As the semester's end nears, students are thinking about tripsto the beach and free time they have been looking forward to. Butfor the Physical Plant, the work is just beginning.
Breaks between semesters provide opportunities for repairswithout disrupting students, teachers or campus traffic, said DavidSchmitz, communications specialist for the Physical Plant.
"Semester breaks offer excellent times to complete projectsoccurring in residence halls," he said in an e-mail interview.
"The University of Memphis Physical Plant tries to utilizebreaks in the academic calendar as often as possible. Semesterbreaks and holidays present excellent opportunities to conductprojects that would be too obstructive during regular Universityoperation."
In addition to the Physical Plant's regular operations, thedepartment will also do maintenance work in several buildings oncampus, including Mynders Hall, Rawls Hall and North and SouthRichardson Towers.
The custodial staff also has much to do before the end of thesemester to prepare for some high-maintenance cleaning, said CalvinStrong, director of Campus Landscaping and Custodial Services.
"We have to prepare to start a deep general cleaning likestripping the floors, waxing the floors and things that we cannotdo during the semester," Strong said.
The custodial staff actually does more intensive work during thebreaks between semesters than they do while classes are in session,Strong added.
"It's difficult to do some cleaning while there are studentsaround, so during the breaks we do floor care, window cleaning andthings that would disrupt classes," he said.
Summer maintenance includes more intensive window cleaning,bathroom scrubbing, classroom chair degreasing and scrubbing andcarpet extraction and cleaning.
"If we try to do the floor cleaning while students and teachersare here, the carpets will not dry in time, and they will getre-soiled," Strong said.
The landscaping staff will also have to do work around campusthey cannot do while classes are in session.
"We have to do tree-work that cannot be done during thesemester, like removing the tree on Zack Curlin that was struck bylightning," Strong said. "We usually do installation also, but wewon't be doing a lot because we don't have a lot of money to buytrees right now."
