Residence Education Housing and Housing Services (REHS) focuses on a variety of areas that impact students’ overall on-campus living and learning experience. Some of their major operational units include Residence Education, the Housing Assignments Office, Housing Operations, Conference Services, and Facilities and Maintenance. REHS focuses on student engagement and development, intercultural learning and inclusion, safety and security of residents, and sustainable practices.

While all these units work in tandem to support the success of MSU students, each has its own unique focus. The Facilities and Maintenance team supports Michigan State University’s 27 residence halls across five neighborhoods (North, East, South, Brody and River Trail) and two apartment communities (1855 Place and University Village Apartments) that accommodate nearly 17,000 residents annually. Many residence halls also include classrooms, offices and public spaces that the team cleans and maintains.

The Facilities team employs 300 full-time staff and 100 temp and on-call positions; their diligent work and commitment ensure a welcoming, clean and organized environment for the Spartan community on campus. A safe, positive physical environment helps students feel more engaged and motivated as they navigate their college experience.

A day in the life of a Facilities team member varies depending on the work that needs to be accomplished. The work often requires physical labor and long hours on one’s feet. In the summer of 2024, Assistant Vice President for REHS Ray Gasser wanted to learn more about his team’s efforts, so he grabbed a rubber mallet, pulled on his boots and immersed himself in campus facilities operations. Hoping to broaden insights among the frontline REHS team members, Gasser assisted everyday activities in River Trail and South neighborhoods, including cleaning bathrooms, delofting beds and learning how to use technical equipment. 

Supervising REHS

Heather Whitman, REHS Facilities supervisor began as an on-call team member in 2014 and became a supervisor overseeing teams at Wilson Hall in 2022.

At dawn, Whitman starts her rounds to check on her staff and review messages to prepare for the day. She then joins a daily 7 a.m. meeting with all the teams to allocate tasks. She also monitors project developments and communicates with teams to address their needs. In the afternoon, all the supervisors gather to recap and prepare for the next day.

“All our staff deserves a seat at the table where decisions are being made, and opinions are needed to make these decisions so the whole university can come forward as one big team,” says Whitman.

Sanitation Station

Maribelle Garcia, a building sanitation worker, has been with REHS since 2016, specifically with Facilities since 2019. Garcia begins her day by greeting her coworkers and assessing rooms and bathrooms for cleaning. She then tackles various projects such as prepping conference rooms, extracting carpets, waxing floors, arranging furniture and painting.

She says her loyalty lies with Facilities because of the diversity in the department, including supervisors, coworkers and the work itself.

On a regular day, Garcia works with the Kaivac smart cleaning machine along with different chemical treatments and gear. She thoroughly sprays down stalls, counters and mirrors using the machine before rinsing the area. She also does trash removal, women’s sanitation, and restocks paper towels and toilet paper. 

Build-A-Bed

Christopher Lee-Feliciano, a level 3 student supervisor is experienced in delofting beds and guided Gasser through daily student work. Lee-Feliciano joined the REHS team in May 2023 and manages tasks such as arranging furniture, observing project progress, painting and overseeing a daily team of 20 students in the summer.

When prepping for a conference, the team can flip four buildings within two to three weeks. This includes deep cleaning and painting the dorm rooms, restrooms and public spaces. A two-person team can set furniture (loft/deloft beds, replace mattresses and repair bed parts) in about 15 minutes per room. Maintenance inspects the dorms, halls and restrooms, checking doors, locks, hinges, peep holes, strike plate, etc. and installing air conditioning units. After the conference, the buildings must get flipped again for the fall semester residents.

The summer of 2024 River Trail and McDonel, Owen, VanHoosen, Shaw, Mason, Abbot, Snyder-Phillips halls (MASP) hosted over 150 summer school residents and 15 conferences in McDonel, and 35 conferences in Shaw with over 2000 guests.

The REHS team also handles other tasks such as replacing door stickers and chairs, stacking them on pallets to be resold by MSU Surplus while preparing for conferences. Operating in temperatures over 90 degrees, the physically demanding conditions were the primary concern for REHS workers. 

Looking Forward

During his time as a temporary Facilities member, Gasser made an effort to connect with the team to better understand the duties and roles, including the physically demanding working conditions and perspectives of team members.

“When you show you care about the people — you appreciate the crew — the crew takes care of you,” says Lee-Feliciano. I appreciate him putting his boots on and coming to work with us.”

Whitman also appreciates being able to speak with Gasser face to face in their “arena,” noting how his efforts to meet her team on the ground showed his respect for their thoughts and opinions.

Facilities marked the beginning of Gasser’s journey. He intends to continue strengthening relationships and communication with team members by working with various neighborhoods and units throughout the year.

“I appreciated the experience of working with him; it brought out the leadership in me, a strength I didn’t know I had,” says Garcia. “He was real easy to talk to, we talked about our families and the goals at MSU for employees, like giving us raises, that meant a lot to me.”

The REHS mission aims to deliver outstanding Spartan experiences in all its endeavors by following a core set of values, such as respect and integrity, upheld for both students and staff.

“It made me feel awesome, learning a lot about our incredible staff. Each shared a bit of themselves with me,” says Gasser. “It’s important work to build connections with one another and understand people’s experiences firsthand to show better care to each other.”

To learn more about REHS services visit, ombud.msu.edu/resources-self-help/REHS or liveon.msu.edu. 

Author: Olivia Williams, student communications assistant