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Division of Facilities News

Category: WINTER 2020

We Can Move Mountains…as a Team

 By Tim Brunner, Associate Director – Power Plant & Utilities

This past year has been full of challenges. A personal goal was to try to align our teams of Building Maintenance, Construction, Energy & Controls Management, and the Utilities & Power Plant to accomplish projects in house by working together, and to save money. We’ve had some great opportunities to do that, with more coming up on the calendar.

Our first project involved the cooperation of Troy Bronaugh’s team (Building Maintenance Zone 5), Matt Smith (from Energy & Controls), James “Skip” Davis and Charlie Kranz from our Construction Team, and our Power Plant Team led by Chris Falley and Roger Hageman. Together, we researched, planned, ordered, removed the old, and replaced three rooftop units.  We also had to re-pipe and install new controls on 50 fan coil units and 5 air-handling units.

There were several parts to this process including scheduling the units to arrive on a Saturday, unhook and remove the old units, install the new units, and have them hooked up and started in a week.

Our Facilities Crew rigged and lifted the old unit up off the roof at Lafene and sent it to recycing.


A new unit is lifted and placed down on the roof curb of Lafene.


We worked our plan as a team and the factory was able to have all three units running by the following Friday.  I want to send out a “Thank-You” to Shecky Davis and Jim Parker at Lafene for being understanding and good to work with through this process.  Thanks to Troy, Chris, and Roger for doing a great job scheduling your normal maintenance duties and still making time to get this job done. You and your crews made it a success.

A new AHU #4 at Lafene is set in place and ready to hook up to the electrical.


Our next opportunity came at the end of July when an older chiller at Ahearn failed. We were able to re-purpose a chiller from Anderson Hall that was removed during the campus chilled water project. By utilizing the Anderson chiller, the down time to Kinesiology and the locker rooms was limited to a couple of weeks. Installing this unit allowed us to connect additional equipment and boost efficiency while removing two other old, inefficient chillers from service. We are now replacing the chiller at Lafene with one removed from Call Hall during the chilled water project in 2016.

The re-purposed Anderson Hall chiller is in place and in service at Ahearn.


This work is not easy to schedule around everyday duties, but is very doable. With motivation, good planning, and teamwork we can accomplish great things.  It may take a little extra time for us to complete a project, but by using all of our resources, our Division of Facilities Team can move mountains when we work together.

Welcome to our Team!

ERIC COX was hired as a Maintenance & Repair Tech for Building Maintenance Zone 2. He is working for Mike Paph.




JUSTIN ESTES was hired as a HVAC Tech for Building Maintenance Zone 2. He is working for Mike Paph.




DWAYNE McCALLUM was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med. He is working for Thomas O’Briant.




KATIE DAVIDSON was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med. She is working for Thomas O’Briant.




MATTHEW BEACH was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Beverly Price.




JOHN CYR was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Beverly Price.




CHRIS LUSEBRINK was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Beverly Price.




QUENTIN (JB) RAWLINS was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Beverly Price.




DALE CORBIN was hired as a Maintenance & Repair Tech for Building Maintenance Zone 4. He is working for Galen Hageman.




ASHLEY LOFF was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med. She is working for Thomas O’Briant.




AMANDA ALLARD was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med. She is working for Thomas O’Briant.




ROBERT BERTHAUME JR. was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




BRIAN STILL was hired as Maintenance Manager for the Construction Shop. He is working for Ed Heptig.




THALIA ORTIZ-AYALA. was hired as a Custodial Specialist. She is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




KEVIN SEIBERT was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




XAVIER WATKINS was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




MATT COOPER was hired as a Plumber for Zone 1. He is working for Travis Homeier.




PAUL ASLIN was hired as an Energy & Utilities Tech for Energy & Controls. He is working for Gary Weishaar.




JOSHUA PRATT was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Jean Reynolds.




BRIAUNNA MARTIN-BURRIS was hired as a Custodial Specialist. She is working for Mike Price.




NELSON MARQUEZ HERNANDEZ was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Mary Grubbs.




CHRIS CARUSO was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




RICHARD SANTIAGO was hired as a Plumber for Building Maintenance Zone 3. He is working for Shelly Hauck.




SCOTT BACKMAN was hired as a Maintenance & Repair Tech II for Building Maintenance Zone 5. He is working for Troy Bronaugh.




CURTIS BARBEE was hired as a Plumber for Building Maintenance Zone 1. He is working for Travis Homeier.




TIM MACHADO was hired as a Power Plant Operator. He is working for Tim Brunner.




NICHOLE INCE was hired as a Custodial Supervisor. She is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.




BRETT ROBINSON was hired as the Landscape Services Superintendent. He is working for Casey Lauer.




TRAVIS SCHMEAL was hired as a Power Plant Operator. He is working for Tim Brunner.




CHARLES RING was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Mary Grubbs.




