First impressions are important, and with that in mind, Wayne State’s Facilities, Planning and Management team (FP&M) recently held its Campus Curb Appeal Blitz.
“The Campus Curb Appeal Blitz is focused on beautifying the campus from the student and parent perspective,” said Ken Mason, WSU regional director of operations and maintenance. “We looked at the exterior of buildings, then the interior — things like the lobby, foyer, restroom, elevators, all the main spaces people see when they come into a building. There was a focus on things like cleaning, trash, broken windows, door handles, fixtures and lighting, making sure campus looks great.”
A group of 75 people broke into several teams and walked around campus, resulting in 513 work orders to improve campus.
“We have 134 buildings on campus, so we divided the main buildings into seven teams,” Mason said. “There was a primary team that hit what we call the parade route, which is the Student Center, living spaces, or any spaces the students and parents will see when they come in for orientation. Then we had the associate directors for each district lead teams in their district."
Mason said they were focused on making the campus look good for current and prospective students and hopes they will make that a priority every day.
“Everyone who works at Wayne State, our job is based on the customer experience, so without happy students and parents, we don’t have a job,” Mason said. “So, creating that experience has to be our primary focus. I know a lot of times people can get caught up in what they do on a day-to-day basis, but we also need to remember it’s all about the students. Without the students, Wayne State doesn’t exist.
“And it’s not just a blitz, the whole idea is to have this focus throughout the year. So, when you’re walking campus and you see something that needs to be fixed, create a work order right then and there. I’ve done it and most problems get fixed pretty quickly. It’s about creating a lifestyle of beautifying the campus.”
Prior to the blitz event, the FP&M team held a rally with music, games and prizes.
“We tried to pump everybody up and give everybody their assignments,” Mason said. “We took a group photo. All the feedback we got from the trade workers was positive. They were very appreciative of the event. Some said they wished they had more time, so we might look into doing this more often.”
Mason, who started at Wayne State in April, enjoyed the opportunity to get to know colleagues from around the university.
“For me, the event was absolutely amazing,” Mason said. “It was an absolute blast, meeting new people. And that's always good because there are 8,000 employees here, and I don't get a chance to interact with the other employees from the other departments. So any opportunity to meet my co-workers and work together on a task is just great.”
Mason said they will be doing other blitz events throughout the year, starting with Scott Hall.
“Each of our six districts will do a similar activity,” Mason said. “Different than a campus blitz, they’ll do a floor-by-floor blitz with the people in that building. The best part about this is, we can take this model and duplicate it around the campus and go a layer deeper, floor-by-floor, room-by-room, with the model that’s already built.”