Dear Colleagues,
F&S will create a new 3–11:30 p.m. afternoon shift starting on Monday, August 10. The adjustment will complement the existing day and deep night rotations to better focus personnel on cleaning general facility areas and high-touch surfaces as a part of the organization’s ongoing response to COVID-19.
Increasing custodial activity in high-usage spaces has been prioritized throughout the pandemic and is a major aspect of our continuing virus mitigation strategies. The afternoon shift will feature approximately 100 BSWs performing work during peak occupancy times in facilities and will further enhance customer service opportunities.
BSW Shift Schedules
Day: 6 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
Afternoon: 3–11:30 p.m.
Deep Night: 11 p.m.–7 a.m.
This proactive approach will allow F&S to ensure that frequently used spaces, such as restrooms, conference rooms, and other shared areas, receive multiple cleaning and disinfection passes daily, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health departments. These actions also address feedback from the COVID-19 Executive Steering Committee on Return to On-Campus Operations.
A successful launch of the afternoon shift will require increased coordination and communication with colleges, departments, and units. Due to these upcoming modifications and to address services at the specific building level, F&S will provide updated BSW supervisory contact information to facility liaisons and administrative staff as soon as possible. Some BSW schedules will change because of this transition and requests made in the shift bidding process. All three shifts will include support for weekend class schedules and events as well as maintaining backup and urgent service flexibility.
The contributions of BSWs are critical to the success of campus educational and research operations. The Building Services Department–Strategies and Service Levels outlines this response. Please continue to send any questions or suggestions about custodial scheduling or the cleaning or disinfecting of classrooms, laboratories, offices, and other campus spaces to covid19cleaning@illinois.edu. Additional F&S COVID-19 information is available at https://fs.illinois.edu/resources/covid-response.
COVID-19 will continue to present significant operational challenges throughout the upcoming academic year. F&S remains committed to pursuing innovative solutions that strive to protect everyone’s health and welfare on the Urbana campus under these challenging conditions.
Cordially,
Dr. Mohamed Attalla, MBA, P.Eng.
Executive Director, Facilities & Services