Facilities Management Department keeps the campus running behind the scenes

By Walter Ryce

The Facilities Management Department provides planning, design, construction, maintenance and repair for more than 80 buildings and structures across the university’s 1,727 acres. The department typically receives 12,000 - 15,000 work requests a year. 

Of those, maintenance issues that affect fire, safety and health are given priority. Recently, that included upgrades to a fire alarm system, installing a backflow preventer to keep water clean, and preventive maintenance on high voltage equipment. 

Despite the thousands of tasks and projects, the work may go unnoticed because, according to Facilities Management project supervisor Tony Cabeca, the department tries to be almost invisible. The work may be done behind walls, under buildings, on the roof, in utility closets, or it may happen after hours or on weekends and school breaks. 

Just this past summer, Facilities Management completed a number of such projects that students and employees may not be aware of but that may improve their day-to-day experience. 

Julie Wryrick, the Facilities director of campus planning and development, said that the biggest summer project was replacing the HVAC and fire alarm systems in the Chapman Science Academic Center.

“This required coordinated efforts between Facilities staff, outside contractors, and academic staff to maintain a fire watch for the building while the fire alarm system was down,” Wyrick said. That allowed faculty and graduate researchers to continue tests and experiments uninterrupted. 

Another big project with big impact was moving the Basic Needs operation – which helps with food, money, housing and clothing needs for students –  from its previous 800-square-foot space into a 1,100-square-foot space in the Building 12 Student Center, increasing the program’s visibility as well as its size. 

The walls were painted, new shelving installed and office spaces reconfigured to create a more accessible and inviting space. The move happened just in time, as the need and use of the service has continued to grow. 

There are countless other projects big and small, and Hugh Macken, director of Facilities Maintenance and Operations, shared a list of some other notable projects workers did during the summer: 

• They completed power management systems for medium-voltage switches, panel boards and transformers
  
• The electrical and ethernet for the Otter Student Union’s e-sports lounge were wired
  
• A new mixing valve was installed at Monte’s
  
• All restroom signage was replaced and QR codes were posted so people with smartphones can easily report problems 
  
• Amazon delivery lockers were installed in the Otter Student Union
  
• Hydration stations were installed in different buildings around campus. 
  

And if that weren’t enough, Wyrick shares another quick list: 

“The Transfer Student Success Center also moved to Building 12. We also finished painting the Otter Student Union accents. We did a ton of preventative maintenance on the electrical system, fixed some things in the mechanical rooms at Promontory, did wildfire reduction work in East Campus, and most importantly got our heat recovery chiller up and running.”

The previous chiller plant ejected heat to cool its building, while the new one delivers that heat to the building’s hot water system where it is reused – a process that has reduced the burning of natural gas for the campus. 

More recently, Glenn Vagts, who is a Facilities Management project supervisor, reported that for the big Open House event on Saturday, Oct. 21, which drew hundreds of prospective students and their families to campus, different teams worked together on planning and executing the  successful event. They started the work day at 6 a.m. to get the event started on time, stayed on schedule throughout the day but remained flexible, and responded quickly to urgent needs. 

For their efforts the crews were rewarded with pizza but, no doubt, they came through and performed out of sheer pride.