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Division of Facilities News

Category: December 2015

Customer Service

By Loleta Sump, Director of Customer Service, Division of Facilities

Giving great customer service to both our external customers (the campus community) and our internal customers (facilities employees) is more than “just part of the job” for me…it is a passion!  The mission of Facilities Customer Service is to ensure that any interaction with us is enjoyable, efficient, and effective. I guess it should be no surprise to anyone that customer service is the topic that I chose to write about for this month’s Facilities Newsletter.

After every work order is completed, our external customers have the opportunity to respond to a survey, rating their satisfaction to the work performed.  The rating scale is:

1 = Very Poor

2 = Poor

3 = Good

4 = Very Good

5 = Excellent

Over the last 18 months, we have received 421 surveys from our customers with 97% of the ratings being a 3, 4 or 5.  Congratulations to each and every one of our facilities employees for performing their duties in a manner that merits such high ratings.  Here are a few of the noteworthy comments received from our customers:

  •  The plumber explained the repair options and gave us a time frame, and the repairs were completed quickly.
  •  The gentleman handling the situation has kept me apprised of everything that has been going on.
  •  The employee was very courteous and extremely accommodating.  He gave us all the information we needed and also went the extra mile to circle back with us to collect our picks for carpet.  This was a very positive experience for us!  Thank you.
  •  The professor wanted to personally thank you for the professional and quick job you did!  The professor really liked the note on the door with the card and the updates through email.  Thanks again!
  •  Thank you for providing us with good service on this request. I would rate it as 5, excellent. Your staff arrived promptly and worked to resolve the issue through the building, not just in the one bathroom that was the emergency.
  • I’d rate my satisfaction at 5. The work was so unobtrusive and done so quickly that I didn’t even notice it had been completed until this email made me look at my door!

The portion of the comments in red indicate the service that meant the most to the customer and, therefore, resulted in an excellent rating.  In contrast, here are a few comments from our customers that were not so satisfied with our service:

  •  We did not know this work had been done, as no one came and talked to us.  When did they come over as we were still having issues late last week?
  •  Apparently it isn’t fixed, but no one bothered to tell us that.  satisfaction 1.  Could you please send your technician back to fix it?
  •  I don’t even know if they showed up.  It would be nice for the workers to at least say, they were able to fix it, or, they need to get parts, or it is not fixed and they will be back, or something.  I know they are busy but it only takes a minute to stop by my office or the front desk to let us know.    Thank you.

 Of course, the feedback from our customers is only valuable if we genuinely “listen to what they have to say.”  What I hear from these survey comments is that communication is key to quality customer service!  Other characteristics of quality service that are noticed and appreciated by our customers include professionalism, going the extra mile, doing the job right the first time and working quickly and unobtrusively so as not to disturb their working environment (if possible).  While these survey comments largely pertained to our building maintenance teams, the same characteristics of quality service can be employed by each and every one of us.  Let’s show Kansas State University what a great Facilities team we are!

loleta cartoon

You Are Appreciated!

By Gerardo Negron, Custodial Supervisor

The Seaton Custodial Crew would like to recognize Mike Stoddard for his service as a veteran and for going that extra mile. Mike is a man that has served his country with the utmost respect and is now serving K-State as a Custodial Manager.

Mike Stoddard Raising Flag next to Seaton Hall
Mike Stoddard Lowering Flag at Higinbotham Gate.

We have had the pleasure of working under Mike and appreciate how he gives his all in helping us to do our jobs. He has helped me grow as a supervisor and is always willing to pass his knowledge on to me and the other supervisors. He never forgets to tell us what a great job we do and is there to lend a helping hand when we have a problem whether it is work-related or personal. He listens to us and is very compassionate.

Many Thanks!

By Brenda Miesner, Office of Mediated Education

I would like to give a big “shout out” to Jimmy Sester and Penny Funkhouser for their hard work on the clean up of the water leak on November 5th, 2015 at the Foundation Center. They worked diligently to get most of the mess cleaned up before staff arrived at 8:00 am and went beyond the call of duty to clean up the second floor which is not even their space. Penny and Jimmy are the best custodians we could ask for. They go above and beyond to make the Foundation Center look good, help visitors find their way, and so much more. We are happy to call them a part of our work family!

Jimmy Sester
Jimmy Sester
Penny Funkhouser
Penny Funkhouser

Welcome to Our Team!

Elisabeth Juliana
Elisabeth Juliana

 Elisabeth Juliana was hired November 2nd as a Custodial Specialist. She is working for Steve Greinke on the custodial night crew.

 

William Brewer
William Brewer

 William Brewer was hired as a Buildings System Technician. He is working for Christopher Falley in the Utilities at the Power Plant.

 

Larry Booker
Larry Booker

 Larry Booker was hired as an Engineering Technician. He is working for Larry McCoy in Construction with the Dig Safe Team.

 

Taylor Pearson
Taylor Pearson

Taylor Pearson was hired as a Painter Senior. He is working for Shelly Hauck in the Paint Shop.

 

Anne Johnson
Anne Johnson

 Anne Johnson was hired as a Custodial Specialist. She is working for Mary Grubbs on the custodial day crew.

 

Janet Treadwell
Janet Treadwell

 Janet Treadwell was hired as a Custodial Specialist. She is working for Mary Grubbs on the custodial day crew.

In The Spotlight…

Tammy Powers is the Administrative Specialist in K-State’s Contract Post Office on the west side of Dykstra Hall. She has worked here for three years and states that her customers are her favorite part of K-State.

Tammy Powers
Tammy Powers

Tammy was born  in Peoria, Illinois and enjoys crafts and reading. Her favorite food is spaghetti and the Lake of the Ozarks is her favorite place to vacation;

“I’m a water baby!”

It might surprise her co-workers to learn that she enjoys riding motorcycles and her favorite movie is The Polar Express.


 Kerry McDonald is an administrative officer within the Associate Vice Presidents’s Office for K-State’s Division of Facilities. Her favorite part of working at K-State is the beautiful campus and the people, both staff and students.

Kerry McDonald

 Kerry was born in Wamego and has worked at K-State for 26 years. During her time here she has filled a variety of roles but she does have one she prefers;

“I’ve had a lot of different titles but my favorite is ‘evil secretary’ !”

Kerry enjoys several hobbies including reading and traveling. Her favorite vacation spot is Portland and the Oregon coast,

“It is stunning. The people are very friendly and the beaches are all public. The Columbia River Gorge has dozens of beautiful waterfalls to see and the city has large Rose, Chinese, and Japanese gardens. Plus, the television show “Grimm” is filmed there!”

Her co-workers may be surprised to learn that she played the flute in the band and was a cheerleader in high school. In addition to reading and traveling, Kerry is a big fan of movies. Some of her favorites are Last of the Mohicans, L.A. Confidential, Almost Famous, and Shakespeare in Love.