GEORGE WILSON was hired as a Recycling Technician. He is working for Bill Spiegel.




KRISTIN MUEHLEISEN was hired as a Custodial Supervisor. She is working for Beverly Price.




PAUL WORDEN was hired as an HVAC Technician for Building Maintenance Zone 3. He is working for Shelly Hauck.




VERON DAVIS was hired as a Custodial Specialist. He is working for Mike Price.




SHELDON WILSON was hired as an HVAC Technician for Building Maintenance Zone 5. He is working for Troy Bronaugh.




Nominations for University Awards

The Division of Human Capital Services is accepting nominations for the following unclassified professional staff and university support staff awards.

  • The President’s Award of Excellence for Unclassified Professionals fosters excellence in the workplace by rewarding and recognizing unclassified professional staff members who achieve excellence and/or make exemplary contributions to the mission and values of K-State. Unclassified professional staff, or nonfaculty, with a minimum of three years of continuous service who are employed at five-tenths or greater on a regular or term appointment are eligible.Five awards are made, one in each of the following categories:
    • Team building, group activity, service to the university.
    • Exceptional productivity, creativity or innovation.
    • Distinguished accomplishment.
    • Leadership.
    • Belonging.
  • The K-State University Support Staff Award of Excellence recognizes exemplary performance and contributions of university support staff members who consistently excel in their positions and demonstrate integrity and a strong commitment to the mission and values of K-State. All university support, benefits-eligible staff members, full or part-time, who have received a “meets expectations” or higher rating on their most recent performance review are eligible to be nominated for this award.Three award winners are selected, one from each of the following categories:
    • Office and clerical.
    • Technical and professional.
    • Service, maintenance and skilled crafts.
  • The K-State University Support Staff Belonging Award recognizes outstanding work on inclusivity and belonging efforts here at K-State. All university support, benefits-eligible staff members, full or part-time, who have received a “meets expectations” or higher rating on their most recent performance review are eligible to be nominated for this award. One winner will be selected.

All winners will receive a $1,000 award. The nomination deadline for the awards is Feb. 14.

Current faculty, staff, administrators and/or students at K-State may nominate individuals to be considered for these awards. No self-nominations will be accepted. All nominations will be confidential. Nominations require the completion of the nomination form including two letters of support from other individuals. More information about these awards, including the nomination form and procedures, is available online.

Questions about any of the awards may be directed to hr@k-state.edu.

Diana McElwain, MPA, CAPM
HUMAN CAPITAL SERVICES
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY | 103 EDWARDS HALL

KUDOS!

 

…to HEATH LARSON (Zone 3), JOY KNUTSON (Customer Service), DARRIN DOHRMAN (Grounds & Landscaping), and CLIFFORD WILLIAMS (Custodial Services) for providing such great service and assistance in efforts to improve the appearance of General Myers Hall.



…to our GROUNDS CREW, CUSTODIAL CREW, CONSTRUCTION CREW, and STEVE ROWE (Zone 5) for doing such a great job of clearing and removing snow after the storm on Sunday, December 15th. Campus roads and sidewalks were in GREAT shape for students and employees on Monday.

“…I wanted to give a shout out and thank you to the Facilities staff. I thought they did an outstanding job of getting campus ready…please pass on my thanks!”

Jay Stephens, Vice President, HCS



…to our BLUEMONT HALL CUSTODIAL TEAM for doing such a great job taking care of Bluemont Hall!

Dean Debbie Mercer asked that I send you a note about our custodial team in Bluemont Hall. They are awesome! They are very thorough in their cleaning and so responsive to anything we point out to them. Bluemont Hall has never looked better. We especially appreciate all that Kelly Cheever does on our floor. In addition, their supervisor, Mike Price, has been exceptional in creating a great team atmosphere. It is so wonderful to have an opportunity to say thank you to such an awesome group!”

-Pam Monroe, College of Education



 

…to JONATHAN BAGWELL (Custodial Services) for providing excellent customer service to the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in McCain Auditorium.

“…Thank you for all that you do!”

Kara Whitaker, Senior in Music Education

 

 

Happy Retirement!

 

 

 

Congratulations to GREG FIEF!

 Greg was a Plumber for Zone 3 and retired on October 1st.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Congratulation to SHARON SLACK!

Sharon was a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med and retired on November 2nd.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Congratulations to JAMES HARTFORD!

James was a Landscape Tech II for Grounds & Landscaping and retired on December 1st.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Congratulations to DANIEL PLUMMER!

Dan worked as a member of the Construction Team and retired on December 14th.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Congratulation to DON ENGELKEN!

Don worked as a superintendent on the Construction Team and retired on December 28th.

 

 

 



 

Congratulations to DANIEL BOLLER!

Dan was a Custodial Specialist and retired on January 1st.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Congratulations to DELMAR WESTOVER!

Delmar was a Landscape Technician II and retired on January 1st.

 

 

 



Retirement Road Sign