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004 - Preventative Maintenance: Solving Problems Before They Are Problems | Drew Jahr, Katy Pelton, and Miles Oller [Feature Topic]
4 Plays4 years ago
On today’s episode we explore the maintenance side of the house, specifically looking at solving problems before they are problems with preventative maintenance. Our three guests are Drew Jahr, Katy Pelton, and Miles Oller, all of whom began their professional career in residence life before moving into housing maintenance and operations. We first discuss the differences between residence life and maintenance, then we do a deep dive into the importance of looking upstream for continuity of facility service with preventative maintenance. It’s definitely a complex balancing act between proactive work and reactive work. Our guests provide plenty of real examples highlighting the importance of preventative maintenance while also making some deviation about fostering educational moments with staff and students and the importance of acknowledging and recognizing maintenance and housekeeping staff. This episode is sure to illuminate the wild world of housing maintenance for anyone interested in learning more.
Seeking professional advice? Fill out this anonymous form and a panel of housing staff will give you their take on your situation on an upcoming podcast.
People, Places, and Things Mentioned in the Episode:
Texas Tech University [Website]
Sam Houston State University [Website]
Texas Christian University [Website]
Star Wars Death Star [Lego Set]
Star Wars Ewok Village [Lego Set]
Tower Bridge [Lego Set]
TMA Systems [Software]
Example Home PM Plan [PDF]
Recommended![025 - Fun Topics from the ACUHO-I Community Forum | Joel Gatti [Feature Topic] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/605db9539a00e40074826685/733e7e3d-9d73-4dce-9fd9-65d29d14b4dd.)
Transcript
Conclusion of Podcast Experiment
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Swakuho podcast.
00:00:02
Speaker
As always, I'm your host, JC Stoner.
00:00:05
Speaker
When I pitched the idea of a podcast to Swakuho President Katie Pelton and past President Maggie Guzman, I told them I would put together four demo episodes with different formats as an experiment to gauge the feasibility of sustaining a Swakuho podcast.
00:00:19
Speaker
Well, this being the fourth episode, I guess this experiment has concluded.
00:00:24
Speaker
My only hope is you've found value in listening to the last four months.
Recap of Past Episodes
00:00:28
Speaker
So far on the podcast, we hosted an interview with the Swakuho past president, facilitated a book club, and discussed research conducted by a Swakuho practitioner scholar.
Focus on Preventative Maintenance
00:00:38
Speaker
Today's episode is a feature topic, preventative maintenance.
00:00:43
Speaker
When a lot of people think about maintenance and campus housing, they think about work orders and fixing problems that get reported.
00:00:49
Speaker
It's a never-ending cycle of problem-identified, problem-prioritized, and problem-fixed.
00:00:55
Speaker
Rinse and repeat.
00:00:56
Speaker
Preventative maintenance, on the other hand, provides routine inspections and minor investments to infrastructure and systems along the way to alleviate major problems further down the line.
00:01:06
Speaker
The balancing act of reactive work versus proactive work is a challenge I'm sure many housing professionals can relate to, even those who don't work in facilities.
Guest Introductions
00:01:15
Speaker
Our guests today are going to provide a lot of insight into the world of housing maintenance and various systems used to keep facilities operating.
00:01:22
Speaker
This is sure to be an educational episode for professionals looking to get a more complete picture of housing maintenance programs.
00:01:29
Speaker
Plus, what you learned today you will be able to put into action in your personal life because guess what?
00:01:34
Speaker
You should absolutely have a preventative maintenance plan wherever you live.
00:01:39
Speaker
Our first guest is Drew Jarr, who serves as the Associate Managing Director for Facilities and University Student Housing at Texas Tech University, where he directs a team of 157 full-time staff representing maintenance, housekeeping, warehouse operations, and trades.
00:01:54
Speaker
His first job in campus housing was in high school working on the paint and maintenance crew, a job he loved.
00:02:00
Speaker
He spent 12 years in residence life before moving back to the facility side of the house at Texas Tech.
00:02:06
Speaker
When not building campus housing, Drew enjoys building Lego sets with his dad.
00:02:10
Speaker
His favorite Lego sets are the Star Wars Death Star, Ewok Village, and the Tower Bridge in London.
00:02:16
Speaker
Drew, welcome to the show.
00:02:19
Speaker
Hey, it's great to be here.
00:02:20
Speaker
Thank you.
00:02:23
Speaker
Our second guest is Katie Pelton, who serves as Assistant Director for Facilities and Risk Management in the Department of Residence Life at Sam Houston State University.
00:02:31
Speaker
Her housing experience spans 20 years across residence life, academic initiatives, classroom instruction, and facilities and risk management functional areas.
00:02:41
Speaker
Katie is passionate about process documentation, streamlining processes for increased effectiveness, staff training, and professional development.
00:02:49
Speaker
She also currently serves as the President of SWACUHO.
00:02:53
Speaker
Katie, welcome to the show.
00:02:55
Speaker
Thank you, JC.
00:02:56
Speaker
I'm so glad to be here.
00:02:59
Speaker
And our third guest, yes, we have a record number of three guests today, is Miles Aller, who serves as Assistant Director of Facilities for Housing at Texas Christian University.
00:03:09
Speaker
Miles has been involved in housing and student affairs since his first year of college and transitioned from the residence life side of the house to facilities about five years ago.
00:03:17
Speaker
Miles also manages campus dining and athletics, where he says preventative maintenance is huge.
00:03:23
Speaker
Using a true student affairs lens to approach facilities has been integral in his success working with maintenance and facilities.
00:03:30
Speaker
Miles was actually hired as a resident assistant his first semester of college to replace someone whose employment ended eight weeks into the semester.
00:03:39
Speaker
Miles, welcome to the show.
00:03:41
Speaker
Hey JC, excited to be here.
00:03:43
Speaker
Well, first things first, everyone.
Managing Residence Life vs. Maintenance
00:03:45
Speaker
We all worked in residence life and now work in facilities, maintenance or operations.
00:03:50
Speaker
I get asked all the time, what's the difference between residence life and operations?
00:03:53
Speaker
Instead of focusing on difference in job duties, what's a major difference in how you manage your priority list and personnel resources and maintenance compared to your residence life days?
00:04:03
Speaker
I think for me, TCU, we're so incredibly relationship focused that I try to pull that piece from our residence life side of our office and push it over to our facility side of really creating a positive relationship with everyone who works in housing, whether it be housekeeping, facilities, maintenance.
00:04:23
Speaker
And then the same with physical plant, our central physical plant.
00:04:28
Speaker
I feel like we have created relationships and those relationships have positively impacted everything we do and how we approach those items.
00:04:36
Speaker
Instead of here's a task, fix it, rinse and repeat, really trying to create this team atmosphere of let's work together to create the best student experience possible and not just finding out whose resources are going to pay for this or whose fault is this.
00:04:52
Speaker
We've really, really focused on that relationship aspect of attacking facilities.
00:04:57
Speaker
So at St.
00:04:58
Speaker
Houston State University, we incorporate quite a bit of the residential education component of the relationship piece in the community building and working together.
00:05:10
Speaker
One of the things that we do know is different is how we are utilizing resources.
00:05:16
Speaker
So where we may have ResEd staff that are here
00:05:20
Speaker
24 hours a day because typically they're living in or maybe their hours are a little bit different.
00:05:24
Speaker
Our operations and our facilities folks, those hours may be very constrained because of budgets.
00:05:29
Speaker
And so we have to be mindful of that and prioritizing work in emergencies.
00:05:35
Speaker
Also making allocation for understanding that we've got to expect the unexpected, that it is not
00:05:42
Speaker
routine.
00:05:43
Speaker
I don't think it's routine for anybody that works at a university when you're dealing with students and people and all the things that can happen day to day, but definitely making sure that we can't budget for every single minute of the day just because we've got to leave a little bit of room for things to pop up and for things to happen.
00:06:00
Speaker
Here at Texas Tech, we're very similar to Miles in the relationship building.
00:06:06
Speaker
And, you know, I spend a lot of my day talking to people and
00:06:11
Speaker
building those relationships.
00:06:13
Speaker
It's definitely much easier to do that when you're not in the middle of a crisis so that when you are in a crisis, you can rely on those relationships.
00:06:22
Speaker
And that was something that I learned in ResLife and I've carried that on into facilities.
00:06:27
Speaker
Another area, at least here, that I experienced is with recognition.
00:06:34
Speaker
That is heavy on the ResLife side.
00:06:37
Speaker
In my case, non-existent.
00:06:40
Speaker
on the facility side.
00:06:42
Speaker
And so bringing a lot of that charisma and not just certificates and that kind of stuff, because that's not really what they want.
00:06:52
Speaker
What they want is to be told, hey, we appreciate what you're doing.
00:06:56
Speaker
We notice what you're doing, you know, and sympathy when that exit sign that they've hung up three times that week happens a fourth.
00:07:05
Speaker
You know, those are some of the skills that I didn't, honestly, when I moved into facilities, I really didn't think I was going to use.
00:07:14
Speaker
And I ended up using them the most.
00:07:16
Speaker
Like I said, I get asked all the time and I always think about like when it was life, it was managing like roommate conflicts and the emotions of two people.
Types of Maintenance
00:07:25
Speaker
And then on a facility side, it's like you have one less emotion because your refrigerator that's not working or the exit sign that's falling doesn't have an emotion.
00:07:32
Speaker
So it's a little bit different in that sense, but still there's that kind of customer service and balancing act of how do we still respond appropriately, like things like,
00:07:42
Speaker
And rightfully so, things matter and they're important, but identifying priorities is kind of something I guess we'll get into in a little bit.
00:07:50
Speaker
So the topic of today is preventative maintenance.
00:07:52
Speaker
So break it down for us.
00:07:54
Speaker
What is preventative maintenance?
