FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- To provide better cleaning of campus buildings in a more efficient, cost-effective and less-disruptive manner, the University of Arkansas is revamping its custodial services program so that the majority of housekeeping activities can be done in the evening rather than the daytime.

"What we’re doing is consistent with the consultants’ review of our Physical Plant operation that was made public in November 2000," said Don Pederson, the vice chancellor for finance and administration to whom the Office of Physical Plant reports. It is the first major change to occur in a comprehensive reorganization of Physical Plant, also announced today. (See accompanying news release).

"One of the major themes of that external review was that past campus prioritization of construction and renovations led to an increase of campus deferred maintenance", Pederson added. "This custodial plan is an effort to address that imbalance by being more efficient in our operations so that resources can be focused on these priorities. We’re striving to provide a higher level of cleanliness and care to our taxpayer-supported facilities across the entire campus and to prepare for a future in which we’ll have many more new buildings coming on line."

"Basically, what we’re trying to do is to create a quality management program that provides a uniform high level of cleanliness in all of our publicly-financed buildings," said Leo Yanda, director of Physical Plant. "There are five standards of custodial service as defined by the Association of Physical Plant Administrators: unacceptable, marginal, meets standard, exceeds standard, and exceptional.

"Our goal is to exceed standard in all of our buildings," Yanda said. "To do that, however, we have to work at a time that provides wider and easier access to our buildings, and that means a shift from day to evening work. Among other things, this will allow us to increase our periodic custodial services such as the shampooing of carpets, stripping and re-waxing of floors, scrubbing of bathroom floors, and the kinds of things that are very difficult to do during daytime hours when the buildings are fully occupied."

To effect this change, the University will offer a "higher shift pay differential" to custodians who volunteer from working day shift to working evening shift.

Currently, the University employs about 117 custodians. About 65 of them work during the day shift. The eventual goal is to have about 30 custodians working day shift, with the rest of them working evening and night shifts.

"Obviously, we will need to maintain a certain level of staff on the day shift to restock supplies, police high traffic areas, and address situational clean-up requirements throughout the work day," Yanda said. "A small night shift, scheduled for early morning hours, will clean the portions of certain buildings that are occupied late into the evening."

The University also will create a new step on the custodial career ladder-"Lead Custodian"-an intermediary step between custodian and coordinator of housekeeping. Lead custodian positions will be created within each newly established custodial zone on campus to support current supervisory positions by providing closer supervision of staff. The new positions also will provide the opportunity for increased compensation and career progression for custodial staff.

The transition from predominantly daytime to predominantly evening shifts will begin within the next few months.

Pederson acknowledged that change such as this can cause anxiety, but he made four points to allay any fears:

There is no intent to outsource custodial services.
There will be no layoffs as a result of these changes.
There will be no reduction in pay or benefits for any custodian.
No one will be forced to move from the day shift to the evening shift.
"We’re trying to do this in a way that provides the proverbial win-win situation for all concerned," Pederson added. " We have been very pleased with the custodial staff under the excellent leadership of Jimmy Davis. They have worked very hard to deliver services that are well above the average for cleanliness at peer institutions. Nonetheless, we know we need to restructure our program to do an even better job for a campus that is projected to grow from 16,000 students at present to 22,500 by 2010."

Custodians will benefit, Yanda said, by gaining in five ways: unimpeded access to work areas; better pay through a higher shift differential; a better career ladder though the new lead custodian position; a greater sense of accomplishment with less frustration; and improved recruitment and retention.

The University will benefit, he added, through a higher level of service and cleanliness, applied uniformly across all campus publicly financed buildings, with minimal interruption and disruption.

Custodial staff safety and security will be increased, as the lead custodians are designed to provide direct supervision to smaller work groups within custodial zones. In addition, new policies and procedures regarding the locking and unlocking of exterior and interior doors, as well as the provision of transportation and parking solutions for custodial staff are being addressed.