Custodial Services: Responsible for the cleanliness, protection and preservation of UD

Ever wonder what keeps UD running smoothly? Up Close & Personnel, a weekly feature, profiles the employees who keep UD ticking around the clock throughout the year. This week, the focus is on UD's Custodial Services.

John Warren, director of custodial and pest control services

Bob Carpenter Center custodian Bill Wright (left) and Martin Quirk, assistant director for academic custodial services

4:32 p.m., Aug. 26, 2004--John Warren, director of custodial and pest control services, can’t say enough about his 250-plus staff members.

“My hourly staff is in the trenches every day, and they and their supervisors always make me proud. They really care about this institution.” And, they are certainly up close to UD, with responsibility for cleaning more than 4.5 million square feet of campus space per day.

The emphasis in custodial work has evolved over the years, Warren said. Now, in addition to cleaning for aesthetics, custodians clean for health considerations as well, he said. Each day, they disinfect common surfaces that transmit bacteria, and they vacuum and dust to reduce pollutants and allergens in the air.

“It’s a totally different approach from what it was years ago. Dusting and disinfecting surfaces on telephone receivers, doorknobs, toilet handles, basically, anything that hands touch, are priorities,” he said. “We are trying to make the environments that people inhabit for most of their working day as healthy as possible.”

Warren has been with UD for more than 30 years and has worked in the facilities field for more than 40 years, since just after he graduated from Franklin and Marshall College.

There are a lot of things his crews do every day that no one thinks about. For example, Warren said, custodians change light bulbs in UD facilities, for lamps up to 12 feet high. He said they also work overtime to support UD programs that happen on weekends and at night, including athletic events, concerts, trade shows, admissions and student activities. The custodial staff is responsible for anything that needs to be cleaned. And, when it snows, they clear walkways and areas too small for snow removal equipment to handle.

Quick facts

Custodial services cleans more than 4.5 million square feet in 280 UD buildings.

Each day, UD custodial staff members clean:

1.75 million square feet of carpeting
2.9 million square feet of tile
5,000 commodes and urinals
2,500 sinks
713 showers
200 classrooms
1,000 offices

Each year the staff distributes:

27,492 rolls of paper towel in bathrooms
60,963 rolls of toilet paper

And uses:

79,163 gallons of disinfectant
5,580 gallons of window cleaner

Sylvester Johnson, assistant director for residential and conference facilities, with custodial technicians Carol Eveland (center) and Robin Secor

Carol Botwright, custodial technician

The job is, in a word, huge, Warren said. It includes the cleaning of residence halls, conference facilities, classrooms, labs, public areas and University offices; support and services for summer conference housing; unlocking exterior doors; recycling; entrance mat replacement and installation; special event support; furniture and equipment setup for events and programs; emergency cleanups as a result of leaks, illness and accidents; construction, window and pressure washing; recommendation for carpet replacements; carpet cleaning; floor restoration; replacement for restroom dispensers; trash removal for classrooms, offices, public areas and residence hall rooms; snow and ice removal from ramps, steps, landings in the immediate vicinity of academic buildings; and inspecting fire extinguisher and exit signs.

Custodial services fall into two categories—academic facilities, managed by Martin Quirk, and residential and conference facilities, managed by Sylvester Johnson, both assistant directors.

They also can’t say enough about their crews. “My people are good, hard workers who are very dedicated to the University,” Johnson said. He said his staff is very experienced, with most of them having between eight and 10 years’ service. Johnson’s crews are in charge of residence halls and conference facilities, including Clayton Hall. Michael Nichols is the West Campus manager; Elizabeth Bolt, East Campus manager; Trish Whittington, Central Campus manager; Judy David, Laird Campus manager; Chuck Yetter, conference facilities manager; and Kathy Roderick, weekend manager.

Custodian Robin Secor’s day begins at 5 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m. She is assigned to Clayton Hall and Pencader conference centers on the Laird Campus. Secor has been with UD for almost eight years and said, although it’s hard work, she really likes her job.

“We are told all the time that people are happy because the restrooms and every place else are so clean.” She handles the offices in the two centers and cleans the windows that dominate Clayton Hall’s exterior. “I’ve gotten compliments on the offices I do,” she said. Secor also helps prepare the rooms for events and conferences.

Quirk, whose crews concentrate on offices, athletic buildings, centers and classrooms, praised his zone managers for the effectiveness of their teams. The managers are Richard Noonan, special projects; Verlyn Rayfield, east zone; Jacqueline Simpkins, north central; Sharon Melvin, center; Steve Ashby, central; LeRoy Wiggins, north; Robert Jackson, west; Sandee Miller, south and Mary Dunford, southwest.

“Poke” Rodriguez, custodial technician

“Our mission is to give faculty and staff a clean and healthy environment. We start by having the classrooms ready by 8 a.m.,” Quirk said, noting that classrooms are used until as late as 11 p.m.

One of Quirk’s team members, “Poke” Rodriguez, is in charge of three offices on campus—the Academy Building on Main Street, home of public relations; East Hall on Delaware Avenue, housing media services, and the Rees Building, where Development’s annual giving staff is located. Rodriguez, who has worked for UD for eight years, describes his job as including “anything that makes the building as presentable as possible.” He said the work he and his colleagues do helps maintain the University’s reputation as a desirable place to live and learn.

When his reserve unit was activated, UD held a job for him for the nine months while he served as part of Special Forces in Iraq. Rodriguez also credits UD’s tuition remission program for allowing his son to attend “one of the finest engineering colleges in the nation.”

James Brown, custodial technician

Custodial technicians Leonard Brinkley (left) and Jong Ho Lee

William Wright has been taking care of the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center for three years. His main job is to keep the huge expanse of floors in the building shining and to put the facility back in order after events.

“We go that extra mile to made sure everything is looking good,” he said. Wright works from 3-11:30 p.m., and UD is a family affair for him. His daughter is a third-year business administration major, and his son is an electrician.

Quirk’s team also takes care of the student centers.

“I love it. It’s always a challenge,” Leonard Brinkley, custodial technician, said. “I take pride in the things that I do. Since I’ve been here, I’ve heard nothing but praise for how clean everything is.” His shining floors are legendary, and people keep asking him how he does it.

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