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FOD making it easier to access its services

Posted on | June 18, 2009 | 2,374 views |

By Adam King

It’s never just one thing that goes wrong when it comes to building maintenance. Lights burn out. It’s too hot or too cold. Something’s broken or something’s leaking.

Just over a year ago, Mike Vanecko, the building coordinator for the Science and Engineering Library, would have had to call different service units at the university to get the problems fixed.

Those multiple connections are now a thing of the past as Facilities Operations and Development continues its march toward streamlining itself and its customer service.

Last June FOD created 12 zone leader positions, with each leader responsible for 1 million square feet of campus building space and working with building coordinators for personalized service and communication. FOD created three districts on campus with four zones in each district, not including the Medical Center, Student Life buildings or athletics, which have their own service units.

John Coppeler, the District 1 Zone 1 leader, worked directly with Vanecko when lights began going out all over the building.

“Instead of just replacing those that were out, we relamped the entire building for him,” Coppeler said.

It sounds simple, but behind the scenes, Coppeler had to coordinate first- and third-shift maintenance workers to complete the job — making sure the third shift had the necessary supplies and the two shifts were talking to each other about their progress. Coppeler would then meet with Vanecko to see how Vanecko felt about the progress.

“My understanding is it used to be ‘find a number and hope you get somebody,’” Coppeler said. “At least for the building coordinator I would think knowing they have somebody who they can contact about multiple issues would put them more at ease.”

That is certainly the case for Vanecko, who keeps Coppeler apprised of current issues during weekly meetings that Vanecko requested.

“If you didn’t have a contact person, you couldn’t address specific things and point them out in the building,” Vanecko said. “I was one step ahead in the past because I was probably one of the few building coordinators who got familiar with different FOD department supervisors and would follow up. But the good thing now is you have somebody you can walk through the building with on a regular basis.”

Coppeler has a coverage area that includes Central Classroom Building and Baker, Dreese, Cockins, Independence, University, Bricker and Derby halls.

When a building coordinator isn’t available, Coppeler keeps in touch with key contacts who regularly submit service requests for maintenance, grounds or custodial work.

“Overall the reorganization is doing what was originally hoped and customer service is improving,” Coppeler said. “It also helps having a single person who gets to know the building coordinator over time. You can develop a relationship that way too, so it’s a little more personal and more comfortable for the building coordinators.”

Zone leaders are just one of the many changes at FOD. The unit’s Web site has been completely revamped to remove extraneous information and give users direct clicks to the most pertinent needs, such as filing a project or service request or keeping tabs on the latest FOD projects.

“You don’t need to know the organizational structure now to find a service,” said Libby Eckhardt, FOD director of communications and marketing.

The Web site (fod.osu.edu) also features online versions of three new print publications: The Guide to Facilities Services, which provides direct contact info for 44 core FOD services as well as instructions on how to navigate the request process; the Guidelines for Planning and Project Delivery, an overview of the university process for large and small projects; and a quarterly publication titled People & Place that features FOD news, happenings and recognitions.

“This is a new step for FOD to try to be as transparent as possible even though what we do can be a complex process,” Eckhardt said. “We wanted to provide our campus customers with the tools to access and understand our services and be able to communicate that. And we’ve also improved those services to include round-the-clock access. We’re continually looking for ways to improve FOD and its campus interactions.”

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