming as I would like to, to keep it in good condition.”
Facilities Management is also working to implement Responsibility Centered Management, a program that would allow the center to organize a new budget system for the $37 million that is used for four different departments: Facilities Management, Space Management, the Office of Sustainability and Design and Construction, Gebeke said.
“Right now, I can’t do anything to add to staff with the budget we have,” Gebeke said. “RCM, though, should phase in over the next two years, which might help, but we have yet to figure out how that will effect us entirely.”
Despite worry and long workdays, Turnbull said that he plans to remain in his position in hopes of improvement and because he loves OU.
“I take pride in the buildings,” he said. “I want them to look nice and be safe.”
lf328610@ohiou.edu
