Custodial Articles

Staff Spotlight: Esmeralda Vanover

Esmeralda Vanover, also known by her nickname, Es, has been working with Facilities Management (FM) for a little over eight and a half years, previously as a Principal Supervisor and now as Interim Operations Manager for Facilities Custodial Services.

A Week of Custodial Team Fun:

 

This past May, our custodial team hosted a series of employee events in honor of the International Sanitary Supply Association’s International Cleaning Week! The team showcased their spirit throughout the week by dressing up in fun themes and spending time socializing with each other. We sat down with custodial supervisor Jasmine Aranda to learn more about this celebration of team spirit! 

Employee Spotlight: Lauren Bautista

 

Custodial Director Lauren Bautista joined the Facilities Management team just this past January and has already made a splash! We sat down with her to talk about her favorite parts of her new role and UC Davis as a whole. 

Before starting at Facilities Management (FM) in January, Lauren was working as an operations manager at Cintas. A friend of hers who works at Student Housing and Dining Services raved about UC Davis, so when Lauren saw the job opening here she decided to apply! She says she has the “best job ever” and loves her team and the Davis campus. 

Keeping Our Campus Clean

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with custodial supervisor Shafeena Ali about the completion of a floor maintenance project at Academic Surge. Shafeena manages a team of 12 custodial employees, who split up into two teams of six to complete this project. 

The custodial team completes floor maintenance regularly and the second floor of Academic Surge was on the project list because it was overdue for a deep cleaning. Shafeena sat down with us to share the technical aspects of this project and her team’s fantastic teamwork throughout. 

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's a Window-Washing Drone!

Custodial Services is always looking for more efficient ways to improve our campus environment. One of these recent innovations is a new initiative that uses drone technology to clean windows on tall buildings! We had the opportunity to discuss the behind-the-scenes of this project with custodial supervisor Michael Orona. 

Custodial Equipment Innovations Save Time

You may notice several new tools around campus that are helping Custodial Services improve service levels. Seeking inventive ways to meet the needs of the campus is a key focus of Custodial Services, especially with the additional cleaning requirements prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of new equipment, including robot floor scrubbers, new paper towel dispensers, and touchless restroom cleaners, is one way that the custodial team has proven to find innovative solutions to new challenges.