You may have noticed some changes in NVC housekeeping services over the past several months.
New NVC Housekeeping Foreman
As many of you may be aware, Terry Noblitt, the NVC Housekeeping foreman, retired earlier this year. A replacement was recently named, Isabel Lopez, coming to NVC from St. Philips College. She has many years of experience in the housekeeping field and we are pleased to have her on our campus.
To reach Isabel for general housekeeping questions or concerns, call 6-4878 or e-mail ilopez6@alamo.edu. When addressing housekeeping concerns, it is helpful to include details about the location, date and time. Photos are also welcome. Please keep in mind that the job requires her to be out of the office and around campus frequently. If housekeeping matters require immediate attention, such as large spills, you can also contact Vanessa Valenzuela at 6-4888.
New Housekeeping Service Levels
Late last year, Alamo Colleges awarded the housekeeping service agreement for NVC buildings to a new contractor, McLemore, which also provides recycling, grounds, and other facilities support across the college. As part of this service agreement, cleaning frequencies are outlined by service level and type of space based on APPA Custodial guidelines.
For example, at the current APPA Level 3, restrooms are cleaned and disinfected daily, classroom and conference room floors are cleaned weekly, and office furniture is dusted twice monthly. This allows the college to objectively monitor how well these service levels are being met, whether or not the service levels are sufficient for individual areas based on their use, and to make adjustments accordingly. The full agreement may be found here in the SharePoint site.
Some of the highlighted changes include:
- Office trash bins are emptied three times per week (not daily). Therefore, food items should be placed in the break or kitchen area trash bins for daily removal.
- Office recycling bins must be emptied by employees into the larger hallway bins.
- Please notify Housekeeping for items needing urgent attention or attention that day (out of cycle).
- Also notify housekeeping when planning for large events that require additional housekeeping services (cleaning and trash pick-up).
Event or Room Set-up Services
If you have room-set up needs, be sure to submit a Facilities work order at least two weeks in advance to ensure the appropriate resources can be scheduled to accomplish the work. Set-ups that require additional staffing and/or are services outside of business hours may result in the department receiving a quote to cover the costs. While Alamo College Facilities is assessing the volume of requests and funding this first year of service, the college and departments may need to foot the bill (including a $50 minimum charge) in the future.
Set-up requests are generally completed by 4 pm the day prior to the event. Please note that, while Housekeeping will gladly help move furniture and equipment, technology items (including microphones and projectors) need to continue to be arranged through a separate IT service request.
It is worth noting that, as a result of being efficient and close to capacity in how we utilize our space, NVC requires substantially more housekeeping services and set-ups compared to our sister colleges. Please help us maintain a clean and beautiful campus for our community by being aware of the service level expectations and notifying Housekeeping of additional services.
Contributed by Virginia Leggett, Director of College Services