essay on college campus cleaning

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'The Backbone Of The College': How Housekeeping Staff Make In-Person College Possible

Elissa Nadworny

In the dorms at University of Florida, the facility who keep the dorms clean has had to remind college leadership that during the pandemic they aren't just essential — but frontline workers.

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One of the biggest challenges for colleges during the pandemic has been keeping the campus clean and safe. Take the University of Florida, for example, with its 35,000 undergrads. This year the university has opted to be in person. To make that possible, the campus has relied on a team of essential and often vulnerable workers - the cleaning staff. NPR's Elissa Nadworny talked with them on her college road trip.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: As we head across campus, Tanya Hughes spots a pile of dirt on the edge of the sidewalk. She lifts her walkie-talkie.

TANYA HUGHES: Three seventy-five, three seventy-four.

MATT: Three seventy-four, go ahead.

HUGHES: Matt, good morning. When you get a minute, we got a huge ant mound growing on the south end of the housing office by Baby East.

MATT: Ten-four.

HUGHES: Thank you.

NADWORNY: Every walk is like this. If there are fallen branches, she calls it in. If there's trash on the ground, she carries a grabber to pick it up. It's all part of Hughes' job to keep this campus just north of Orlando safe as associate director of building services.

HUGHES: And when I say safe, I mean clean. And it's double-cleaned, and it's triple-cleaned.

NADWORNY: The cleaning part is what she and her 120-person staff have always done. Hughes started here 38 years ago as a custodian, but the pandemic brought fear, especially at the beginning. There was so much uncertainty.

HUGHES: It was like, don't touch this. Don't touch that.

NADWORNY: The staff who wipe down the residence halls, who sweep the classrooms - they became essential to the school's COVID response. That meant when everyone else on campus went home, Hughes had to tell her staff, I know you're scared, but you have to stay.

HUGHES: Some staff felt like, they're leaving us here. And who cares about us?

NADWORNY: The fear was real. At other campuses, custodial staff did die from COVID-19, though in many cases, it's unclear where they caught the virus.

HUGHES: What I had to remind the team was, you're essential, but you have always been essential. And here's the reason why. Without us - and I'm not trying to be arrogant here - this campus shuts down.

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NADWORNY: To see what Hughes means, we head over to a coed building that houses about 160 students.

LAVONDA LITTLE: I'm Lavonda Little. I take care of Reid Hall.

NADWORNY: Miss Little, as she's often called by students, cleans a total of 16 bathrooms here. It's four floors - two girls, two boys.

LITTLE: And my boys are cleaner than girls, yes (laughter). I was shocked myself.

NADWORNY: She pushes a large, yellow cleaning cart heading to the first-floor common area.

LITTLE: My everyday performance - my kitchens, you know, wiping down my tables and everything that's touchable.

NADWORNY: Little has done this job for 16 years. And while her main focus is cleaning, she's come to think of the students here like her own kids.

LITTLE: Some of them have, like, where they're struggling. And they're like, Miss Little, I'm just so frustrated because, you know, I don't want a bad grade. I'm like, well, just do what you can, you know, but just do your best.

NADWORNY: They ask her all sorts of questions. Does this outfit look good for my job interview? How do I turn on the oven? What's the best way to make grits?

LITTLE: And put - make sure you put your little butter in there and salt, pepper.

NADWORNY: She says she's felt safe in her job. With COVID, students are more courteous, picking up after themselves. But she's still regularly reminding students to please wear your masks. For Tanya Hughes, seeing all the hard work her team is doing with the personal risk of being in person, it's been frustrating to see students without masks or disregarding distancing and gathering rules. I ask Hughes, given that and the fact we now know that coronavirus spreads through close contact with people, isn't cleaning over and over and over again a bit of COVID theater?

HUGHES: It makes those that are still extremely fearful more comfortable. And when you see the cleaning team's presence, then you know, well, I don't have to worry about my residence hall or my classroom or my lab that I'm in because I can vouch for the fact that I physically saw somebody at least a dozen times cleaning this space, right?

NADWORNY: Plus, being more visible, she says - having people actually see her staff working as hard as they do in these essential jobs - has been a silver lining.

HUGHES: We are somebody. And you might not have seen us before this pandemic, but I guarantee you you see us now.

NADWORNY: Elissa Nadworny, NPR News, Gainesville, Fla.

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The Importance of Keeping College Campuses Clean

College campuses see hundreds or thousands of people every day. From instructors and students to visitors and guest speakers, your institution sees many new and similar faces. A regular campus cleaning schedule is imperative for creating a welcoming and safe environment for everyone visiting your campus.

Whether you want to impress one-time guests or keep your students comfortable, a clean institution says a lot about you. The state of your institution reflects the care you give your space and resources, and a clean campus shows that you care about student success, staff productivity and general safety.

