For many Richmond students, faculty, and staff, “crunch time” peaks in April as final projects and exams loom large on their minds. But for the Facilities staff, it’s the week after Commencement when their workload truly hits a fever pitch.

“When it gets quieter on campus during the summer, that’s when we get our busiest,” said Chuck Rogers, University architect. “We’re working hard to make improvements to buildings and spaces around campus to be ready for the fall semester.”

The Facilities trades and custodial teams have 60 days to deep clean and repair 1,700 student rooms across 15 residence halls, 165 apartments, and eight Greek life houses before move-in kicks off in August.

It’s not a one-and-done process. Repeat cleanings are needed after students return for summer classes and research. Other residence halls become temporary hotels, providing overnight housing for summer camps and significant events like the Special Olympics of Virginia competition and the University’s Reunion Weekend.

Working alongside the custodial team, maintenance staff members make their way through more than 100 projects ranging from painting, carpet cleaning, and floor refinishing to masonry and window cleaning to repaving roads and sidewalks. Large-scale projects are also on the list, including upgraded classrooms in Jepson Hall, the final phase of renovations in the Law School, and new offices for the Business School and Residence Life. In addition, the landscape staff tackles invasive species around campus and drains and dredges Westhampton Lake.

By the end of the summer, the trades staff log 5,000 hours, and the custodial staff spends 9,000 hours prepping for the coming year.

Allison Steele, associate director of Facilities communications and professional development, compiles the work schedule, something she’s done for the past five summers. She said that planning starts early in the calendar year. That’s when Steele works with Facilities teams and external partners on a complete list of projects and recurring work and adds the building needs for summer events and conferences. She also layers in work from other campus units, such as upgrades to the wireless network by Information Services. 

“It looks like a giant Tetris puzzle,” Steele said. “Every building and every day has a square that lists what's going on so we can make sure we're coordinating and not overlapping when we shouldn't be.”

Weekly meetings help keep everyone on track and able to react to inevitable schedule changes. By the time August settles in, she said, the final days of summer can feel like a sprint to cross a marathon finish line as teams work to tie up loose ends and check the last projects off their list.

Sam Robertson, executive director for Facilities operations, said the summer is a vibrant and busy season for the division. “Despite the compressed timeline,” he said, “we collaborate closely with campus partners and contractors to ensure that the University is in peak condition, ready to welcome our students back.”