Changing to cope
Jan. 13, 2008The pickets are over, the dust has settled and change is in the air for the university maintenance staff. No longer are maintenance employees assigned to a single building as they have been in the past. Instead, campus has been divided into three zones, with 10 to 12 individuals residing in a single shop. Individuals will be called accordingly from these shops to cover the buildings in each zone. In light of tightening fiscal constraints, the new system is unavoidable and the best way to cope with the reduced staff. Though the original program worked well, it became an unaffordable luxury after the union layoffs from Fall Quarter. Area zone shops are nothing unusual in the realm of higher academia, as many universities have implemented similar plans. And there are benefits: Under the new plan, individuals are not tied down to a particular building and special needs can be handled by someone with the appropriate skills, be it plumbing or electrical. Further, if an individual is on sick leave, maintenance services are readily accessed from an area zone shop. But don't let the public relations spin fool you ' the response to the new plan has not been entirely positive. One major drawback will be the loss of familiarity. Under the previous system, faculty could become well acquainted with the maintenance staff of a given building. With the new plan, personal relationships between faculty and staff are a luxury that will have to be forgone, and it might prove trickier to call for help when a problem arises. The old system might have been preferable ' one shouldn't underestimate the importance of familiarity ' but change is inevitable as the university tightens its budgetary belt. The new area zone shops are an unfortunate consequence of unfortunate circumstances, but the situation certainly could have been handled in a worse way, and the Facilities staff should be credited for adapting well. It remains to be seen how well the new scheme can serve the needs of the campus, but we can hope that it works out well in spite of its unpleasant origins.
