Congratulations to Anne Murphy who was promoted to Manager for Central Mail / Procurement!
Congratulations to Ed Evans who was promoted to Power Plant Operator!
Just for Fun!
K-State’s Recycling Department entered a float in the Manhattan Mayor’s Holiday Parade. The float was built by Bill Spiegel and his wife, Diane.
Pictured from left to right: Diane Spiegel, Brook Lennington (KSNT news anchor), and Bill Spiegel.
Many Thanks!..
…to DEBBIE ERICKSON for all she does to keep Leasure Hall looking great!
“Debbie is awesome…she is professional, personable and friendly, often going out of her way to be helpful. Leasure Hall has never looked better. We’re very glad to have her!”
-Maggie Cody, Office Manager for Chapman Center for Rural Studies
… to MARLA CAIN for all she does to keep Holton Hall looking great!
“We are writing to register our profound appreciation of Marla Cain, a Custodial Specialist on your staff. She takes wonderful care of our building and offices. She brings a great attitude to her work and takes time to check in on members of our staff to ensure everyone is doing well. We appreciate her work, collegiality, thoughtfulness, and contributions to a wonderful workplace!”
-The Academic Achievement Center Staff (Katie Pierce, Jessica Kerr, Avery Broccolo, RJ Youngblood, Nidhi Bhandari, Ellen Clayton, Javier Martinez, Rebeca Paz, Kiley Moody, Micah Dulac, Diamond Sampson, McKenzie Cox, Gavin Colton, Allison Dulac, and the MC Ambassadors)
KUDOS!…
…to members of our Custodial Team! In addition to their Managers staying late to help, 4 of our Custodial Specialists came back to campus after their normal shift was over in order to help with the ice and snow removal from the sudden storm earlier this month.
…to members of our Grounds & Landscaping Team! Several worked over the holiday weekend in order to treat and clear campus sidewalks in preparation for K-State’s first day of spring semester. During that first week of classes, a sudden temperature drop resulted in a frozen campus! Crew members worked through the night treating walkways and stairs with ice melting compounds.
Happy Retirement!
Larry McCoy began working at K-State in 1986 when he worked in the Welding / Sheet Metal Shop. In 1999 he moved over to the Power Plant where he worked as a Boiler Maintenance Operator. Larry returned to Building Maintenance in 2003 to manage the Plumbing, Asbestos, Sheet metal/Welding, & Construction Shops. Congratulations, Larry!
Rollin Coberly retired after serving K-State for more than 33 years! Rollin began working in the Electric Shop in 1985 until his move to the Estimator’s Office in 1991. Rollin returned to Building Maintenance in our Construction Shop as an Electrician / Estimator. Congratulations Rollin!
Lyndle Slattery, Landscape Technician, retired from Grounds & Landscaping after working with Facilities for 24 years. Congratulations Lyndle!
Don Nanninga, Carpenter, retired from the Construction Team after working with Facilities for 20 years. Congratulations Don!
Glen Rubash, GMRT Sr for Zone 3, retired from Building Maintenance after working with Facilities for 7 years. Congratulations Glen!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Change
By Tim Brunner, Associate Director – Power Plant & Utilities
It has been a significant year for change within K-State’s Division of Facilities. The implementation of iPad’s, time clocks, and other additions have challenged us to be flexible and open to new ideas and methods. Change brings growth but sometimes, the growth process can be painful.
Our employees’ opportunity to use iPads was the result of several months’ preparation from our leadership team as well as hours of training. Finally, it was time to sit down, open the app, and attempt to use it to do our job. It was a process! Many of us were tempted to go back to our locker, set the iPad inside, walk back over to the computer, and print out our work orders. However, we learned to trust the system. We made our share of mistakes in the beginning but learned from them, made the corrections, and even made constructive observations that helped to make our experience more positive.
The next thing you know, we are using iPads and finding out they are actually pretty handy. The good news is that we haven’t even scratched the surface
of what is possible yet. Our daily tasks will go even smoother with the addition of scan-able bar codes, easy to complete checklists, and GPS asset tracking to help plan your day in a better order to cut down travel time. Preventative Maintenance work will become the norm along with smaller repair work orders. Radio calls from the Service desk will slow down and emergency calls will reduce significantly over the next few years. If we continue to learn about the tools we use and check our work, our time will be used more efficiently as we find issues while they’re small problems and fix them before they become big emergencies. There are always going to be glitches to solve but this system will help us catch 98% of problems before they cause a breakdown. My challenge to all of us is to keep using our iPads and don’t be afraid to experiment with it so you can get everything out of it you possibly can. When you see something that will benefit your co-workers and/or improve efficiency, bring it up. Let’s all change together.
Time clocks brought a new set of changes. We have been using them for a little over a month now and things are starting to fall into place. It took some getting used to, but overall I see it as a positive. No more paper slips,
no more trying to remember if someone called in, and no more delivering paper forms to payroll. I can easily save a couple of hours a month. That’s a good change.
Maintaining the status quo is not an effective way to live or work. We all need to evolve to keep up with expectations that are constantly changing. Whether solving the problem of being short-staffed, adapting to new devices such as iPads and laser alignment tools, or simply learning how to fill out a leave request on the computer, we all benefit from change. It is not always easy and can take some grit and determination but the effort is worth it. When you see change coming, I challenge you to embrace it. Spend your energy thinking of ways to make the change better and/or easier. Most change is going to happen regardless of how we react to it. I recommend we climb aboard and enjoy the ride!
Welcome to Our Team!
The Division of Facilities is always excited to welcome new employees to our Facilites Team. It takes a lot of People-Power to keep our campus running smoothly so we are glad YOU’RE HERE!
Kevin Davis was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med.
He is working for Thomas O’Briant.
Penny Buchman was hired as an Accounting Specialist.
She is working for Anne Murphy.
Haley Dockstader was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for Patrick Lancaster.
Anna Armendariz was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for Patrick Lancaster.
Angela Harding was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for Quentin Rawlins.
Samantha Zaborski was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for Stephanie Brecheisen.
Cordy Gordon was hired as a Custodial Specialist for Vet Med.
He is working for Thomas O’Briant
Kelly Cheever was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for David Laster.
Eric Curry was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
He is working for Roger Schneider.
Angel Brown was hired as a Custodial Specialist.
She is working for Patrick Lancaster.
On The Move!
Congratulations to Bridget Henry!
She has been promoted to “Mail Room Supervisor”.
Congratulations to Chris Hayden!
He has been promoted to “Supply Specialist”
Just for Fun!
Bill Spiegel (K-State Recycling Supervisor) and his team put together another great Recycling float for K-State’s Homecoming parade last month. This year’s Homecoming theme was,
“Little Apple, Big Entertainment.”
Pictured Left to Right; Kelly Whitehair, Willie Wildcat, Bill Spiegel (aka Elton John), & Dianne Spiegel.
Mr. Spiegel ‘& company’ designed this year’s float to highlight several local entertainment sites such as the historic Wareham Theatre and the contemporary Discovery Center. In the spirit of ‘entertainment’, Mr. Spiegel took the opportunity to dress up as entertainment icon, Elton John, while crooning along with well-known favorites such as “Rocket Man” and the lesser known “Recycle Man”….(ok, Bill just made that one up…)