00:07:56
Speaker
What is the difference between that and deferred maintenance, routine maintenance, all the jargon?
00:08:00
Speaker
I think for me, we treat preventative maintenance obviously as a simple, very general answer of trying to catch things from breaking before they break as a simple way to look at it.
00:08:11
Speaker
What we've done is we've really tried to find things in housing and dining.
00:08:16
Speaker
Preventative and maintenance to us is finding those things that when they do go down, it is a huge experiential loss for the students.
00:08:25
Speaker
How can we find those and add a monetary value to keeping things running?
00:08:28
Speaker
Because a lot of people don't see preventative maintenance or maintenance contracts or service contracts as a win because they think you're paying for something that you're not receiving in advance.
00:08:38
Speaker
But in reality, like say for dining, I'm paying X number of dollars to keep the dish machine or excuse me, the dish return circulating.
00:08:47
Speaker
But if that thing goes down, there's a huge monetary loss because of the poor experience of the dining students or ice and water machines in the hall, laundry machines, things like that.
00:08:58
Speaker
So we've really tried to turn the way we look at maintenance away from
00:09:03
Speaker
reactionary and attacking things as they break but instead how do we get ahead of it and we don't want to hear complaints about things breaking off and we'd rather hear about you know what the more i think about it these just don't break that often even though they're probably messing up the same amount of time we're just catching them and really keeping um we have a guy who keeps a lot of parts on purpose and his whole his whole approach is i want to be prepared for the 10 of parts that cause 90 of the problems
00:09:31
Speaker
That's how we really want to be prepared for PMing things on our end.
00:09:37
Speaker
I agree totally with that.
00:09:40
Speaker
I don't know that.
00:09:42
Speaker
I mean, you can certainly say that it's definitely critical.
00:09:46
Speaker
It's important.
00:09:47
Speaker
It's something that I think when you don't do it,
00:09:52
Speaker
you end up paying a lot more later for that neglect.
00:09:56
Speaker
But it's also one of the first things to go when everything else is hitting the fan.
00:10:03
Speaker
And so it's important, and I'm sure we'll get into this further, but it's important to come together and have a true understanding of the purpose of PMs and why they're important
00:10:20
Speaker
And the people who are actually doing them understand that.
00:10:24
Speaker
So it's all the way down from the high level to the technician on the ground, understanding the philosophy behind why we're spending the time, effort and energy in doing preventative maintenance.
00:10:37
Speaker
Because if they don't buy into that and they don't believe it, it's easy to let it go.
Philosophy of Preventative Maintenance
00:10:44
Speaker
Our motto is if you can stop, prevent or
00:10:49
Speaker
quickly correct the small things, the big things won't happen.
00:10:52
Speaker
And that's how we try to explain it to our staff when we're talking about why we've got to do preventative maintenance and
00:11:02
Speaker
like Miles said, paying for service contracts, because we know that if we can stop the little things and making sure that the big things aren't breaking, so your weekly inspections and all of the things I'm sure we'll get into that we do are stopping that HVAC system from going down.
00:11:21
Speaker
It'll make sure your generator is running during a freeze because you've taken care of those small things and the big blow up isn't happening.
00:11:31
Speaker
And I think it lets our customers, specifically for us, our students and our staff, know that we care about them because we're trying to make sure that their living environment is as comfortable as it can be.
00:11:42
Speaker
And so that's what we're looking at when we're thinking about preventative maintenance and how we define it and why we do it.
00:11:50
Speaker
I think about the upstream thinking involved, that you're solving problems upstream.
00:11:56
Speaker
And Drew, you talk about recognition and all that.
00:11:59
Speaker
It's so hard to recognize, well, you oiled that generator once a month for the last 12 months.
00:12:04
Speaker
And I'm sure it would have broke by now, but it hasn't.
00:12:06
Speaker
So way to go.
00:12:08
Speaker
Whereas there's often the heroes who come in and save the day when there's a crisis.
00:12:12
Speaker
But maybe the heroics is actually like making sure there wasn't a problem to begin with.
00:12:17
Speaker
Well, and I tell my boss all the time, you know, when we're doing projects, you know, we like to do the things that our customers can see because there's an intrinsic, you notice it.
00:12:33
Speaker
Well, when we're talking about our mechanical rooms, it's not that they see it, but they sure do feel it when the HVAC system fails and it's 100 degrees outside in August and they have no cooling.
00:12:48
Speaker
And so in terms of the recognition, when you explain that, and that's where working with Res Life and being on facilities really helps, is to be able to use that language with the facility side of how, because you did this, this student can focus on their academics, which is why they're here.
00:13:12
Speaker
They're not worried like the whole Maslow thing.
00:13:14
Speaker
You know, your basic needs are met.
00:13:16
Speaker
Well, if you didn't do what you did to help that HVAC equipment run, then our student, this particular student would not be
Supporting Students' Academics Through Maintenance
00:13:26
Speaker
successful.
00:13:26
Speaker
You help that student potentially graduate or stay in school because they had one less thing to have to worry about.
00:13:35
Speaker
And so those are the things where you have those kind of conversations one on one with a staff member.
00:13:42
Speaker
In my opinion, that's what really makes a difference to our staff.
00:13:47
Speaker
And that's where they feel valued and appreciated.
00:13:49
Speaker
Definitely.
00:13:51
Speaker
And if you can get a student to tell them that, it's even better.
00:13:55
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:13:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's where the power really lies in getting that feedback.
00:14:00
Speaker
So what are some like just nuts and bolts, common examples of preventative maintenance that y'all do?
00:14:06
Speaker
I did take some time thinking about this and I do have some facility related examples, but also for those that don't have a facilities background, I wanted to kind of take a different spin on it.
00:14:20
Speaker
And so I was thinking about, I just went to the dentist recently for my annual cleaning or my six month cleaning.
00:14:27
Speaker
And so when you're thinking about preventative maintenance, when you brush your teeth daily and every six months you go to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned, you're doing that as a preventative nature to keep yourself from getting cavities.
00:14:44
Speaker
The routine or general maintenance of brushing your teeth is the dentist actually cleaning your teeth and tells you that you have a cavity.
00:14:56
Speaker
and you decide to go ahead and get that cavity filled.
00:15:00
Speaker
And then deferred maintenance is, you know what, I really like to get that cavity filled, but I just don't have the time to get it filled or I don't have the money to pay for it.
00:15:10
Speaker
So I am going to defer paying that and getting my cavity fixed.
00:15:16
Speaker
Another common way of thinking about deferred maintenance is your credit card.
00:15:20
Speaker
You know, when you're in the store and you're buying something and you put it on a card,
00:15:25
Speaker
you're deferring that payment until hopefully the end of the month so you don't get interest.
00:15:31
Speaker
Or you pay the interest and you pay it later so you're deferring that payment.
00:15:35
Speaker
So that's a non-technical way of looking at the difference between the three.
00:15:41
Speaker
But as far as an actual maintenance-related thing, I was thinking about our plumbing.
00:15:47
Speaker
When our buildings are empty, our maintenance staff will go through and they'll pour water
00:15:53
Speaker
in all of the drains to fill up the P traps so that you don't have that sewer gas smell.
00:16:00
Speaker
So that's the preventative maintenance aspect.
00:16:05
Speaker
The routine or general maintenance would be the P traps are rotten out.
00:16:10
Speaker
So the decision is made to change them, replace them, put new.
00:16:15
Speaker
And then deferred would be, you know, again, you just don't have the time or money or nowadays,
00:16:22
Speaker
You can't get the parts in, so you don't have a choice.
00:16:27
Speaker
You have to defer it and try to come up with an alternate plan.
Routine Walkthroughs and Common Tasks
00:16:32
Speaker
But those are a couple.
00:16:34
Speaker
There's many.
00:16:36
Speaker
So on our side, just some quick examples.
00:16:39
Speaker
We've actually started to assign buildings to our staff, so in addition to whatever costs,
00:16:44
Speaker
technical craft they're responsible for.
00:16:46
Speaker
They also are responsible for a weekly walkthrough.
00:16:49
Speaker
So that's our maintenance guys.
00:16:50
Speaker
And they're doing that in an effort to go ahead and get things reported or fixed on site if they're able to do that.
00:16:58
Speaker
So we're not having to depend on someone else to report it, but also so that our work order system isn't bogged down because the thing they hate the most is work orders coming in.
00:17:08
Speaker
I mean, they're glad because they have a job, right?
00:17:10
Speaker
But they would rather fix something right there than have a work order that they then have to sit down and update and go in and close out.
00:17:18
Speaker
And then we do things like monthly generator inspections that is on a contract.
00:17:23
Speaker
We do have a company come out and do that.
00:17:25
Speaker
Just making sure that mechanical rooms are cleaned out because our director of facilities is really big on cleanliness as well.
00:17:34
Speaker
So we also incorporate custodial into this preventative piece because if they take care of our buildings and they don't deteriorate, our carpet doesn't have to be replaced as quickly as
00:17:44
Speaker
Also making sure that we have a good inventory of equipment and so some of your basics, right?
00:17:50
Speaker
So couch cushions and nuts and bolts, screws, nails, all those things, filters.
00:17:55
Speaker
So we're not having to depend on a last minute purchase.
00:17:58
Speaker
And because we've done that, we...
00:18:01
Speaker
are able to right now at least have some parts that other people are not able to get a hold of, which has been good for us.
00:18:08
Speaker
And so just some of those things, just thinking four and five steps ahead so that we're not at crunch time trying to figure it out.
00:18:16
Speaker
Beyond what they've already mentioned, we do very similar things, general maintenance walks weekly, things like that, chilled water line inspections, boiler inspections, generator inspections.
00:18:27
Speaker
routine HVAC filter replacements, things that we catch a lot on our end, water filtration for the buildings, things like that hit us pretty hard, water filtration, P-traps.
00:18:39
Speaker
So nothing too out of the ordinary.
