administration and finance vp – Page 4 – UNF Faculty Association Questions and Answers

2012-2013, Anonymous, Answered

Skateboarding on Campus

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, VP of A&F / Thomas Serwatka, VP & COS to the President

“In the past two years, the number of skateboarders on campus has increased exponentially. Besides ignoring the signs currently posted on campus, they race through crowds of people even through the walkways that are only 2-4 feet wide. Recently at FSCJ, a pregnant woman was struck by a skateboarder and almost lost her baby.

It has gotten to the point that every day that I walk to class, I am in fear. As this is my workplace, I do not feel that I should be subjected to this type of risk. I also have students who have had boards fly at their shins, and in a quick poll, half the students in my large lecture agree that skateboarders are an issue.

Given that they pose a workplace hazard to faculty and staff as well as posing a huge liability for the university, what can be done to curtail skateboard use on campus? Like cars, are there strips that can be laid in parts of campus to make the boarders pick up their boards and walk at certain places?”

Written response from John E. Dean, Chief of Police:

Every week UPD conducts deployments (officers assigned for a specific purpose) in reference to skateboards and bicycles in the crosswalks and the core campus area. In addition to the deployments, the officers assigned to the core are required to monitor and enforce bicycle and skateboard violations daily. At the beginning of each fall term we (in conjunction with Healthy Osprey) conduct a threefold education and enforcement program. In the first phase officer’s hand out educational material to violators for a specified time period, in the second phase they issue warnings to violators and give t-shirts to those that comply (positive reinforcement) and in the final phase they start issuing paying citations. In addition to this program we also talk about it at student orientation and other group meetings. Since January 1st of this year, UPD has issued over 100 written/warning and verbal citations to skateboarders and bicyclists.

Since January 1st, there have been (to our knowledge) two people hurt as a result of skateboards. In each case the skateboard rider fell off their board and only injured themselves (no other person injured). In only one case this year (reported to us) has there been any property damage. At this time Student Affairs and the Police Department are exploring other options to address this issue.

2012-2013, Anonymous, Answered

Custodial Services Change

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance

Is informing “UNF employees” of significant changes in the cleaning of their offices by publishing this information under the heading “Change in Campus Custodial Services Starts Today” in the Osprey Update of April 30, 2012 (at the end of the Spring semester) an effective way to communicate such policy changes to UNF employees? (1)
Can the cleaning of offices be reduced to emptying trashes once a week? Is this sufficient? Is the implication here that UNF employees should clean their offices?
Could the sudden and unprecedented occurrence of fruit flies in some of our offices have been avoided by a more effective information campaign in regard to “Change in Campus Custodial Services”?
Is the line of trash cans laying outside of our offices adding to the so-much worked for aesthetic quality of our campus?
Furthermore, are the decrease in office cleaning, limited circulation regarding to policy changes affecting the cleaning of employees’ offices, and the spraying of our offices with pesticides evidence of RATIONAL CHOICES in the long term? Could such changes negatively impact the environment and employees’ overall health? Are these decisions in line with our alleged commitment to a cleaner environment? In light of this all, is the Change in Campus Custodial Services” cost-effective?

(1) The following was the only source of info regarding change in campus custodial services I was able to identify:
ORIGINAL TEXT PUBLISHED IN THE OSPREY UPDATE OF APRIL 30 2012:

Change in Campus Custodial Services Starts Today
Beginning today, custodial services to the campus community will change. Through attrition, custodian staffing has been reduced, resulting in a $200,000 annual savings. As of today, individual offices will be cleaned weekly instead of daily. Custodial staff will continue to pick up trash daily, as long as the trash cans are left outside individual office doors at the end of the work day. Trash pick-up for employees in cubicles won’t be impacted. Classrooms, restrooms and all other common spaces will continue to be maintained on a daily basis. For more information, contact Shelia Lopez in Physical Facilities. Contact: Sheila Lopez at lops0002@unf.edu or (904) 620-1979.

Response from Shari Shuman, Vice President for the Administration & Finance:

Below is the response the faculty association question. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Can the cleaning of offices be reduced to emptying trashes once a week? Is this sufficient? Is the implication here that UNF employees should clean their offices? As stated in the notice, trash will continue to be collected daily if left outside of the individual’s office. Offices are cleaned weekly by the custodial staff. Daily cleaning is excessive.

