State budget cuts continue to take their toll at the University, with Facilities Management falling victim to the latest wave of cutbacks.
In a Wednesday press release, Facilities Management announced a reduction in custodial services, maintenance services and classroom and landscape improvements. The reductions will take effect next week.
"The cuts were made to meet expected budget reductions of over $1 million," Facilities Management Information Officer Betty Wooding said.
"The cuts will be targeted at faculty and staff office areas," said Jay Klingel, director of business management services for Facilities Management.
The cuts will not affect the cleaning of University dormitories.
Individual offices and laboratories no longer will be cleaned regularly, although a specific cleaning schedule has not yet been determined. Faculty and staff who have offices will be asked to place individual trashcans outside their doors to be emptied.
The custodial resources will be focused on classrooms, restrooms and shared public spaces such as corridors, conference rooms and auditoriums, according to a bulletin issued to University facilities coordinators.
"We are going to emphasize public spaces," Klingel said.
Contracts with Service Management Systems and WorkSource Enterprises, two cleaning services hired out by the University, will be discontinued over the next 30 days.
In addition, the Facilities Management contract with Turner Cleaning will be reduced to less than half of its current value.
Service Management Systems currently has five full time and four part time employees at the University, and WorkSource Enterprises employs seven full time workers. Two full time and 11 part time employees of Turner Cleaning currently work at the University.
"We have contracts with the companies, and the companies will decide what to do with their employees," Wooding said.
Deborah Palmer at Service Management Systems declined to comment on the issue. Representatives at WorkSource Enterprises and Turner Cleaning did not return phone calls.
Duties for University custodial staff will be reassigned to compensate for the loss of contracted cleaning personnel.
Additionally, less significant maintenance work will be put on hold until funds become available, and preventive maintenance work will be reduced.
State-funded landscape projects already have been eliminated, and safety and security improvements have been reduced substantially as well.
Facilities Management still can repair existing classroom furniture with available improvement funds, but will not be able to purchase new items.
The latest cuts follow a 77 percent reduction in maintenance reserve funding and a 4.6 percent general reduction already built into this year's Facilities Management operating budget.
"We are most concerned about reductions in maintenance services," Klingel said.
The maintenance reserve fund provides money for the replacement of roofs, air conditioning systems and elevators for state-funded facilities on Grounds, Klingel said.
"With an approximately 75 percent reduction, we are very concerned with how we will be able to attend to these items in the future," Klingel said.
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