00:18:41
Speaker
We do get our laundry pretty hard twice a year, pulling pumps, washing things, doing a lot of drum cleaning, things like that, just to catch them before they get to that point of breaking.
00:18:53
Speaker
So, Miles, you mentioned air filters.
00:18:54
Speaker
What would happen if we never changed an air filter in a student's room?
00:18:59
Speaker
What would actually happen or what do they think would happen is probably a lot different.
00:19:04
Speaker
But obviously the air quality would go down, you'd get a lot of a musky air smell, a lot of fresh air, different things.
00:19:09
Speaker
We had an issue like that where some fresh air returns got blocked a few years ago.
00:19:13
Speaker
And there were some mechanical chases that the building was old enough that through time people didn't learn about things.
00:19:18
Speaker
And there would just be a feeling of staleness or the tempered air wouldn't be able to get to the space.
00:19:26
Speaker
I think a big one is getting the coils and stuff dirty.
00:19:29
Speaker
That's one we deal with if you're not filtering the air before it gets there and then you're blocking that.
00:19:33
Speaker
It just makes it a lot less comfortable.
00:19:36
Speaker
And then you can go to the extreme of poor air quality, allergies, different things like that.
00:19:43
Speaker
Well, like if the air coils are clogged over many years, wouldn't that eventually overuse or the works too hard and the compressor would eventually give out, right?
00:19:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:52
Speaker
Obviously, your fan motors are going to start pulling harder and pushing harder.
00:19:56
Speaker
You've got bearings going out.
00:19:57
Speaker
Then it's just a waterfall effect.
00:19:59
Speaker
Your fan motors are overworking.
00:20:01
Speaker
Your bearings start going out.
00:20:02
Speaker
You start rattling and duct work.
00:20:03
Speaker
You've got...
00:20:04
Speaker
Wearing sounds coming down the study rooms.
00:20:07
Speaker
It's interesting the things that especially the people on this call that could walk down a hallway and hear a sound and be like, got to find that motor.
00:20:14
Speaker
That's a bearing.
00:20:16
Speaker
Like those kind of things you just you learn to know like this sound means that.
00:20:20
Speaker
I think one of the big things that's hit us a lot is less, this just popped in my head, it's not necessarily filter, but insulation, preventative maintenance on insulation around chilled water pipes, hot water pipes.
00:20:30
Speaker
We had some issues with that a few years ago.
00:20:32
Speaker
Some stuff didn't get insulated correctly and that creates leaks and then turns into ceiling tiles and then turns into mold, mildew, that kind of stuff.
00:20:38
Speaker
I think it's that domino effect of one small misstep of preventative maintenance unchecked over a long time can then grow into a building-wide problem pretty quickly.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, you talk about the sounds of the hallway.
00:20:51
Speaker
I've got a drip above my kitchen sink right now that just came about like yesterday.
00:20:55
Speaker
And it's driving me crazy trying to figure out where or what.
00:20:59
Speaker
And I'm just like thinking of all the terrible things that are going on inside this office.
00:21:03
Speaker
And I just like can't get over it.
00:21:05
Speaker
Like, what could I have done sooner to fix this problem before it was a problem?
00:21:11
Speaker
So you guys were talking about filters and something that we experienced here is
00:21:16
Speaker
that honestly I was not prepared for, it was definitely a lesson learned, is we made the decision with COVID a year ago that we were gonna change all of our filters in the halls from MERV 8s to MERV 13, which basically is a, the higher the number, the more particles the filter keeps out.
00:21:40
Speaker
in theory.
00:21:41
Speaker
Everybody, the industry was all pushing 13, like that's the best quality you can get.
00:21:46
Speaker
And so we made the decision to do that at $50,000 for one set of filters.
00:21:54
Speaker
And what we did not anticipate is two things.
00:21:59
Speaker
One, are your air handler units prepared to have a MERV 13 versus a MERV 8?
00:22:08
Speaker
And two, the amount of the PMs that would have to happen instead of changing them every four months, which is what we do with the MERV 8s, we were having to change them monthly.
Financial Impacts of Maintenance Decisions
00:22:21
Speaker
And in some cases, we're out in West Texas, we've got a lot of dust.
00:22:26
Speaker
We were doing it less than a month.
00:22:29
Speaker
And as a result, we were forced to go back to the MERV 8.
00:22:35
Speaker
One, we couldn't get the MERV 13s because of COVID, but also because our air handler units, I mean, if you're changing them at $50,000 per quarter and you now have to do it monthly, I mean, it adds up.
00:22:51
Speaker
And that's not an expense that we were prepared for.
00:22:56
Speaker
So the decision ultimately, and it was a hard decision because the industry was telling us
00:23:02
Speaker
You need to go with this.
00:23:03
Speaker
And of course, the PR component of it.
00:23:06
Speaker
But when we did it, nobody complained.
00:23:09
Speaker
The air quality didn't change.
00:23:10
Speaker
Nobody noticed a difference in the air quality.
00:23:13
Speaker
And so we quickly went back to the MERV 8s, which in comparison costs us about almost $20,000 per set per quarter.
00:23:24
Speaker
So you can see the difference in costs.
00:23:27
Speaker
And of course, COVID played a big part in that for people.
00:23:31
Speaker
All sorts of reasons, and I won't get on my soapbox with that, but it gets expensive.
00:23:36
Speaker
Well, I think you bring up an interesting point of how stuff scales in facilities, and this is kind of a little off topic, but if you think about the standard air filter that we put in a room where it's like two, three bucks a filter, not a big deal, takes...
00:23:52
Speaker
10 minutes to replace whatever getting in a room.
00:23:54
Speaker
But when you scale that up times how many rooms do you have?
00:23:57
Speaker
We've got 5000 air filters across campus.
00:24:01
Speaker
All of a sudden now that's fifteen thousand dollars and whatever 15 minutes times 5000 is is I mean, that's a lot of time and person hours.
00:24:10
Speaker
And I just think it's kind of fun and interesting to geek out a little bit on how that stuff scales so quickly.
00:24:19
Speaker
And Drew, in your bio, we talked about you being on the paint crew.
00:24:22
Speaker
I also was on a housing paint crew when I was in college.
00:24:26
Speaker
And I think about the scale.
00:24:28
Speaker
Well, we painted one high rise, which had 400 double rooms.
00:24:32
Speaker
Each room had something like 350 square feet of walls, which makes a total of 140,000 square feet of walls, not counting common spaces corridors.
00:24:41
Speaker
And with one cone of paint, that's about 400 gallons.
00:24:44
Speaker
I mean, it just expands exponentially.
00:24:49
Speaker
And I think about like reading a resume as we try and like quantify our experiences.
00:24:53
Speaker
Like I love reading facilities resumes because they always talk about like square footage and, you know, those sorts of things compared to like
00:25:01
Speaker
people numbers and buildings, but it's just, it's just interesting.
Planning Long-term Preventative Maintenance
00:25:04
Speaker
So I appreciate you bringing that up.
00:25:06
Speaker
So what does a PM plan look like then?
00:25:09
Speaker
For us, I work with facilities on our campus, just creating the PM plan as far as preventative maintenance across air handlers and filters and stuff like that.
00:25:19
Speaker
It's just a routine.
00:25:20
Speaker
How often does that have to happen?
00:25:22
Speaker
We also created probably a 15-fiscal year repair and replace cycle.
00:25:26
Speaker
And I think that talking about your piece of scaling is one of the most important things that we need to create that budget of.
00:25:33
Speaker
We need to start adding a lifespan to air handlers and all these components of how much is this going to cost?
00:25:38
Speaker
What is inflation going to hit us?
00:25:40
Speaker
Come to find out we are super wrong about that.
00:25:42
Speaker
But really creating a plan and not ignoring it.
00:25:46
Speaker
I think that's a big piece.
00:25:47
Speaker
A lot of schools are, I can speak to TCU specifically, where we have a lot of grandiose plans and create these wonderful proposals.
00:25:52
Speaker
buildings and facilities and really fill them up and make them with the most, the, some of the best residence halls there can be.
00:26:00
Speaker
But then we forget about, Hey, seven years from now, we've got to start replacing things.
00:26:04
Speaker
And 15 years after we build it, we got to start talking, see like all that kind of stuff.
00:26:09
Speaker
And,
00:26:10
Speaker
Really making sure that that's part of your plan.
00:26:12
Speaker
So not just what the physical thing is that you're PMing or replacing, but thinking about how much is this going to cost and what is inflation going to hit and how can I be prepared budgetarily so you can avoid that root canal that you can't afford.
00:26:26
Speaker
So for us, we kind of do a couple of things.
00:26:29
Speaker
A lot of what Miles has said about making sure that when we're doing install and project planning, capital improvement planning, that we're thinking about a new construction, we're thinking about the long term factors that go into it.
00:26:43
Speaker
Everything that Miles has just said.
00:26:44
Speaker
So I'm not going to.
00:26:46
Speaker
One of the things we've also asked that our technicians do is, you know, they're all certified.
00:26:51
Speaker
They all know what license they all know what they're doing.
00:26:54
Speaker
We asked them to really be involved in that decision making process and planning process as far as.
00:27:02
Speaker
when items are maintenance, when items are inspected with the, not just a cursory overview, but really getting into, into the equipment.
00:27:12
Speaker
That way they can then begin to document things because what we have found is that we lose a lot of knowledge when preventative maintenance is discussed.
00:27:22
Speaker
And so we want to make sure we document all of those things and
00:27:26
Speaker
And that just like Miles said, it's not ignored.
00:27:29
Speaker
And so if you tell us that next summer we've got to get XYZ, ABC done, that we pay attention to that and then factor that into our schedule or that over winter break or every week we need to be looking at a specific.
00:27:43
Speaker
a specific component that we're doing that.
00:27:46
Speaker
So we're not forgetting about that and trying to incorporate all of that into, I don't want to say a daily checklist of your job duties, but that it's at the forefront.
