Cimilluca

While the number of staff positions in Facilities Management won't change, the zone management structure implemented last year will be enhanced to include the Building Care department, and will improve coordination and clarify accountability across the Division of Facilities Services, Senior Director Maria Cimilluca told staff during several meetings Nov. 5.

The projected changes are the result of a review of the zone management system by the zone management implementation team that includes Cimilluca; Karen Muckstadt, director of Student and Academic Services Facilities; Lori Barry, director of Facilities Operations in the Veterinary College; Mark Giblin, interim director of Facilities Management Shops; and David Howe, administrator for Facilities Services Administration and Finance.

Under the zone system, staff from the building trades shops (such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers) are organized into zones based on campus locations and functions to improve coordination between central and college/unit facilities staff and between a building's short-term service requests and the university's long-term renovations and construction.

The review concluded that the zone structure should include Building Care to more closely align the daily work of Building Care staff with the maintenance work of the trades.

"We found that we need to make modifications to the organization to become more strategic in our delivery," Cimilluca said.

Cimilluca said that most staff members will continue in their current positions, reporting to their current supervisors. Some staff members will remain in positions similar to those they currently have but will change supervisors; and some staff will have the opportunity to express interest in newly defined positions, Cimilluca said. "There is a position for everyone in the new organization," she said.

Also during the Nov. 5 meetings, Cimilluca said that service level agreements between each of the zones and their respective colleges and units are currently under review; these agreements were drafted to better measure output and accountability and better coordinate college and unit expectations with central resources.

To make it easier for the campus community to access service, the three campus zones will be slightly reconfigured and renamed, she said: the current zone 1 will be renamed the contract college zone; zones 2/3, the endowed zone; and zone 4, the Student and Academic Services zone. Three zone facilities directors -- new positions that were posted -- will lead the reconfigured zones and will report directly to Cimilluca, but will not increase management staffing levels within the organization.

In addition, the staff recognition programs held by the Building Care department -- the Best Attendance Award and the staff picnic -- will be extended throughout the FM organization. The Bartels Award for Excellence in Service will remain in place for custodial staff.

Emphasizing training will also be a priority. "I want to create opportunities throughout Facilities Management," said Cimilluca.

Cimilluca said she would like to fill the three zone facilities director positions before implementing the new structure. The positions have been posted internally to Cornell; if needed, they will later be posted externally. She hopes to have all three appointments in place by January and to finish the implementation of the new structure in mid-spring.