Could the sudden and unprecedented occurrence of fruit flies in some of our offices have been avoided by a more effective information campaign in regard to “Change in Campus Custodial Services”? According to our pest control vendor, fruit flies in offices are usually attributed to house plants fungus, not trash.

Is the line of trash cans laying outside of our offices adding to the so-much worked for aesthetic quality of our campus? It is not ideal but cost effective.

Furthermore, are the decrease in office cleaning, limited circulation regarding to policy changes affecting the cleaning of employees’ offices, and the spraying of our offices with pesticides evidence of RATIONAL CHOICES in the long term? Could such changes negatively impact the environment and employees’ overall health? Are these decisions in line with our alleged commitment to a cleaner environment? In light of this all, is the Change in Campus Custodial Services” cost-effective?

A cleaner environment starts with reducing how much trash is generated. This change saved the University more than $200,000. We believe this change has been cost effective and more efficient for the University.

Shari Shuman

VP, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

1 UNF Drive

Jacksonville, Fl 32224

904-620-4727

2011-2012, Anonymous, Answered

Water Sprinklers

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President for Administration & Finance

Where does the water come from for the irrigation of our landscaping? Is it something that we pay for? I notice sprinklers often running on days after a substantial rain and hope we are not wasting money on this.

Written Response from John Hale, Director, Physical Facilities Department:

From: Shuman, Shari

Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 2:04 PM

To: Bush, Melissa; Lai-Chin, Fong Chuen

Subject: FW: Question from FA meeting–Dec 1

Please find the response to the question regarding irrigation of landscaping.

Please let me know if you have further questions or need additional information.

Shari Shuman

VP, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

1 UNF Drive

Jacksonville, Fl 32224

904-620-4727

Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:30 AM

From: Hale, John

To: Shuman, Shari

Subject: RE: Question from FA meeting–Dec 1

We have four sources of water for irrigation: JEA reclaimed, JEA potable, wells, and surface ponds.

We pay for only the water provided by JEA. Most of the irrigation for the center core of campus including the Fountains dorm, University Center and Golf Learning Center is from reclaimed water. Water from surface ponds is used for athletics and the north part of campus. We have sensors that collect weather information including rainfall that determine if, and how long for, the irrigation system should run. There are times, even when it has rained, that it is necessary to run the sprinklers due to a shortage in the total cumulative amount.

2011-2012, Anonymous, Answered

Construction at lot 9

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration and Finance

The spaces in Lot 9 closed for construction early in the summer. Campus Update announced that the construction zone would be reduced in size before the start of the fall semester returning some number of designated spaces to Lot 9. This does not appear to have happened. An inquiry to Parking Services yielded the response that the designated spaces lost to the Lot 9 construction have not been redistributed elsewhere around campus. Doesn’t this mean that those who purchased designated permits face a higher ratio of permits to spaces than announced when we initially purchased our permits?

Written Response from Shari Shuman, Vice President for Administration & Finance:

From: Shuman, Shari

Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 5:39 PM

To: Bush, Melissa

Cc: Lai-Chin, Fong Chuen

Subject: RE: Question from Faculty Association meeting–Sept. 1

The following is the response to the question posed last month at Faculty Association regarding parking. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We lost 50 designated spaces in lot 9 at the start of the summer term. The intent was to return about 30 spaces in August before the start of fall term. Additional site utility requirements meant that the construction fence needed to be located throughout the project further north than originally intended. However, it was moved slightly to the south and 9 spaces have been returned. The calculations for sales maximum of designated permits were based on an expected loss of 20 total designated spaces on campus compared to 2010-11 and instead the loss is 41. This does mean that the ratio is slightly higher than originally intended. There are a total of 319 designated permits sold and 173 spaces for a 1.84 ratio. The target ratio is 1.60. Parking will not be selling any more permits for designated spaces even if some get turned in, for example from terminations, until the ratio is less than 1.60.

During the week of September 19, parking did lot counts for all the parking spaces on campus. Despite the increased ratio, it appears there are always designated spaces available. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the lowest number of designated spaces available was 23 spaces. On Thursday, there was at one count, only 10 spaces available. The majority of open designated spaces is in Lot 2 and Lot 3.

Shari Shuman

VP, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

1 UNF Drive

Jacksonville, Fl 32224

904-620-4727