Dean of Students Luke Behaunek addressed concerns and criticism about campus work orders Friday after a new system was implemented over the summer.

In the late spring semester, a new company was brought in to address the upkeep needs of the campus: Staff Selection Commission. With the new company, Randy Rice is also one of the new general managers on campus.

“There’s been around 3,400 work orders entered into the system since the middle of June when our new company began,” Behaunek said. “But I was talking to the general manager this week, and something in the neighborhood of 2,500 of them have already been completed. There were a number of facility-related needs were present in June when SSC first started here to address maintenance, custodial or grounds related concerns. Because of that, summer is the time of year when they’ll be completing the most work orders.” 

The amount of work orders from before the academic year and at the walkthroughs at the end of the academic year contributed to the number. According to Behaunek, how many students are moving on campus and how many housing units need to be ready are contributing factors. 

“We might walk into an apartment and within one space identify several things need to be work ordered,” Behaunek  said. “And each of those is a separate work order, because there might be different technicians respond to each one.”

An online system is used by CAs and professional staff members to let facilities know when a work order needs to be taken care of. 

“Some of the things are considered more urgent,” Behaunek said. “If it’s warm outside and your air conditioner stops working, facilities welcomes a phone call. We put the phone number for facilities on the back of every room door. But a CA also knows in some situations–like air conditioning or heating not working, depending on the time of the year, a door not locking, no electricity, things of a more significant nature – they may call in, as well.”  

Junior Drew Lundquist is the CA for the second floor of Barker Hall said, “It’s nice getting these update emails, so I can keep residents in the know It also holds the maintenance people accountable, I would say. So if it says, for example, ‘We installed a new hook,’ it’s pretty easy for the resident to say, ‘There’s no new hook installed.’ With this system, it’s in writing.”

Randy Rice, a contractor, declined to comment until the college speaks on the matter.