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Housekeepers duties reassessed due to expanding campus
Changes will save
TCU $2.5 million
over 10 years
By Sarah Chacko
Staff Reporter
University
officials contend that housekeeping task reassignments will accomplish
the same service at the same rate without resulting in job cuts.
Under the previous cleaning system, housekeepers did all of the
cleaning duties on a given floor, said Joe Laster, director of Facility
Services. Housekeepers worked in day and night crews to clean the
academic buildings, he said. Over the next six months, “team
cleaning,” a new program of zone cleaning, will be providing
the campus community with “duty specialists,” he said.
“Duty specialists are assigned specific tasks instead of doing
all tasks within a zone,” Laster said.
Chancellor Michael Ferrari said a team concept is necessary as the
campus expands and for the special skills required for certain buildings
and labs.
“Rather than having a person or persons assigned to a particular
building to handle all maintenance and housekeeping functions, a
team will be assigned to meet the various needs in various facilities,”
Ferrari said.
The new process is designed to save work hours and eliminate preparation
times for each assigned task in the current zone process, Laster
said.
Despite saving work hours, these changes are not expected to result
in layoffs or pay cuts, Laster said. A few housekeepers said they
were worried their jobs may be replaced by contract workers.
Laster said Facility Services is trying to provide competitive services.
If outside work was contracted, the current housekeepers would receive
less pay and no benefits, he said.
“In this business there is always contract work that wants
to encroach on the in-house cleaning,” Laster said.
However, Laster said there are no plans to head in that direction.
Shelton Riley, assistant director of Facility Services, said the
changes are expected to save the university $2.5 million in housekeeping
expenses over the next 10 years. The specialized training the housekeepers
will go through will also make their job easier, Riley said.
Team members will usually remain on the same crews and work in the
same buildings, Laster said. Facility services has six custodial
crews, two day and four night, one special services crew and an
administrative section that will undergo the change, he said.
Maricia Reeves, an administrative assistant in Sadler Hall, said
she always addresses all her needs and requests to the housekeeping
supervisor on her floor. But, she said a change of pace might be
beneficial to keep the housekeepers out of a monotonous routine.
“As my mother used to say, ‘A new broom sweeps clean,’”
Reeves said.
Sarah Chacko
s.e.chacko@tcu.edu
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