00:27:57
Speaker
So on top of responding to whatever work requests you're receiving, we're also incorporating preventative maintenance as a standard process that we do each day.
00:28:10
Speaker
So for me,
00:28:11
Speaker
I guess I was fortunate or maybe unfortunate, depending.
00:28:15
Speaker
When I took over this role, our PM plan was already in place.
00:28:20
Speaker
And so I inherited our plan or lack thereof, depending on how you look at it.
00:28:27
Speaker
We had all of these PMs that had been set up years ago in TMA, which is our work order system.
00:28:35
Speaker
And if it's a monthly thing, it will come out every month.
00:28:41
Speaker
that tells the technician, okay, here's what needs to be checked.
00:28:45
Speaker
And we treat that like any other work order.
00:28:48
Speaker
If it's an annual thing, it'll come out once a year.
00:28:51
Speaker
If it's a quarterly thing, it'll come up every quarter.
00:28:54
Speaker
Filters are quarterly.
00:28:56
Speaker
So they will get
00:28:58
Speaker
A work order that says, okay, it's filter time.
00:29:01
Speaker
Go ahead and get that going.
00:29:04
Speaker
So wait, does that kill them out?
00:29:06
Speaker
You've got 150 rooms that are generated in that quarter, like that week.
00:29:10
Speaker
Is it 150 work orders or is it a single work order with 150 rooms in it?
00:29:15
Speaker
It's a single work order, and it's by building.
00:29:19
Speaker
And so that building will get one work order that says it's filter time.
00:29:23
Speaker
And then, of course, we put all our material on that.
00:29:26
Speaker
So that one work order will have the material for, you know, if it has 400 rooms in it in that building, it'll have the material for 400 rooms.
00:29:36
Speaker
And then, of course, the labor, we keep track of that as well.
00:29:40
Speaker
And so we can tell how long it takes them to do it.
00:29:45
Speaker
I kind of alluded to earlier in one of the statements that I made about getting buy-in to your PM plan.
Challenges in Technician Engagement
00:29:53
Speaker
I don't know that we have that right now, if I'm being completely candid and truthful.
00:29:58
Speaker
I think our technicians don't enjoy doing it.
00:30:02
Speaker
And so it's kind of similar on the ResLife side.
00:30:06
Speaker
You know, you want to see that instant gratification.
00:30:10
Speaker
And when you're dealing with a crisis,
00:30:13
Speaker
you get to see that when you're just looking at equipment, it's not the shiny stuff.
00:30:19
Speaker
So it's not as motivating, even though it's as critical.
00:30:24
Speaker
And so I have found that a lot of our technicians, if you don't stay on them, those are the ones that, Oh, I'll get to that after I do everything else.
00:30:35
Speaker
And unfortunately days, sometimes weeks go by before they get to it.
00:30:42
Speaker
Now, we keep track of it because I said it's all in our work order system.
00:30:46
Speaker
So we know if it hasn't been closed out or what action or inaction has been made on that particular work order.
00:30:56
Speaker
So we can see what's going on.
00:30:58
Speaker
And we do have staff that watch that so that we stay on it.
00:31:02
Speaker
But it truly is a team effort just to keep people motivated to do it.
00:31:08
Speaker
Does anyone have any staff that like get up in the morning?
00:31:11
Speaker
Like, yes, I love PM.
00:31:14
Speaker
No.
00:31:16
Speaker
I think where TCU is a little bit different now for some of the housing facilities, we, we do a bunch of the PMs in house, but a bunch of the other facilities we contract out.
00:31:28
Speaker
And I think that's where we've been able to really succeed in that buy-in is getting everyone involved, being on the same page of,
00:31:35
Speaker
Just say you're giving someone a $100,000 contract to PM X pieces of equipment every year.
00:31:43
Speaker
And then they realize, well, I feel like I'm cheating y'all.
00:31:48
Speaker
One, if they're a good quality, loyal, and honest company.
00:31:51
Speaker
I feel like I'm cheating y'all because this is only $80,000 or so worth of work that I'm doing.
00:31:56
Speaker
I just made $20,000 off of y'all.
00:31:58
Speaker
That's perfect.
00:31:59
Speaker
I love it.
00:31:59
Speaker
I want you to be so motivated to keep things from breaking that you make that extra money because those things aren't broken anymore.
00:32:06
Speaker
And that's where we circle back to us adding monetary value to the fact that things are functioning correctly.
00:32:13
Speaker
And that we switched to that model in all of our dining contracts.
00:32:18
Speaker
And it's just been a complete 180 of how we've managed things.
00:32:22
Speaker
And it couldn't have gone
00:32:24
Speaker
better how do you now translate that that people aren't going to make extra money for doing that kind of work it's still it's still something that we uh we're learning to learning to do trying to get that motivated pushing those relationships in there is proven successful so far but still when it's not the fun stuff um it is hard after some recent career organizations and we got some new leadership in our
00:32:48
Speaker
physical plant and finding some of those pms and things that were getting checked off the list but then we were finding that just weren't happening because they weren't those fun shiny things and people got to find new places of employment things like that that changed the the mindset around it that this isn't just a boring part of your job like if you do this correctly the other parts of your job become a lot easier you don't have to come out at midnight because
00:33:14
Speaker
just these coils raise up or you don't have to do that.
00:33:16
Speaker
That's another thing.
00:33:17
Speaker
We, we struggle with overtime.
00:33:18
Speaker
It is very difficult for us to get a person here beyond normal work hours.
00:33:24
Speaker
I know some people live for overtime and that extra money, but if it doesn't happen between eight and five, it is, it is difficult to get things rolling.
Student Involvement in Maintenance
00:33:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:34
Speaker
The overtime that, that leads right into just like staffing resources and you know, how do you, how do you manage all that?
00:33:41
Speaker
And,
00:33:41
Speaker
I'm just curious, has anyone ever considered having like students help out with PMs in their apartment to save time, resources, like set up some sort of like, we're going to drop the air filter.
00:33:54
Speaker
I keep using air filter, the air filter off of your front door, install it.
00:33:58
Speaker
Here's how you do it.
00:33:59
Speaker
We do that during the summer, not to drop it off thing, but we have physical point and our teams hire a small army of student workers or have in the past, uh,
00:34:08
Speaker
Oh, so like you pay students, not like your residents, like, hey, we're going to empower you.
00:34:13
Speaker
No, that sounds awful.
00:34:15
Speaker
But it's life skill development here.
00:34:19
Speaker
I think there's an opportunity here.
00:34:21
Speaker
I've also seen students duct tape air filters to their ceiling because they double filter their air.
00:34:28
Speaker
No, no, no.
00:34:28
Speaker
That vent, that's the return.
00:34:31
Speaker
That's the vent of your dirty room dust up into there.
00:34:35
Speaker
You're filtering it before it gets to another filter.
00:34:38
Speaker
You're really confused how this is working, aren't you?
00:34:40
Speaker
Yep, good.
00:34:40
Speaker
You're gross.
00:34:41
Speaker
You need to clean your room.
00:34:42
Speaker
But Miles, that's just because they didn't have an educational moment with you teaching them how to properly do this.
00:34:48
Speaker
Like, there's a missed opportunity here.
00:34:50
Speaker
I just walked through the educational moment with you.
00:34:54
Speaker
Katie's shaking her head.
00:34:55
Speaker
Come on, Katie.
00:34:56
Speaker
I know you're all about this.
00:34:58
Speaker
No, I'm not, though.
00:35:01
Speaker
Built almost all of our spaces the last 15 years, except for a few other buildings.
00:35:06
Speaker
All of our spaces, we've went away from any type of mechanical access inside the suite itself.
00:35:13
Speaker
We've built access all beyond.
00:35:15
Speaker
So it should be I can hit these two four-bedroom units from one point.
00:35:19
Speaker
So we have built our mechanical rooms to make, you know, what is it, Frederick Taylor and really make that assembly line a lot quicker when they get in there and move through things.
00:35:29
Speaker
I think you should try that and let us know.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah, let us know.
00:35:34
Speaker
That's something that we could pilot at our schools.
00:35:37
Speaker
I just think, Drew, how many air filters do you have?
00:35:40
Speaker
Just ballpark, rough.
00:35:42
Speaker
Air filters?
00:35:43
Speaker
Oh, God.
00:35:44
Speaker
Probably one per room.
00:35:47
Speaker
But times how many rooms do you have on campus?
00:35:49
Speaker
Oh, gosh.
00:35:51
Speaker
We have probably about 4,500 rooms.
00:35:55
Speaker
4,500 rooms times one air filter each.
00:35:58
Speaker
How long does it take to change an air filter coming in and out?
00:36:01
Speaker
To actually change it about a minute and a half to move all the crap out of the way to get to where you change it, probably about 10 minutes.
00:36:10
Speaker
All right.
00:36:11
Speaker
The physical strain on the back from carrying the ladder.
00:36:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:16
Speaker
So that's 750 hours you all spend changing air filters.
00:36:21
Speaker
You empower students to do this for you.
00:36:25
Speaker
I just found you 750 hours for your maintenance tech.
00:36:28
Speaker
So you can thank me later.
00:36:29
Speaker
You can give them all a couple days off on me.
00:36:33
Speaker
But then how many hours do you spend checking to make sure they do it right?
00:36:37
Speaker
Exactly.
00:36:38
Speaker
Miles, don't worry about that.
00:36:40
Speaker
You let me worry about that.
00:36:44
Speaker
I will say, though, talking about the student interaction and all, there are some cases, especially in our engineering building, where the students do ask our technicians a lot of questions when they come into the room.
00:37:01
Speaker
And so there are learning opportunities that are not scheduled, they're not planned.
00:37:07
Speaker
They just happen because our person is in the room and somebody asks a question.
