Ithaca College

I am writing as a follow up to the article submitted last month by Vice-President Carl Sgrecci regarding changes made within the Division of Finance and Administration. I would like to update you on changes specific to the Office of Facilities.

As with all departments across campus, the Office of Facilities undertook a strategic review of the services we provide and how best to meet the challenges of the college's current economic environment while still effectively delivering those services. To help accomplish that goal we have implemented the following organizational changes.

This past summer Bill Drake retired, as Director of Facilities Maintenance, after over 30 years of outstanding service to Ithaca College. Bill's retirement afforded the opportunity to look at that position and how it was structured. To best meet the needs of the college that position was restructured and is now titled Director of Facilities Maintenance and Projects. I am happy to announce that Steve Dayton has been named to that position. Steve was formerly the Project Coordinator for the Office of Facilities area of Planning Design and Construction. In his role as Director of Facilities Maintneance and Projects Steve will oversee all area's of the Office of Facilities maintenance division as well as provide leadership for a number renovation and construction projects. Steve's skills and experience  are a natural fit for the position.

I am also pleased to let you know that Gail Wagner has moved from the Purchasing Office to the Office of Facilities and will serve as Facilities Purchasing Manager. In this role Gail will provide purchasing services for all areas within the Office of Facilities including the procurement of supplies, material, and equipment. She will also oversee the sale and disposal of all surplus material generated by the Office of Facilities, coordinate negotiation of maintenance service agreements for the Office of Facilities, and assist with the college's purchase of electricity and natural gas. In addition Gail will be responsible for working with all campus departments and divisions on the purchasing of furniture.

Finally, we have made a change to the staffing structure in our Facilities Services area. We used to have a "bridge" shift (called our 1-A shift) that helped bridge the gap between the end of our third shift and the beginning of our first shift. The 1-A shift has been discontinued and the people on that shift were given the choice to be reassigned to either first or third shift. This allowed us to eliminate a number of management/project coordination positions on all shifts within Facilities Services. Based on our overall strategic review process the people in those eliminated management/project coordination positions were reassigned to vacant Facilities Attendant positions.

All of us in Facilities look forward to working with the campus community regarding these changes and continuing to provide the highest level of quality service possible. If you have any questions about these changes please feel free to contact me.

Thank you