The benefits of campus cleaning include keeping your school members safe, productive and proud to be a part of your community. Many potential students and other guests also evaluate the cleanliness of an institution before enrolling or visiting. Keeping your college campus clean has the following advantages:

Boosting Productivity

Understanding the importance of campus cleaning can help keep your faculty and students productive. People like spending time in clean locations, and research shows a link between  clean environments and productivity  for students. Areas free of clutter promote activities and general enjoyment. School staff and students will be more productive when sitting with their work without getting distracted by clutter.

Students also tend to model what they see, and you can encourage your students to be more productive by having institution leaders lead by example. Messy and disorganized classrooms and offices show students that cleanliness and care are not necessary for their own work or homes. They may procrastinate completing assignments, skip classes or only give half of their typical effort toward their work when they feel unorganized or messy.

Promoting Safety

Unkempt campuses can cause injuries to school participants. Students don’t want to watch for spills and puddles as they rush to class or head home after a long day, but minor accidents can quickly cause injuries if they slip and fall. Boxes in hallways, sticky surfaces and debris in doorways can create a safety hazard resulting in injuries.

You must also give attention to areas where construction is taking place. Although a new building or classroom addition may benefit your students in the long run, you don’t want to make the construction an inconvenience for your current students. Construction sites regularly see debris, mud and sawdust, and screws or other loose objects can hide in the rubble.

Students who need to pass these sites can come in contact with particles that impede their health or injure them and distract them from learning. Finding a  construction cleaning service  can help reduce the chance of injuries.

You should keep your exterior clean as well. Overgrown grass, large piles of dead leaves and other debris can cause those walking nearby to trip and possibly injure themselves. In the winter, large snow mounds and ice can create a slippery slope for school members to fall. Cracks in the sidewalk can tangle with shoe strings and result in twisted ankles. Landscaping and cleaning services that keep your campus looking pristine inside and out can attract attention and help keep your students and faculty safe.

Nurturing Health

Campuses house many people daily. Some will be more healthy than others. Regardless, germs are on every surface and can quickly spread from one student or staff member to the next. A clean environment promotes healthy students and staff. Regularly cleaning your campus can help reduce bacteria spread from person to person, keeping your students and staff safe and healthy.

A student who frequently gets sick may miss classes or neglect their schoolwork, potentially putting them behind their peers and compromising their ability to pass classes. Sick instructors may take a leave from work or frequently request to use their sick days, leaving students without instructors to lead their classes and impeding their academic success.

Even if your students and staff continue showing up for class and meetings, they may experience other health issues that affect their experience. For instance, a clean campus can help ease asthma and allergy symptoms. Mold, pollen and dust can gather in unkept places, making breathing difficult for those with allergies or asthma. They might frequently cough or blow their noses or get painful headaches. A clean college campus improves the air quality and makes everyday functions possible and enjoyable.

Assisting College Infrastructure

Light fixtures, electronic equipment, waterways and other resources are essential to running your institution smoothly. Without proper care, these systems can experience damage and wear that makes them challenging to use or causes them to break, impeding your operations. Removing dust, cleaning leaks and wiping sticky surfaces will keep these resources running correctly.

When you regularly clean your campus, you can identify potential problem areas before they worsen. Some maintenance problems can be costly and challenging to fix if you neglect them for too long. Additionally,  furniture and carpets  will last much longer if you take care of them and ensure they receive the proper cleaning. You can save significant costs by keeping your current setup clean rather than replacing it with a newer model later.

Encouraging Enrollment

Many students today expect to feel as comfortable, secure and safe in college as they do at home. A pleasant and attractive campus is essential to students and plays a part in their  enrollment decision . Students want to walk through sparkling hallways, sit in organized classrooms, meet in tidy offices and experience clean restrooms.

A clean campus nonverbally communicates to students that the administration cares about them and their experience. When students see their school making improvements, they recognize that they are trying to guide them to success and provide them with the resources they need.

Additionally, when your institution tries to attract new students, a good reputation will go a long way. If students see pristine pictures on your website but attend a tour to find spills on the floors and debris cluttering classrooms, they may feel like your institution led them to believe falsehoods and may not trust your school is the best fit for them.

Clean Campuses From National Janitorial Solutions

At National Janitorial Solutions, we know that a clean space reflects how much you value your students, but finding the time to give your institution the attention it needs can be challenging, especially in high-traffic areas. Thankfully, you don’t have to. National Janitorial Solutions offers a professional and experienced team to maintain and sanitize your institution in any state. We’ve been helping organizations across the country for over 35 years, and we know how to handle various jobs from simple to in-depth.

Get in touch  with us today to find out more about what we can do for your institution. We offer various services to meet your needs and keep your students and staff safe and productive.

Get a Customized Service Proposal

Every client is unique and we look forward to building services that will fit your needs and your budget.