00:37:14
Speaker
And to watch a technician just light up is when a student asks about what they're doing.
00:37:22
Speaker
And so there are some teachable moments that do take place that are seldom
00:37:29
Speaker
known by anybody other than that student and that technician.
00:37:32
Speaker
And filters is one.
00:37:34
Speaker
Lock changes is another.
00:37:36
Speaker
When we go in and change a lock, they have lots of questions about how that process works.
00:37:42
Speaker
And it takes our locksmith about five seconds to change a lock.
00:37:48
Speaker
It takes them about 45 minutes to get prepared for that two second change.
00:37:55
Speaker
And so to talk about that process with the student is is is a kind of what you're getting at as far as that teaching them something.
00:38:05
Speaker
I think it does happen.
00:38:07
Speaker
Yeah, this is my soapbox.
00:38:08
Speaker
I think that, you know, we prepare students for lifelong learning and all these skills and relationship building.
00:38:15
Speaker
And then all of a sudden they move off the safety net of campus housing and living in their own place and they never change their air filter and they don't know what to do.
00:38:23
Speaker
Like, are we really setting them up for success post-graduation if they don't have a clue that they need to inspect certain things?
00:38:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:31
Speaker
I've taken some small victories of not necessarily with students, but we've been trying to do that with hall directors.
00:38:36
Speaker
Yes.
00:38:37
Speaker
We've really empowered the hall directors.
00:38:39
Speaker
If you see that maintenance technician...
00:38:42
Speaker
come in, ask him, what is he doing?
00:38:44
Speaker
Learn.
00:38:46
Speaker
I can relay the information to you, but there's no better place for you to be than be the biggest or the most best expert of your building more than anyone.
00:38:54
Speaker
You should be able to learn this place.
00:38:56
Speaker
Tell me what's going on, what's happening, learn the trends.
00:38:58
Speaker
I want to be able to ask you, hey, in two years, if you had to pick your two biggest projects for this space, I think I want it to be a very easy answer.
00:39:06
Speaker
I need to
00:39:07
Speaker
I need to replace all the shower panes because they're always leaking.
00:39:10
Speaker
And I want to do fresh air, stuff like that.
00:39:12
Speaker
And we're really pushing that.
00:39:14
Speaker
And I had this conversation the other day with someone about that lens of student affairs.
00:39:18
Speaker
And that's the whole reason I wrote it in my bio is that lens of student affairs, about how people actually use the buildings, how things are happening programmatically in residence halls, how students are programming, how students are living, how they're using
Changes in Residence Services
00:39:30
Speaker
study spaces.
00:39:30
Speaker
What are they doing?
00:39:31
Speaker
Like we just cut cable.
00:39:32
Speaker
We don't even have cable at TCU anymore because no one's using it.
00:39:35
Speaker
So why are we paying for cable jacks to be active when no one uses it?
00:39:39
Speaker
No one even knows what a coax cable is anymore.
00:39:44
Speaker
Like empowering the hall directors, like we talked about the bearings going out in a fan motor earlier, teaching that.
00:39:53
Speaker
hall director, residence director, whatever, what that sounds like, what that is, explaining what's happening, explaining why it takes a little bit longer than going in and tightening a screw.
00:40:01
Speaker
So when they facilitate that conversation with a parent or a student, they seem like the expert.
00:40:08
Speaker
And it is a trusted experience.
00:40:09
Speaker
It's a trusted story of this is what's occurring.
00:40:12
Speaker
It makes them seem more invested in the student experience.
00:40:15
Speaker
It makes them seem more believable.
00:40:18
Speaker
And it also makes it feel like they were heard.
00:40:19
Speaker
Like I went through the process of learning exactly what was happening.
00:40:22
Speaker
I can explain it.
00:40:24
Speaker
And this is, I know what I'm talking about.
00:40:25
Speaker
I didn't say, let me, let me check on that for you.
00:40:28
Speaker
And then not knowing.
00:40:32
Speaker
From a developmental aspect, I wonder, how do you have the conversation after something happened that we know the student could have prevented without it sounding like accusatory, you moron, if you had just said something 24 hours before,
00:40:50
Speaker
Because we had someone the other day that the person below reported that water was coming in above their kitchen.
00:40:57
Speaker
And we caught the guy running above, running out of his room.
00:41:00
Speaker
He's like, oh, yeah, I noticed my dishwasher was leaking two days ago.
00:41:04
Speaker
And I kept meaning to put in a work order.
00:41:06
Speaker
OK, well, if you had done it that day, we now wouldn't have five thousand dollars of damage or whatever.
00:41:12
Speaker
How do we how do you have that conversation with people without just being like you are so this is all your fault?
00:41:20
Speaker
Depends what role you're expected to play in the office.
00:41:22
Speaker
Because the first example you gave was more than likely my role, but maybe the more the res life side would be educational.
00:41:30
Speaker
Like, hey, here's why you take that seriously.
00:41:33
Speaker
And maybe when you have your house off campus someday, this could have been prevented.
00:41:37
Speaker
But that's a hard one.
00:41:39
Speaker
It is because you go in it with an emotional response of, you just created a lot of work for us because you didn't take 30 seconds out of your day to give us the information that would have helped you.
00:41:50
Speaker
the eight people below you as well.
00:41:53
Speaker
Or you just give them the bill.
00:41:58
Speaker
So I think for us, all of the things that Miles and Drew have said, because sometimes handing them that, that invoice or that damage charges, that's enough.
00:42:07
Speaker
But what we also, what we have done at same Houston is we talked to our hall staff about why it is so important and
00:42:16
Speaker
And then they will relate to students as they're teaching them how to do online maintenance requests, because fortunately our students can do that on their own.
Training and Reporting Maintenance Issues
00:42:25
Speaker
Why it is so important to report things that include water, smoke, burning smells, or exposed wires.
00:42:33
Speaker
Like those are the kind of the four things and locks not working.
00:42:36
Speaker
Those are kind of the things that we focus on.
00:42:38
Speaker
And so if you don't do anything else, just call someone and report it.
00:42:43
Speaker
And so we try to impart and we show pictures and give examples.
00:42:47
Speaker
But definitely it's hard.
00:42:51
Speaker
I think it's really hard not to do the you moron.
00:42:54
Speaker
What were you thinking?
00:42:56
Speaker
But I think that we also have to remember we know what the ramifications are because we've done it.
00:43:01
Speaker
We've seen it.
00:43:02
Speaker
We've repaired it.
00:43:04
Speaker
They don't get it.
00:43:05
Speaker
I don't know that people always realize how much damage water can cause or smoke can cause.
00:43:11
Speaker
They don't understand.
00:43:13
Speaker
We like to show a lot of videos down here in Huntsville.
00:43:17
Speaker
We like to show when things flood and fire.
00:43:21
Speaker
And that visual tends to also sit really well with people.
00:43:25
Speaker
That's more specifically our staff, but they're welcome to pass those videos on to anybody that they think might need that education as well.
00:43:33
Speaker
So as we talk about educating people on successfully interacting with facility staff and facilities issues, what's one piece of actionable advice for non-facilities housing employees to help out maintenance in their day-to-day work with students?
00:43:47
Speaker
To me, what comes to mind quickly is, you know, get out from behind your desk and walk your building with your maintenance person and talk to them as you're walking the building and
00:44:02
Speaker
and see what the maintenance person sees.
00:44:05
Speaker
And then the maintenance person sees what the staff member sees.
00:44:10
Speaker
It could be an hour of your day, but can really be eye opening to why things are the way they are, particularly this time of year when you're new to a building, you know, get, you know,
00:44:25
Speaker
That maintenance person has a lot more history of that building than you do in most cases.
00:44:30
Speaker
Talk to them.
00:44:32
Speaker
Start with, hey, how are you?
00:44:34
Speaker
I'm new here or I'm new to the building.
00:44:37
Speaker
What do you know about it?
00:44:38
Speaker
What are some of the common nuances of this building?
00:44:42
Speaker
And, you know, what have you seen work or not work?
00:44:46
Speaker
Some of those things are just that's the relationship building piece.
00:44:50
Speaker
that I think I have noticed ResLife, they like to talk to students.
00:44:57
Speaker
I think it's because they have that power dynamic, but they're afraid to talk to an adult.
00:45:06
Speaker
And so it's like, you know, almost like how do you have a conversation?
00:45:11
Speaker
Like just, you know, I mean, they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you.
00:45:17
Speaker
Wait, that's how you do it?
00:45:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:21
Speaker
I think a couple of things jump into my mind.
00:45:23
Speaker
Obviously, exactly everything we just said.
00:45:26
Speaker
I think there is a piece of someone's coming to fix something.
00:45:30
Speaker
People automatically think they're coming in defensive.
00:45:33
Speaker
Like, ah, someone broke something.
00:45:34
Speaker
I need to fix it.
00:45:34
Speaker
Nope.
00:45:35
Speaker
You're here to do a hall director dealing with conduct cases, dealing with roommate conflicts.
00:45:39
Speaker
Someone who's an HVAC technician in residence hall, guess what they're there to do?
00:45:42
Speaker
Fix HVAC items.
00:45:44
Speaker
It's a good job.
00:45:46
Speaker
And they're an expert in that.
00:45:48
Speaker
So talk to them about it.
00:45:49
Speaker
Get to know them.
00:45:49
Speaker
Beyond that, I think one of the things that jumps into my mind more than anything is go put eyes on things.
00:45:55
Speaker
Like if you're getting a duty call or your RAs are telling you this or you're putting in a work order because it came in after hours and
00:46:03
Speaker
It doesn't make sense.
00:46:05
Speaker
Don't just send it on the way for someone else to make sense of it.
00:46:08
Speaker
Figure it out.
00:46:08
Speaker
Like again, that's, that's your community.
00:46:11
Speaker
You're supposed to be the expert of that.
00:46:14
Speaker
So you see if you can figure out, Oh, there's a leak coming from the second floor of the first floor.
