CJ Day – Staff Writer
It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
University of Wyoming Custodial Services cleans more than six million square feet of floor space over the course of an average day.
Custodial Services is one of the largest departments on campus, but even then they have got their work cut out for them.
“We have a lot of square footage, and limited resources, so that makes it so that we have to prioritize what things we do and when,” said Tod Scott, the Director of Custodial Services. “We’ve been spread pretty thin in the past, but things are starting to get better.”
As part of their daily routine, custodians in each of the buildings on campus are tasked with cleaning the bathrooms, hallways and public areas. In most cases, this means that custodians come to work at 4 a.m. before students or faculty.
“In some of these buildings, it’s hard to get into classrooms, so we really have to pick our battles and make sure that we get everywhere,” said Scott. “We try to hit common areas every day, but it’s a struggle to get to every little office and lab in some of these buildings.”
In winter, the focus of the custodial staff changes quite a bit – they, along with the grounds crew, make snow removal their main priority.
The custodians focus on the walkways directly surrounding their building – the grounds crew handles the big jobs. Still, wintry conditions can strike at any time, and that means that other parts of the job can suffer during snowstorms.
“On really snowy days, we’ll be lucky just to keep up with the snow,” said Scott. “That means that classrooms might go uncleaned, and we might only get to clean the bathrooms that day.”
Three years ago, Custodial Services faced major budget cuts, and the department lost 20 positions across campus. Though recent administrations have seen the need for a well-staffed custodial department, Scott said, their staff still is not up to pre-budget numbers, and that means that the final product ends up being less than satisfactory.
“Just after the budget cut, we found that we could no longer do our job as well as we once did. It was by far the biggest problem we’ve ever faced in my time here,” said Scott. “We’re slowly hiring back up to full strength, but it’s hard to hire people who want to be janitors. That being said, there are a lot of people on campus who are very appreciative of our staff.”
While Scott admitted that the job is not exactly the most glamorous, and the pay isn’t great, he outlined some benefits of custodial work that might not be readily apparent.
“A lot of my staff, they just really enjoy cleaning,” said Scott.
In addition, many custodians work full time for the department, and also go to school full time, thanks to the flexibility offered by the cleaning schedule.
Scott has not noticed students getting cleaner or dirtier over his six years working in this department, but he does have one message to all students that learn and work in public areas:
“Your mother doesn’t work here. Please make our jobs easier and clean up after yourself.”
