Custodians to work overtime during break

Spring break provides custodial staff with an opportunity to work overtime while students are away. 

“During break, we do our duty for the floor work that we can’t get to when the students are here,” said Char Nelson, Collins Living-Learning Center custodial supervisor. “We scrub the floors, strip and wax them. We clean the hallways and public areas around the front doors that are always busy when students are there, and it gets impossible to get to those areas during that period.”

She said another reason proper cleaning is mainly done during break is the custodial staff itself has more time.

“When break comes, we do our normal routine and then put in some extra time,” Nelson said. “We even scrub stairs.”

As opposed to assessing damages and looking for lost and found items after students leave in May, spring break is when residence managers do a health and wellness check.

“However, some (students) choose to stay in Teter,” said Steve Akers, associate director of environmental operations for Foster Quad.

There is no bug fumigation in the dorms anymore during spring break. Akers said pest control is done only when there is a request and if there’s a big issue in a room.

“We don’t go in every room and spray chemicals,” he said. “We only treat rooms and then inspect them. There are inspections twice a year, and we only go inside rooms if we see that there are bugs that need to be taken care of.”

Nelson said pest control comes at certain times in a year, and there are preventative measures. She said she thinks it is necessary and that the situation is pretty good right now.

Dorm rooms are not cleaned mid-semester unless special circumstances, such as a student moving out, require it.

“Hallways are cleaned every day of the year,” Akers said. “Public areas are cleaned every single day, and 150 custodial supervisors who work in 12 residence centers spend time cleaning exercising space, recreational rooms, hallways, auditoriums, lounges and bathrooms of all types. Every center has nine to 15 custodials that work overtime.”

The cleanliness aspect in the dorms at IU has been the same for many years. IU alumnus Rajat Bhandari lived in Forest Quad during his freshman year in 2005. He said he remembers his hallways being perfectly clean after spring break.

“I am a clean freak and scared of bugs,” he said. “But my dorm was clean enough, so it never led to any worry.”

In addition to these cleanliness projects during spring break, minor construction is also done when students are away for a few days.

“There is going to be some work done in Forest,” Akers said. “But there are only those little projects because it is difficult to get all that work done in such a small amount of time.”