00:46:18
Speaker
And all they did was put in a leak.
00:46:19
Speaker
So instead of putting the leak, did you maybe go knock and look at the room above it to see if something's running or something's leaking.
00:46:25
Speaker
And the idea of a,
00:46:28
Speaker
being able to correctly explain, we all, we all use this in housing.
00:46:31
Speaker
Like don't call in and use the word flood.
00:46:33
Speaker
If it's, if it's not rolling down the stairwell, it's not a flood because someone opened the washing machine a little too early.
00:46:40
Speaker
And now we send six housekeepers and two plumbers to find that someone already cleaned it up with a towel.
00:46:46
Speaker
That's the kind of stuff that I, yeah, you see, you're all laughing because it happens.
00:46:50
Speaker
Um,
00:46:51
Speaker
But that kind of thing is just put your eyes on it.
00:46:54
Speaker
Learn.
00:46:54
Speaker
Be the best resource for who's going to come fix it.
00:46:58
Speaker
So if they know exactly – if they give so much detail, they know exactly what they're coming to fix.
00:47:04
Speaker
So they can grab parts.
00:47:05
Speaker
They can grab tools.
00:47:06
Speaker
And the right trade shows up.
00:47:08
Speaker
If you say, hey, there's this big leak coming.
00:47:11
Speaker
But if you would have spent a few minutes realizing that it's a frozen coil, that's a completely different call out.
00:47:17
Speaker
I mean they sent a plumber when they really need to be sending an HVAC person.
00:47:21
Speaker
Those are the things that aren't difficult to learn, but I think we are dealing with professionals who facilities intimidate them because they don't want to get it wrong.
Respect and Recognition in Maintenance Roles
00:47:31
Speaker
And it's scary because people go through higher education and you think about your traditional res life person, me included.
00:47:38
Speaker
I mean, I grew up in a blue collar world, so I felt like I knew more about it.
00:47:41
Speaker
That's what my parents did and such, but...
00:47:45
Speaker
they're the blue collar piece intimidates them of like, this is a trade.
00:47:49
Speaker
This is a functional thing.
00:47:50
Speaker
I don't know if I'm, that's not my skillset.
00:47:53
Speaker
It's not difficult to identify it.
00:47:55
Speaker
Now I'm not going to trust you to fix it, but I think that's, that's, that's a connect that we could really put together with hall directors and RAs of, of being, being the experts of their community.
00:48:06
Speaker
So I would echo all of the things that drew and miles have said,
00:48:11
Speaker
definitely putting eyes on it.
00:48:12
Speaker
That's one of the things we talk to our staff about in training is you always need to put eyes on it and probably take a picture and a video.
00:48:21
Speaker
We've all got smartphones.
00:48:22
Speaker
So why not just go ahead and send that info over to the technician?
00:48:26
Speaker
So we definitely talk about that.
00:48:28
Speaker
One thing that I also, because like Miles, I grew up with blue collar parents and I always really impart with our staff that
00:48:40
Speaker
just like they want to be talked to and treated in a respectful way, that we do that with everybody.
00:48:46
Speaker
So I don't care if you're the housekeeper or the custodian, whatever you call it, your school, or you're the president, that everybody deserves the same amount of respect and to have conversations with them and get to know them.
00:48:57
Speaker
Because sometimes we have found that our staff are like, oh, it's a plumber, it's an HVAC.
00:49:04
Speaker
Let them cut your AC off and see what happens, honey.
00:49:07
Speaker
Like, right?
00:49:08
Speaker
Like they would never do that.
00:49:10
Speaker
But be respectful of the fact that air and water mean a lot to people.
00:49:16
Speaker
And we want to make sure.
00:49:18
Speaker
that those that are taking care of us are also taking care of in a respectful way and that you get to know them because you probably got a lot more in common than you may realize.
00:49:29
Speaker
And I think that relationship building and having an understanding that no one is better, we all just, we just have different jobs and no job is anyone better, any better than the other one.
00:49:40
Speaker
It's just different.
00:49:41
Speaker
And it takes all those pieces to make this work because if any one of us drop out,
00:49:47
Speaker
it's not going to work.
00:49:49
Speaker
No secret that, I mean, most trades people aren't working at a university to make great money.
00:49:55
Speaker
Correct.
00:49:55
Speaker
Private sector, especially in the current market and work way more.
00:49:58
Speaker
They love it.
00:49:59
Speaker
They love where they work.
00:50:00
Speaker
Usually the ones that are successful and create those relationships.
00:50:03
Speaker
They're there.
00:50:04
Speaker
A lot of, I can speak for TCU a lot of the times, or maybe that motivation, maybe I get to put a kid through school because of a benefit or something like that.
00:50:14
Speaker
I think, yeah.
00:50:16
Speaker
Those people keep the buildings going.
00:50:19
Speaker
See, there's an alarm going off.
00:50:21
Speaker
Someone's getting called out.
00:50:22
Speaker
Sorry.
00:50:23
Speaker
No, we had an emergency alert.
00:50:26
Speaker
Blood.
00:50:27
Speaker
Oh, my.
00:50:28
Speaker
It's like the longest one I've ever seen.
00:50:30
Speaker
I mean, and I've got three cell phones, so I'm so sorry.
00:50:34
Speaker
I was going to say, I think that that's a misconception because they're working on your toilet or they wear a shirt with their name on it.
00:50:40
Speaker
Like they're lesser.
00:50:41
Speaker
Nope.
00:50:42
Speaker
Those people keep it moving, man.
00:50:45
Speaker
I think that's someone's view.
00:50:49
Speaker
It's definitely wrong, especially in our industry.
00:50:54
Speaker
Well, I think the other thing that people in specifically ResLife, you know, they wouldn't want anyone criticizing their master's degree.
00:51:04
Speaker
that they've had.
00:51:05
Speaker
And unless they've ever been through a trade school, they have no concept of how difficult it is to get a license.
00:51:15
Speaker
maintain that license.
00:51:17
Speaker
You get your master's degree and you're done.
00:51:21
Speaker
But when you have a license, every year you have to continue to get continuing education units and to maintain it or you lose it.
00:51:30
Speaker
And so it's continuing education for a reason.
00:51:34
Speaker
They're educated too.
00:51:35
Speaker
It's just a different type.
00:51:37
Speaker
And a lot of staff don't realize that.
00:51:40
Speaker
I've been doing some home renovations and I have a PhD in trying to read an electrical code and make heads and tails out of that.
00:51:48
Speaker
Like I can't even begin to have the expertise to do that.
00:51:52
Speaker
And I think that's such a valuable point.
00:51:55
Speaker
I was told the story once, it was specifically about a maintenance person.
00:51:59
Speaker
Long story short is like people really don't care how much you know, but they know how much you care.
00:52:05
Speaker
And I think that's a perfect illustration of like acknowledging and recognizing and talk to the trades and the housekeepers by name and acknowledging like, I mean, it goes back to the whole point of like, people don't care how much I know, but they know how much I care.
00:52:20
Speaker
And that stuff like translates very easily.
00:52:22
Speaker
Miles, going back to your point about getting the right information, getting eyes on things.
00:52:27
Speaker
I think so often it's easy from like, and it's probably well-intentioned, like I'm doing my part.
00:52:33
Speaker
I'm passing on this emergency as fast as possible to the people who are the experts.
00:52:38
Speaker
And so I've done my part.
00:52:39
Speaker
I passed it on.
00:52:40
Speaker
Whereas like even just another minute of getting eyes is going to provide the additional context where when you pass it on two minutes later, three minutes later, it's a whole lot more helpful that you actually save 30 minutes an hour because, oh, like you said, that we sent the plumber when it should have been the AC person that I think it's well-intentioned, but, you know, getting a little bit more information sometimes saves your staffing resources.
00:53:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:53:06
Speaker
I will say one of the things that we tell our it's our hall director staff, especially for after hours, because we do have somebody on call like they have to come out.
00:53:15
Speaker
I said, if you mess that up because you do kind of like what Miles said, right?
00:53:19
Speaker
It's a flood, but it's that much water.
00:53:22
Speaker
That technician has every right to rip you up one side and down the other because you didn't do your job.
00:53:28
Speaker
And the first time it happens and they realize how serious we are, they don't do it again.
00:53:33
Speaker
And I tell them it's not because people want to be ugly, but just like you don't want to be woken up at two in the morning for a flood that's.
00:53:40
Speaker
that big, that much water because I spilled this, right?
00:53:43
Speaker
I spilled this water bottle.
00:53:45
Speaker
They don't want to be woken up either.
00:53:47
Speaker
So we try to make light of it, make it fun and ha ha ha.
00:53:51
Speaker
But then some of them have some stories that they will relay after training and just to make sure everybody's just, you know, on their game and doing their part and following the processes.
00:54:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:03
Speaker
Well, I think it's amazing what we all have within ourselves to actually solve problems.
00:54:08
Speaker
And life really is all just solving one problem
Home Maintenance Tips
00:54:11
Speaker
after another.
00:54:11
Speaker
And when you put eyes on something, sometimes you can actually resolve it yourself.
00:54:16
Speaker
And you don't, I think it was Drew or Katie, someone mentioned like...
00:54:20
Speaker
If you don't need to call someone out, we don't.
00:54:21
Speaker
And I once served on our coordinator level, like operations on call.
00:54:27
Speaker
And I got a call from someone about security at a door.
00:54:30
Speaker
And I went down there, like an exterior door.
00:54:32
Speaker
It wasn't locking.
00:54:33
Speaker
It wasn't latching.
00:54:34
Speaker
I went down there, opened and shut the door.
00:54:36
Speaker
Like the strike plate was missing.
00:54:40
Speaker
And I was like, well, I could call someone out to do this, but I bet I can find a strike plate on an interior door somewhere that's not.
