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The Perfect BU: Physical Plant in charge

I can't wait until my refrigerator breaks.

This may seem a bit odd for most people, but then again most people haven't had the pleasure of dealing with the university's physical plant.

The physical plant, otherwise known as the maintenance department, does everything the university needs to continue running. Under the direction of Tom Messinger, the physical plant includes ground crew, custodial, equipment operators, shuttle bus operators, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and general maintenance personnel for the different dorms and buildings.

As a junior, I have been privileged enough to work with the physical plant on many occasions. If anything in my apartment broke or got clogged, the maintenance department was there in a flash, professional and courteous as always. To be truthful, with all of my dealings with the maintenance staff, I have never had a bad experience. Instead, I end up feeling much better than I did before the problem. Not only is my problem fixed, but also I get professionals in their field to add icing to the proverbial cake.

This school of thought really shouldn't come as a huge surprise to me, but it seems that more and more people are less oriented towards customer service and more towards putting a product out. It's just absolutely refreshing to be able to work with a department that does both.

I feel extremely lucky to have such fine employees at this university. They are experts in their respective fields, and the university benefits from them. But our maintenance employees differ from many other experts in the field: they know how to work with people and they love doing it. Never have I felt like I was a burden to them when I called with a problem. Rather, I was always the next potentially satisfied customer, which is the way that all departments should be run, not just businesses.

The maintenance staff is like an umpire at a baseball game. When they are doing their jobs correctly and efficiently, you don't even notice that they're there. Generally the only time that you realize that they are there when you have a complaint. So they rarely get compliments for the fine work that they do, but rather complaints from people who think that they should be working 24 hours a day to take care of all of the problems.

Well, I've got news for you, folks—they very nearly do. The reason the commuter lots weren't snow-ridden was because the maintenance department was out at 3 a.m. clearing the snow from campus. The potentially treacherous roads were cleared without so much as a pat on the back.

Some of the shuttle bus drivers who stay late worked on the snow removal as well as many other people on the staff when they're needed. Essentially, the maintenance department was responsible for your safe arrival to classes on Monday and for the clean sidewalks. Had it not been for the snow on the sides of the road, you would have never known that it had snowed. The roads were cleared as only professionals can do.

Besides any outdoor maintenance, the physical plant is also responsible for the custodians in the academic buildings and dorms. And for that, I am eternally grateful. Again, even with such a tedious job, never have I met a discourteous custodian. Rather, they are professional, efficient and helpful.

Anyone who has been lucky enough to be on the first floor of McCormick in the evenings has had the pleasure of working with Veronica. She takes care of the maintenance of the first floor in the evenings, but the walls, floors and bathrooms aren't the only things she takes care of. She takes care of the people who walk and work on her floor. She says hello, strikes up a conversation, helps you out if you need a hand. She is much more than a janitor—she is a friend. Veronica is someone who knows that doing her job is only part of her job. The other, more important part is enjoying the people, and she most certainly does that.

The wonderful part is, though, that Veronica isn't alone in her professionalism, hard work and caring. She is exactly like every other maintenance employee that I've ever met. She likes her job, but she loves the people she works with. Whoever was responsible for the hiring in the maintenance department should be commended. That person is a wonderful judge of character and skills.

The department as a whole is so forward thinking. When it started to get cold, a maintenance employee came to my apartment to make sure our pipes wouldn't freeze. Now what other department on campus does that sort of preventative maintenance?

Can anyone do their jobs? Not a chance. It takes someone committed to their job and to the university as a whole. I think that each and every one of the maintenance employees take pride in their job and are constantly striving to do things better.

So, thank you, Mr. Messinger, for employing such a professional, efficient and courteous staff.

Until all of the other departments on campus start taking your lead, if I need good customer service, I'll just break the refrigerator.