Custodians understaffed
Staff cut in half 10 years
ago; hasn't grown since
Ryan Tubongbanua
/ The Collegian
Campus custodians, like
Anna Aguilar, who has been here since May, are in short supply at
Fresno State. "There could be more help," she said. |
By Katie Pecci
The Collegian
A lack of funding due to recent
budget cuts was the reason for unwashed windows and the bird droppings
on the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue in the Peace Garden, plant operations
personnel said Friday.
“We have not seen a pay increase in three years and have lost half
our staff,” plant operations storekeeper Shirley Simonian said.
In response to an Aug. 31 editorial in The Collegian, Simonian wrote a
letter to the editor, explaining why the shorthanded custodial staff is
unable to get to every problem on campus.
On average, a custodian at Fresno State makes $2,200 per month. Certain
factors such as reliability, experience and time with the university all
come into play when a salary is decided upon.
The custodial staff was cut from approximately 96 to 50 in 1995 due to
lack of funding and a need to economize. Simonian said the reason for
the unwashed windows is the lack of custodians available to clean up after
22,000 students.
“They’re doing what they can with what they have and it’s
difficult,” she said. There are currently about 50 custodians at
Fresno State. The university is budgeted for 57 and the department is
looking to fill those positions.
Facilities manager Robert Boyd said plant operations has had very little
growth in the past four years. Because of reduced funding and rising supply
costs, the department was not able to hire more people.
“The state has not factored in the rise in petroleum and supply
costs to keep the school running. It takes about a year for that to happen,”
Boyd said.
A CSU campus receives money based on how much square footage is built
upon.
When Fresno State raised enrollment and added new buildings to the campus,
the plant operations department was compensated. Exact amounts of compensation
vary by campus and depend on the type of building added.
“We are formula-based so when new buildings are added we do receive
funding,” Boyd said.
In response to Simonian’s letter, Boyd said even though the department
is somewhat understaffed they still respond to calls in a particular order.
“If we find out a student got sick in the hallway we are going to
have that cleaned up right away,” Boyd said.
Classrooms and department offices at Fresno State are cleaned every weekday.
These
types of rooms are “main functioning” rooms.
Staff and private offices are cleaned once a week, reduced from every
day to save on costs. Typically, a custodian will go into the office,
empty the trash and if there is a larger issue, address it accordingly,
Boyd said.
“Can I use more custodians? Absolutely. But realistically that is
just not possible right now. The only way it would be is if people agree
to pay more, and no one wants to pay more,” Boyd said.
Plant operations does receive more money when the state can spare more
and when student fees go up. However, even with the most recent student
fee increase, it has not been enough, Boyd said.
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