00:54:47
Speaker
And went and swapped it out real fast.
00:54:49
Speaker
I didn't, nobody gave me permission.
00:54:51
Speaker
I figured it was going to be okay.
00:54:52
Speaker
I could rationalize it, but I just saved a half hour drive for someone coming in.
00:54:57
Speaker
Plus,
00:54:58
Speaker
15 minutes of 10 minute job and then a half hour driving back of like, well, that person got an extra hour sleep at midnight and whatever the overtime pay rate time and a half is.
00:55:08
Speaker
I also felt a sense of satisfaction of something I did that helped it out.
00:55:15
Speaker
Okay, so let's put this all into action and think about wherever people live, what kind of like base preventive maintenance plan can people put in their homes to like just build good habits and start putting in this knowledge into action?
00:55:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:30
Speaker
I think the one that we've talked about a lot is air conditioning, plumbing, things like that.
00:55:34
Speaker
I've learned that quickly in my own home with like a secondary condensate line started dripping.
00:55:39
Speaker
I was like, it's a secondary line.
00:55:42
Speaker
So I had to learn about why is my second, like, why is my condensate backup line?
00:55:48
Speaker
Having water gusts for it, great.
00:55:49
Speaker
The first one's clogged.
00:55:50
Speaker
Keeping your condensate line clean.
00:55:52
Speaker
Had to learn in my house where to clear that line, those kind of things.
00:55:55
Speaker
But you pay someone $100 a year, they come out and do it all for you.
00:55:58
Speaker
Bleach your lines, check your coolant, wash your air conditioning.
00:56:01
Speaker
All those things that I wish... I think it was Katie that said this earlier.
00:56:06
Speaker
It seems expensive right then.
00:56:08
Speaker
You feel like you're paying someone a lot of money
00:56:10
Speaker
to not receive something because there's not that immediacy of response of what I receive.
00:56:15
Speaker
But that day your air conditioner goes out and it's 106 outside.
00:56:18
Speaker
I promise you the $100 or whatever it was seems like pennies compared to the experience that you're having.
00:56:26
Speaker
Those are the things that we do in our personal home.
00:56:29
Speaker
We run protection on our
00:56:32
Speaker
air conditioners.
00:56:33
Speaker
And I think automating everything, this may be the younger generation in me.
00:56:39
Speaker
Like I automatically have air filters shipped to my house every three months.
00:56:42
Speaker
They show up, I'm like, oh, I need to remember to do that.
00:56:45
Speaker
Cool.
00:56:45
Speaker
Put those in, things like that, that you can easily, easily forget if you don't just automate the important
00:56:55
Speaker
So I would say two things.
00:56:57
Speaker
Don't ignore whatever warning or reminders you get.
00:57:01
Speaker
So your ACE or not your AC, your fridge filter, you know, and that if you, depending on your fridge, you get that light filter needs to be changed.
00:57:08
Speaker
Don't ignore those.
00:57:10
Speaker
Right.
00:57:10
Speaker
Don't ignore those because I think a lot of times people do.
00:57:14
Speaker
And that's just gross.
00:57:16
Speaker
Sometimes it's just gross.
00:57:18
Speaker
Um, yeah.
00:57:19
Speaker
Well, it's not even just gross.
00:57:20
Speaker
Like you may not care.
00:57:21
Speaker
I don't care about filtered water, but eventually the filter is going to be so clogged that it's going to stop pushing water through.
00:57:28
Speaker
And if it's pushing water through, not there, it's going to be somewhere else.
00:57:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:34
Speaker
Well, and I swear it tastes different and it's funky.
00:57:37
Speaker
Things are just funky.
00:57:39
Speaker
But the other thing that I would say, so I do a lot of work with our custodial contractor.
00:57:45
Speaker
And again, so we consider that part of our preventative maintenance plan because if they keep it clean, things don't wear out.
00:57:52
Speaker
We don't replace furniture and carpet as often.
00:57:55
Speaker
So please clean.
00:57:56
Speaker
And I don't and I'm not talking about what I consider clean versus you considering clean.
00:58:01
Speaker
I mean, just keeping things like around your AC unit clean, keeping if you're blocking, if you have window units, don't block those.
00:58:10
Speaker
Keep things cleared away.
00:58:12
Speaker
Keep things tidy, because I do think that that can also help in your own home.
00:58:19
Speaker
If you're vacuuming on a regular basis, things like that, you don't see that, you know, walking trail, moving your furniture, wiping down the walls, then you don't have the outline of the furniture because it's been sitting up against a wall for, you know, 20 years, which I know some people are like, but you once again here, you can pay a housekeeper or a cleaning company to come in if you don't like to do it.
00:58:41
Speaker
And so I think sometimes people forget how how much cleanliness and disinfectant can also help maintain.
00:58:49
Speaker
Couple of things that came to mind in listening to both Katie and Miles.
00:58:54
Speaker
If you have a fireplace in your house to make sure that you clean your fireplace and preferably by a professional who knows what they're doing, because the consequence of that is you may not have a house because your house could catch on fire if you don't clean it and then you try to light it.
00:59:14
Speaker
Clean your dishwasher because a dirty dishwasher
00:59:18
Speaker
will create dirty dishes.
00:59:21
Speaker
You know, lawn care, you don't want to be that house on the neighborhood that doesn't take care of your weeds.
00:59:27
Speaker
So simple things like that.
00:59:29
Speaker
Pray for bugs.
00:59:31
Speaker
If you don't want to do it, you can pay a company to come do it.
00:59:35
Speaker
But the bottom line is the more preventative maintenance that you do at your house, you will lower your utility costs.
00:59:46
Speaker
And in some cases,
00:59:49
Speaker
you know, you may end up breaking even.
00:59:52
Speaker
And so it's not just shelling out money for the sake of shelling money or that you're lazy.
00:59:59
Speaker
It's, you know, you can win in other ways in other areas of your finances if you take care of your stuff and your appliances will last longer.
01:00:11
Speaker
So, you know, that filter that you're talking about for your fridge, it's not just the water tastes nasty.
01:00:18
Speaker
It's your fridge will break down over time if you don't change the filter.
01:00:23
Speaker
Check for lint in your dryer.
01:00:27
Speaker
I do it after every use.
01:00:28
Speaker
Why?
01:00:29
Speaker
Because it's more economical.
01:00:32
Speaker
I'm more efficient, so less energy is used.
01:00:35
Speaker
So my energy electric bill is lower and I don't have the risk of a fire because lint burns.
01:00:43
Speaker
I think it's very important that you do it, that you take the time.
01:00:48
Speaker
If you appreciate your house, especially if you own your house, if you're renting, then the incentive for you is lowering your utility bills.
01:00:56
Speaker
And building good habits, lifelong habits.
01:01:00
Speaker
Yes.
01:01:01
Speaker
Drew, you mentioned like PM for pests.
01:01:03
Speaker
And actually just last night we had our quarterly pest control come out and do the preventative maintenance spray all throughout.
01:01:10
Speaker
And it's, I mean, it's been just huge.
01:01:12
Speaker
And that automation piece is so great.
01:01:15
Speaker
I think about even if you're in an apartment, sometimes it's like, well, your apartment complex should be doing this.
01:01:21
Speaker
Just like, hopefully we're doing this for all of our people leasing and living with us.
01:01:25
Speaker
But, you know,
01:01:26
Speaker
Oh, you notice my air filters haven't been changed in a while.
01:01:29
Speaker
It's like, you know, once a month, I had a list of things I went down that included and some of it was like just trying to build a good habit because I knew I was going to be buying a house eventually.
01:01:38
Speaker
And it was like checking, replacing air filters.
01:01:40
Speaker
It was like cleaning the aerators on the sinks and the showers, the shower heads that build up calcium and
01:01:48
Speaker
Just a little laundry list of things.
01:01:49
Speaker
It was just like, okay, I'm going to have a little really productive day and do all these little five-minute jobs.
01:01:54
Speaker
The cleaning one jogged my memory.
01:01:57
Speaker
We had black grout in the shower, and my wife and I were having this big discussion.
01:02:02
Speaker
It was like nobody wanted to clean it.
01:02:05
Speaker
It wasn't disgusting, but it was like we had neglected it a little bit.
01:02:08
Speaker
And I was like, okay, we're going to get this done and let's just leave a scrubber in the shower.
01:02:13
Speaker
And every shower I take, I'm just going to scrub one area for like 45 seconds.
01:02:17
Speaker
The constant maintenance of the shower is going to eliminate this extra elbow grease needed.
01:02:22
Speaker
So I really think about them as like good habit forming.
01:02:27
Speaker
Oh, that reminds me.
01:02:28
Speaker
Something that is really key is if you have missing grout, fix it.
01:02:35
Speaker
If you, on the outside of your house, if you have brick,
01:02:39
Speaker
and you're missing mortar, fix that.
01:02:42
Speaker
Because if you don't, that can impact your foundation.
01:02:47
Speaker
It can impact, you know, you can end up with water inside of your house, which then creates mold.
01:02:54
Speaker
And you don't, I mean, you can really destroy a house if you neglect it.
01:02:58
Speaker
And it's those little things.
01:03:02
Speaker
It really is.
01:03:03
Speaker
I treat it all like insurance policies.
01:03:05
Speaker
We all pay a whole bunch of money for insurance, and it's just in case.
01:03:10
Speaker
And it's the same way with preventative maintenance on your home or whatever.
01:03:12
Speaker
You're putting funds towards something and protecting it, hoping to keep something worse from happening.
01:03:19
Speaker
That's all it is.
01:03:21
Speaker
And people attack it differently.
01:03:22
Speaker
They're just going to save money and fix whatever that huge problem is.
01:03:25
Speaker
That just sounds like a nightmare to me.
01:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
01:03:28
Speaker
And it's like a mastery of your domain.
01:03:30
Speaker
It's like, this is my space.
