Students gain maintenance responsibilities
Thomas Currey
Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News
Hillsdale College welcomed four new faces to its custodial staff earlier this month, yet unlike other campus employees, these particular custodians share two peculiar traits: they are all students, and they all live where they work.
In years past, housekeepers with duties in multiple buildings cleaned Waterman Residence and the Dow House, but this year the mop and bucket have passed to senior Charlotte Coker, junior Keri Long and sophomores Bridget Myers and Claire Murphy.
Dean of Women Diane Philipp said the use of student housekeepers in both residences will help the regular custodians focus their attention on different facilities, a welcome relief since the dedication of the 52,000-square-foot Grewcock Student Union in January.
Superintendent of Custodial Services Vicky Phetteplace touted the department's "high-efficiency team cleaning" system implemented the spring before last, under which custodians started working in groups to keep pace with new construction.
"We are proud of the campus, and everyone values the need to take care of everything," Phetteplace said. "[Grewcock] hasn't made any changes, it's just more of what we do everywhere."
Phetteplace said the only major changes to custodial services since last semester are those at Waterman and the Dow House. Though the college now employs four new custodians, even the custodial budget remains largely unaffected, because the total number of hours custodians log campus-wide is expected to stay about the same.
Since its inception, the employment of student custodians at female upperclassmen dorms had little to do with campus construction, but instead was an agreement made between students and the dean.
Dow House Resident Assistant Elise Hill said student custodians will log about four hours per week, though cleaning times will become more flexible and specific to the needs of the other residents.
Philipp agreed.
"It just made more sense that when it was time to vacuum, they should vacuum, and when it was time to dust, they should dust," she said. "It was really just more practical because they were living there already, and they knew what needed to be done."
In years past, housekeepers with duties in multiple buildings cleaned Waterman Residence and the Dow House, but this year the mop and bucket have passed to senior Charlotte Coker, junior Keri Long and sophomores Bridget Myers and Claire Murphy.
Dean of Women Diane Philipp said the use of student housekeepers in both residences will help the regular custodians focus their attention on different facilities, a welcome relief since the dedication of the 52,000-square-foot Grewcock Student Union in January.
Superintendent of Custodial Services Vicky Phetteplace touted the department's "high-efficiency team cleaning" system implemented the spring before last, under which custodians started working in groups to keep pace with new construction.
"We are proud of the campus, and everyone values the need to take care of everything," Phetteplace said. "[Grewcock] hasn't made any changes, it's just more of what we do everywhere."
Phetteplace said the only major changes to custodial services since last semester are those at Waterman and the Dow House. Though the college now employs four new custodians, even the custodial budget remains largely unaffected, because the total number of hours custodians log campus-wide is expected to stay about the same.
Since its inception, the employment of student custodians at female upperclassmen dorms had little to do with campus construction, but instead was an agreement made between students and the dean.
Dow House Resident Assistant Elise Hill said student custodians will log about four hours per week, though cleaning times will become more flexible and specific to the needs of the other residents.
Philipp agreed.
"It just made more sense that when it was time to vacuum, they should vacuum, and when it was time to dust, they should dust," she said. "It was really just more practical because they were living there already, and they knew what needed to be done."
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