When you go home, Ohio State facilities go to work

For the month of November, classes are in session at Ohio State, leaving students and faculty alike anticipating a break in the next.

The maintenance staff, on the other hand, is just getting started.

After the halls of academic and dormitory buildings across campus have gone silent for December, a new flurry of work begins. Given more time and space to complete projects with fewer students around, Ohio State’s maintenance staff becomes free for a month each year to complete important projects not possible during an academic term.

“You can’t really shut down the heating and cooling at Enarson for eight hours during the day during the term, but you can do that during the break,” Peter Calamari, associate vice president of Ohio State Facilities Operations and Development, said.

Dan Hedman, director of marketing and communications for the Office of Administration and Planning, said the work that occurs in December keeps the structures of the Columbus campus in shape for the semester and then years to come.

Genovesa Resendes, a housekeeper who works in the Ohio Union, said the duration of break time around the holiday season from Christmas to New Year’s has been reduced since the departure of former university President Kristina Johnson, making it harder for staff to see their families over the break. 

“For the last two years, we had from right before Christmas till after New Year’s,” Resendes said. “With the presidency switching around on campus, we have Christmas, we have a couple days back here, and then we have a couple days for New Year’s.”

Resendes said her coworkers, many of whom are originally from other countries, expect to have difficulties in visiting their families for the holidays. While her family lives close by, the newly reduced break time may force her coworkers to be alone on the holidays for the first time.

“They go to their country for a couple weeks during this time,” Resendes said. “Some of them may not be able to this year.”

Hedman said that certain time- and space-consuming projects are slated specifically for when students are mostly at home, including rewaxing floors, repainting walls and other cosmetic procedures, as well as repairs to heating and cooling systems and tests of emergency alarms and electrical generators. 

Calamari said around 80 distinct projects begin during winter break, a time he called a “refresh window.”

Resendes said her team has intricate plans for taking care of the projects assigned for the refresh window, and they have coordinated to split up the work of refinishing the Union floors across three shifts. 

“We do all the stripping of the floors, while the third shift puts down a new coat of wax in the afternoons,” Resendes said. 

Calamari said he is proud of the staff for overcoming challenges and for the work they accomplish during winter break, making memorable spaces for the university community.

“We’re not a part of the educational process, but we’re a part of the backdrop,” Calamari said. “And that backdrop stays with people far after they leave here.”