01:03:31
Speaker
It's a whole lot.
01:03:33
Speaker
You're a whole lot more interesting person if you know some of these nuts and bolts or like you feel like you've done a little bit more of like, yeah, this really is my domicile or this is my house.
01:03:44
Speaker
All right.
01:03:45
Speaker
So any last minute closing thoughts about preventative maintenance?
01:03:50
Speaker
Not about preventative maintenance per se, but with the conversation I've had with a couple rising student affairs professionals is I think this trend of having student affairs professionals transition into facilities is something that's important that continues to occur of having that lens of
01:04:07
Speaker
what's actually occurring in our spaces.
Career Trends in Facilities Roles
01:04:10
Speaker
And I think it's been very beneficial for a lot of different campuses that I've especially seen in Swakugo.
01:04:15
Speaker
So I feel like if there's anyone in your world, in your departments, your divisions, that spark an interest, take them, get them interested.
01:04:25
Speaker
We created a facilities collateral for our hall directors this year.
01:04:29
Speaker
So I get to work with a hall director and he is just pumped.
01:04:33
Speaker
I'm really excited to get to work with him.
01:04:35
Speaker
And who knows, maybe it turns into he's the next assistant director of facilities at TCU or something like that.
01:04:41
Speaker
Who knows?
01:04:42
Speaker
I'm very excited to see that trend of mixing the blue-collar world and the student affairs world with people that understand both.
01:04:50
Speaker
That's great.
01:04:52
Speaker
So, Katie, before we close, maintenance positions have historically been disproportionately filled by males.
01:04:59
Speaker
What's been your experience serving in a leadership role as a female?
01:05:03
Speaker
So I've had a few that span across, I guess, a breadth of possibilities.
01:05:10
Speaker
So there are some environments where I am the little girl at the table with all the uncles and the dads, and there is absolutely no raised voices.
01:05:23
Speaker
There is no foul language.
01:05:25
Speaker
Everyone is very polite.
01:05:27
Speaker
And then as soon as I am out of earshot, the real conversation starts.
01:05:31
Speaker
And it goes from that all the way to coming into a group with folks like you, Andrew, and Miles, where I'm talked to as an equal.
01:05:41
Speaker
And it's very much appreciated and able to ask questions or give examples and not feel discounted.
01:05:50
Speaker
And so I think it's just really important that you know or recognize where you're at and what environment you're sitting in so that you can respond well.
01:06:01
Speaker
in whatever way is comfortable for you as a woman.
01:06:05
Speaker
And there's no right or wrong way of seeing different women also in facilities go ahead and just start locking horns with folks and maybe acting in the more male manner, which I have done, but I let people get to know me a little bit before.
01:06:22
Speaker
I'll say this, it's kind of to know your place, but I don't know that it's just about being a woman in facilities.
01:06:28
Speaker
That's just any time, right?
01:06:30
Speaker
So just knowing that when it's appropriate to speak up and making sure that you're confident in what you're saying and that you're able to articulate your thoughts and opinions and and just be.
01:06:42
Speaker
being comfortable being yourself without feeling like you've got to cater to others.
01:06:48
Speaker
But then again, I keep saying the same thing, recognizing your environment, because without acknowledging where you're at, you won't be able to respond appropriately.
01:06:59
Speaker
I will say at this point, because of the relationship building I have done that we continue to talk about, the little girl at the table doesn't seem to be the case very often.
01:07:09
Speaker
And if that starts to happen, those that know me
01:07:12
Speaker
make sure I am brought into the conversation.
01:07:14
Speaker
So to create allyship in that way has been fortunate because I've been here for a while.
01:07:21
Speaker
I don't know what that would look like if I were to go to another institution where they weren't familiar with me, but here it's been, it's been a little bit of a trip and a journey, but it's been a good one because I can also roll with the boys very, very well.
01:07:37
Speaker
Cause I grew up with all male cousins.
01:07:38
Speaker
So rough and tumble is fine.
01:07:41
Speaker
But I don't know that people always expect that because there are still very much those stereotypes, especially in Southeast Texas, of what a lady should be.
01:07:51
Speaker
And that's applied to all women, no matter how you present yourself.
01:07:56
Speaker
Take that and edit it as you see fit, JC.
01:08:00
Speaker
I don't know if I have the skills to edit very well, but no, I appreciate you sharing that.
01:08:04
Speaker
Like anything else, like consider somebody who is not male thinking about moving over to facilities.
01:08:10
Speaker
Like what would you, what's a piece of advice for you and like how they go about that?
01:08:16
Speaker
So my recommendation would be to, if you don't have any facilities background to study up a little bit, because sometimes that can be a hindrance if you're not
01:08:29
Speaker
Well, I don't want to say 100% if you don't have some basics.
01:08:33
Speaker
But I would start to just make connections with people because I don't know that you can change someone's perspective about yourself until you make that connection and just be okay understanding that not everyone will think it's a woman's place to be in facilities outside of a secretary role.
01:08:54
Speaker
And I'm going to say secretary because it's not an admin.
01:08:57
Speaker
It's a secretary typically.
01:08:59
Speaker
But that also you've got to just make sure you continue to maintain your composure and exhibit self-confidence, because if you don't do that, that that could just make it even more difficult.
01:09:15
Speaker
And to find other women in facilities that can help that you can network with and mentor.
01:09:20
Speaker
And I think it's hard because depending on where you're at, there may be a heavy population of women in facilities or operations.
01:09:29
Speaker
And but they're at our institution.
01:09:31
Speaker
There is not.
01:09:32
Speaker
There's like three of us.
01:09:33
Speaker
And so it's just finding those connections as well.
01:09:38
Speaker
Good.
01:09:38
Speaker
That's great.
01:09:39
Speaker
Well, thank you for sharing.
01:09:40
Speaker
One last question for everyone before we wrap up that I just thought of, just because I'm looking around my desk.
01:09:45
Speaker
As we think about facilities and maintenance staff, what is something random that is like on your desk that wouldn't be on anybody else's outside of facilities desk?
Unique Work Environment Items
01:09:57
Speaker
Can it be on my bookshelf?
01:09:58
Speaker
That's fine.
01:09:59
Speaker
Yes.
01:10:01
Speaker
Katie, this is a podcast, not a video cast.
01:10:04
Speaker
I don't know why you're...
01:10:07
Speaker
Hold on, I gotta find it though.
01:10:09
Speaker
Y'all are gonna have to see it.
01:10:10
Speaker
Sorry people on the podcast, they have video.
01:10:15
Speaker
It's a sprinkler head.
01:10:18
Speaker
It's a pipe and it says, can you read it?
01:10:20
Speaker
Sprinkler queen.
01:10:22
Speaker
I also have a plunger behind my desk.
01:10:25
Speaker
There we go.
01:10:26
Speaker
It has my name on it.
01:10:31
Speaker
Two things come to mind for me is infrared tip gun.
01:10:37
Speaker
kids complaining about how hot their room is in Texas and it's just because they're not used to Texas and I go in and say, nope, you're 56 degrees, sorry, we're not going to let you turn your 80 to 60 degrees.
01:10:47
Speaker
And one of our work bands, I realized that we have coil scrapers in every vehicle we have.
01:10:53
Speaker
We have tip-down in every vehicle and coil scrapers.
01:10:58
Speaker
I got the hard hat and the vest.
01:11:01
Speaker
Yeah.
01:11:06
Speaker
All right.
01:11:07
Speaker
Well, appreciate
Appreciation for Maintenance Staff
01:11:09
Speaker
everyone.
01:11:09
Speaker
I want to thank Drew, Katie, and Miles for joining us today and spending some time exploring the wild world of housing maintenance.
01:11:17
Speaker
If anyone fully appreciates the value and scarcity of time, it's maintenance crews.
01:11:21
Speaker
So I can't thank our guests today enough for investing their time in this podcast.
01:11:26
Speaker
Be sure to reach out to our guests and thank them.
01:11:29
Speaker
As a personal challenge to listeners out there, and as was reiterated several times throughout, make it a point to recognize and acknowledge the unsung heroes in campus housing.
01:11:40
Speaker
Those would be your maintenance techs and housekeepers.
01:11:43
Speaker
These are physically and mentally demanding jobs, and they have been physically present on the front lines day in and day out throughout the entire pandemic.
01:11:51
Speaker
Remember the early days of the pandemic when the world shut down, most people were working remotely and everyone was scared?
01:11:57
Speaker
Your maintenance techs and housekeeping staff were still present in person learning to navigate the unknown.
01:12:03
Speaker
Be sure to acknowledge and appreciate them for their ongoing critical service.
01:12:09
Speaker
This was our first feature topic.
01:12:11
Speaker
Be on the lookout for more deep dives into topical areas related to campus housing and housing
Episode Wrap-up and Listener Engagement
01:12:16
Speaker
staff.
01:12:16
Speaker
If you have an idea for a feature topic, send me a quick message.
01:12:21
Speaker
Let me know your number one takeaway from this episode by replying on the Swakuho social media podcast posts.
01:12:27
Speaker
I welcome any feedback about the quality and content of the show via Swakuho podcast at gmail.com.
01:12:35
Speaker
Are you having a professional conundrum and don't know what to do?
01:12:39
Speaker
Do you need some professional advice navigating a situation in the workplace or the job search?
01:12:44
Speaker
The podcast now has a form in the show notes where you can anonymously ask for professional advice.
01:12:50
Speaker
Once we have a handful of questions, I'll pull together a panel to provide their take on your situation and give recommendations.
01:12:58
Speaker
Consider it like Ann Landers, but for housing professionals.
01:13:02
Speaker
Given that this is a monthly podcast, seeking advice about a job interview you have next week probably won't help you in a timely manner, but it may help others later on who encounter a similar situation.
01:13:14
Speaker
I hope you join us next time on the Swakuho podcast.
01:13:17
Speaker
With that, I say to you, good day.