Keeping the campus well-groomed
By Carolyn McGough
April 4, 2007 9:36 p.m.
Admissions season is here, and as campus tours wind their way through UCLA, the carefully manicured lawns may play as important a role in prospective students’ decisions as quality of dorm food.
Many of those students now visiting UCLA do not realize the university sets aside $86 million and hires about 920 Facilities Management employees to keep the campus functioning and looking lovely throughout the year for students, faculty and visitors alike.
The attractiveness of UCLA is likely a large part of its appeal for incoming students, said high school senior Justin Evans, who has been accepted to UCLA.
“The quality of the campus, the condition and the physical atmosphere of UCLA is a huge part of my decision to attend,” Evans said. “I think it’s almost as important as the academics.”
Many prospective students, like Evans, come to visit the campus during spring or summer quarter and consequently, Facilities Management works endlessly to keep the atmosphere of UCLA up to par.
And keeping such a large campus looking nice comes at no small price.
“The budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year was $86 million,” said Jim Lazear, director of Finance and Information Services. “The 2007-2008 year will see an increase in that budget and is currently being formulated.”
The budget is determined by evaluating which areas on campus need more or less maintenance.
It must receive approval from the assistant vice chancellor of general services and the vice chancellor of administration, Lazear said.
But this year Facilities Management is slightly over budget.
“When we’re over budget, the bulk of it is because different research departments need equipment set up,” Lazear said. “If a researcher asked for extra power to install a machine, an electrician will go out and set up that machine. That’s where the variance comes from. Facilities Management is always at work.”
The department is responsible for maintenance, including landscaping, remodeling and custodial duties across the university throughout the year.
It works hard to “support UCLA’s mission by maintaining and enhancing buildings, grounds and infrastructure in a cost-effective, safe and environmentally responsible manner,” according to the Facilities Management Web site.
Facilities Management workers try to remedy issues at the most convenient times, often working late evenings and over breaks, Assistant Vice Chancellor of General Services Jack Powazek said.
“We try not to work on projects at times they would ordinarily affect people,” Powazek said. “For instance, the small paving job we had last Friday at Tiverton and Charles E. Young Drive was done over break to minimally upset traffic.”
Students often fail to notice a new paint job or repaved road on campus after returning from spring break, but maintenance like this is important and keeps UCLA looking respectable for students who are deciding whether to accept their admissions offers.
The majority of the time and energy put into university maintenance is about the same throughout the year, Powazek said.
Some repairs, though, are scheduled according to the season.
“In the spring we try and do a lot with flooring and public spaces,” Lazear said.
“We bring a special floor-cleaning crew in spring. They wax and maintain the floor. That’s a small percentage of the flooring work for the year, but it is one of the things we do.”
Upkeep like this is also just in time to help lure in prospective students and impress visitors taking campus tours.
“We try to keep the campus maintained extremely well at all times,” Powazek said.
