Skip to main content

« Back to Employee News

Staff News August 2022

August 26, 2022

New Hires

Transfers & Promotions

  • Bonita White, custodial services worker, North Grounds Custodial

Organizational Announcements

Following the recent retirement of Deputy Chief Facilities Officer Rick Rice, Facilities Management leadership has chosen to eliminate the position of deputy chief facilities officer and consolidate certain support activities under the new position of director of business services. The search process resulted in the selection of Blake Watson, currently director of finance, who started in this new position on Aug. 15. Blake will report to Don Sundgren and will initially be responsible for Programs and Informatics (Mark Webb) and Technology and Innovation (Chris Smeds) in addition to her current Finance responsibilities. Further consolidation of support activities into Business Services will be considered if deemed potentially beneficial to the organization.

Welcome to FM

The newest class of UVA FM apprentices stand side-by-side

The newest class of the UVA Apprenticeship Program joined Facilities Management the first week of August. The class includes, from left, Viktor Golovanev, Damien Harris, Chelséa Lewis, Jessie Gammon, Tripp Bailey, Evan Wagner and Walter Sabwa. If you see these new skilled trades apprentices at work be sure to welcome them to UVA FM!

Compliments from Customers

The Housing Custodial team hold up a thank-you sign while standing around a table of Krispy Kreme donuts

Housing Custodial team: Thank you for all you do! UVA's housekeeping staff is the best. We truly appreciate your hard work to make Summer 2022 a success! Thank you all. –UVA Conference Services, who treated the team to donuts and a large thank you poster

Two photos side-by-side of Fleet employees cleaning a loading bay

Matt Ball, Mike Duffy, and Mike Eldredge: I wanted to give a shout out to Matt Ball, Mike Duffy, and Mike Eldredge in P&I Fleet for always being willing to help out and get things done. Whether keeping the storm drain in front of their building clear of debris after the many recent downpours, helping to remove mud from their loading area after a deluge, or noticing that the spill kits in the FM yard needed refilling, they take pride in FM and set an example we should all aim to emulate. They not only take notice of things many people would walk by and think “not my problem,” they make sure something is done about it whether it's by doing it themselves or making sure all the right people know about it. Oh, and if you have any vehicle needs they are so incredibly helpful in making sure you are literally and figuratively ready to go. I am grateful to have the pleasure of getting to work with these gentlemen! –Jess Wenger, Environmental Resources

Doug Rush: In mid-August, an alert was issued that a planned outage would interrupt all power (normal and emergency) for the Toxicology Lab in the West Complex. A full system electrical outage is not possible since the laboratory operates seven days a week performing critical testing to care for patients. Fortunately, Doug Rush is very familiar with the operations in the West Complex and brought the alert notice to the lab. This allowed us to prevent a potentially catastrophic event and regroup to make an alternate plan. With the new plan in place to cut normal power only, Doug brought electrical cords and power strips so we could operate equipment and provide seamless care to our patients. Doug came in to the Toxicology Lab on Saturday morning when the power was shut down to assess the outage and make sure we had everything we needed. The partnership with Facilities Management is critical to operations and patient care and it is people like Doug Rush who make it work. His early notification allowed us to be part of the planning process. –Walter Oliveira, Toxicology Lab

Spreading Smiles

The E&G Custodial team in a group photo outdoors

The E&G Custodial Services Central Grounds Zone hosted a fun gathering for their team on July 29. The team enjoyed a barbecue and played lawn games together on the South Lawn commons.

FM Elevator team having coffee and pastries

Coffee and pastries were delivered to all UVA Facilities Management teams as a show of appreciation from leadership on Aug. 3. The Elevator team, pictured here, enjoyed their treats together during a break.

Skateboarders standing in the center of a half-pipe skateboarding ramp

North Grounds Zone Manager Jamie Joyner, recently volunteered with the Greater Rockbridge County Skateboard Coalition to help revitalize a local skate park in Lexington where he lives. “[The steel frame was] constructed by VMI Mechanical Engineering students… but left the rest of the build up to the group of skaters. I've been showing up on random Saturdays/Sundays over the summer to get this ramp finished providing lots of tools/sweat and some professional expertise. This past Saturday, we finally put the finished surface on the ramp and opened it for use,” said Joyner.