September 2021

Custodial was prepared and ready for our 70K + students and thousands of faculty and staff returning 100% capacity this semester and not to mention getting ready for the first home football game on September 4th.

This semester Custodial was tasked at the request of the University to remove all dots we placed last year on thousands of desks and chairs to mark social distancing.

Signage was created by SSC that we put out at every public entrance encouraging everyone to wear a mask.

We also provided porter services in our classroom buildings until the last class of the day so we are available to sanitize touch points, make sure sanitizing dispensers and bottles are full and to be there if we need to sanitize an area during class times.

Custodial has also gotten 98% of our staff tested as of August 31st. We are encouraging 100% vaccinations and have put in place incentives to reward those who have.

One more initiative in place is that we are sending in weekly chemical inventories to ensure we have all the sanitizing supplies needed to combat this pandemic and keep our campus as safe as possible.

To celebrate a successful summer of Residence Hall renovations and classroom enhancement completions, EDCS held their end of summer luau with catering by Chick-Fil-A, Minute to Win It games, door prizes and first ever pineapple decorating contest.

It’s that time of year again! Students are returning to campus, football is around the corner and it is one of the busiest times of year for SSC Grounds Maintenance. August is incredibly busy for everyone in Grounds, so what are we all doing?

Structural Pest Control - Utilized a Bed Bug sniffing dog to inspect nearly 7100 dorm and apartment rooms for bed bug activity prior to them being occupied. They also inspected another 94 apartments on campus for any insect activity as part of the make-ready process to prepare them for occupancy.

Mulching - Teams from throughout Grounds have prepared tree rings and beds for mulch. We have put out over 1500 Cubic Yards of mulch on campus in August alone.

Fire-Ants - All priority and tailgate areas have been assessed and treated for Fire Ants prior to students’ arrival. We continue to inspect and provide treatment as necessary to tailgate areas throughout the season to ensure the safety of all who are here to cheer for the Aggies.

Trash Barrels - SSC Grounds provides trash cans to tailgate areas throughout campus. Every year we replace about 300 of our 1200 trash cans (55gallon steel drums) due to age. We purchase the 55 gallon steel drums, clean, sand, and paint them “Aggie Maroon” so they can be distributed in tailgate areas of campus throughout football season. The Sanitation Team also gets Work Orders for multiple events at the start of school and we provide trash barrels for these as well.

Horticulture - These teams are running full speed weeding and cleaning ornamental beds around campus ensuring that campus looks amazing as everyone returns.

Flower Teams - This team is busy changing and taking care of annual color beds and containers all over campus. They are working as I write this to plant the “HOWDY BED” in red, white and blue in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of 9-11, it’s going to be beautiful.

Irrigation - As we all know, August in College Station is brutally hot and this calls for irrigation to be running smoothly to keep everything watered. These associates work very hard to make sure irrigation stays in working order, provides adequate coverage, and is set to water at prescribed intervals. It’s a lot of work.

Mowing - It’s growing season and these teams are working overtime to keep the grass mowed, edged and trimmed in order to keep campus looking manicured at all times. It is a hard, thankless job that seems to never be complete but these teams do an amazing job and campus looks great!

Trees - We love our trees at Texas A&M and our tree team works very hard to take good care of them. They also spend a great deal of time making sure limbs are trimmed so that people can easily traverse campus, whether walking down the miles of sidewalks that meander through campus or driving our roads.

Sports and Recreation - Intramural sports is a huge part of the college experience, this team makes sure that experience is as good as it can be by making sure these field are properly maintained and set up for a variety of sports.

There are hundreds of things the Grounds Department oversees to keep campus beautiful, it’s time to show it all off. We hope you enjoy the wondrous beauty this campus has to offer!

submitted by Bryan McGee

On 7/29/2021 the custodial staff at the Zachry Engineering building were presented with a breakfast hosted by the Zachry Engineering and Facilities management staff.  For the past 2 years they have hosted a lunch to show their appreciation to the custodial staff for all their hard work and dedication to keeping the building like new and shinning.

Like the MSC, the Zachry Engineering building has come to be known as a living room of the campus where they see an estimated 10,000 students and visitors daily.

Keeping things clean can be a daunting task with the extremely high volumes of traffic but custodial gets it done with friendly service and a smile.

Zachry staff to attend the breakfast included Interim Vice Chancellor of Engineering Dr. John Hurtado and the organizer of this event, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor and Dean Deyanira Ely, Director of Engineering for Human Resources Damon Slaydon, Vice President  for Facilities Management Stephen Franklin and Facilities Manager at Zachry Patrick Munoz.  Custodial management staff to attend included Unit Director Sheila Robinson and Assistant Custodial Supervisor Dora Reyes.

Dr. Hurtado verbally thanked all employees and communicated the important roles that each of us play in keeping the Facility operational and in tip top shape. Then he and the rest of the Zachry staff proceeded to mix and mingle and to get to know the custodial employees.

For the 20th anniversary of 9-11 the flower team has staged the “HOWDY BED” in red, white and blue in remembrance of this tragic event and to honor the many that lost their lives when the twin towers were attacked.

CUSTODIAL NEW ASSOCIATES

Jesse Allsbrooks

Noah Brown

Shatoyha Cross

Francisca Aguirre De Castillo

Krystal Dunn

Kenitha Ebbs

Morgan Jackson

Amari Jessie

Rebecca Jimenez

Edna Jones

Arthur Lawson

Carmen Valdes Martinez

Eboney Moore

Delouris Poole

Francisco Romero

Heather Reyes

Nora Benitez Serrano

Bettie Smith

Javora Stewart

Teisha Thompson

Jamie Williams

Maria Zapata

EDCS

Rachel Smith

Erik Rodriguez

GROUNDS

JGotti Goree

Brad Howard Jr.

John Siebert

Lawrence Wallace

Tavion Wilson

MAINTENANCE NEW ASSOCIATES

Cody Bernhard

Lance Bokinskie

Andrew Cruz

Everett Cuellar

Kateland Fierro

Lonnie Grammer

Afraleila Guice

Linda Holland

Austin Keen

William Marquez

Jacob Mitts

Orlando Ramirez

Devin Rose

Wesley Vasquez

Ronald Whitworth

Custodial

Yesenia Soto

EDCS Quarterly

Kenny Marek

Grounds

Tyler Brock

Robert Carroll

Kelvin Taylor

Maintenance

Ryne McReynolds

Paul Vasquez