Announcements
Football Work Orders – What You Need to Know
Work orders will be issued each week for support of home football games. Please make sure you have your labor/materials entered as soon as possible each week so we can close down each game for billing. If your team does not have a work order please let Susan Gibson or Tracy Walker know so one can be issued.
-Labor/Material Entries: Don’t forget to verify your labor/material entry to make sure it’s entered correctly. If there’s a zero in parenthesis, this indicates an estimated amount and will NOT be charged. Actual hours worked should be in parenthesis, as shown below
-Miscellaneous charges must have documentation attached (PO/Req or something showing where you got the cost you listed).
Requisitions & GL Account Codes
Since each department is now responsible for their own budget, GL coding on your requisitions will be very important for identifying charges on the ledger. Your GL code will change depending on what you are purchasing. Below is a quick reference list of the most commonly used GL/Acct codes. If you ever have questions on the appropriate code, please reach out to anyone on the A/P team for guidance.
Receivers Reminders
Please respond to receiving requests from the A/P team asap. DASH will NOT allow an invoice to be processed unless the PO has been received. If you believe the invoice doesn’t belong to you, still RESPOND, so we can find the appropriate person or contact the vendor.
**If you pick up items in Central Supply, you do not need to “receive” those items in DASH. Central Supply will receive those items and send to the A/P office for payment.
Compliance Training & Conflict of Interest
Don’t forget to log into K@TE to complete your compliance training before 10/31. DASH Conflict of Interest reporting is also live. You should’ve received an email with a direct link to help you navigate this process. If you have questions on either, reach out to FS Training.
Building Services
- No report received
Operations
Moving & Event Services
- No report received
Sustainability
Operations teams are continuing to prepare for the next three weekends of Football, focusing our attention toward recycling and/ trash can placement alterations based on observations from the Furman game.
Key metrics:
- Campus Activities:
- 61 cardboard bales
- Gameday:
- 23,610 lbs of plastic
- 4 bales of cardboard
- 2 bales of aluminum (weights pending)
- 26 gameday volunteers for a total of 125.5 volunteer hours
Maintenance & Repair
Housing
What was accomplished?
- Cleaning up after water damage at Brown Hall. The plumbing shop and we could not find any leaks.
Athletics
What’s Improved?
- We have a recent new hire to add to the crew and build the team up.
- First football game we had very little calls, so maintenance issues were almost non-existent
What’s Declined?
- Nothing declined.
This Week’s Attention?
- Preparing for the home football game against Kennesaw St. At Neyland Stadium.
- Preparing for the It Takes a Volunteer event at TBA.
- Preparing for The Men’s Tennis tournament at Good Friend Tennis.
- Football Facility we are preparing for recruits and for the Tn fund event on Friday.
What Changes Are Happening This Week?
- No changes happening.
Dining
What’s Improved?
- Repaired several coolers and ice machines, walk-in coolers, pulpers, installed retractable hose reels, repaired hot wells and hot boxes, installed sink drain strainers, replaced and repaired water filters and systems.
What’s Declined?
- No noticeable decline observed.
This Week’s Attention?
- Concentrate on replacing steamer heat exchanger and failed components, starting hood cleaning for dining area exhaust hoods and fans, eliminating any issues that may affect our service.
Zone 4
- No report received
Zone 5
- No report received
Zone 6
- Zone 6 worked on installing exit signs at Hoskins and dealt with issues caused by the flood at the conference building and worked on exhaust fans at Senter Hall last week.
- Calls and work requests stacking up for lighting work at the student union.
- Trying to get our mold checks and other monthly checks done this week. While some are helping prepare for game day at Neyland.
Zone 7
- MinKao: replaced seals and flush valves/vacuum breakers in majority of the building, after damages from the new water line install.
- Ayer’s hall: replacing burned out lights in public egress areas.
- Buehler hall: installing new shaft, blower cage, and bearings on the ahu in the chemical store on the 2nd floor.
- All across the zone: still monitoring the chilled water temperature due to not having enough chilled water pressure while we are waiting on the ac shop to install new pumps in the Dabney hall chiller house.
Zone 8
What improved last week?
- Brehm Animal Science animal holding area saw improvements in lighting in areas that has been blocked by panels and gates for many years.
What declined last week?
- With the unusually high temps this summer, we continue to face challenges with our chill water loop at Plant Biotech.
Where is attention needed this week?
- We will continue to focus our efforts on buildings that have HVAC issues and try to accommodate our customers as much as possible.
Building HVAC
What improved last week?
- SERF AHU-4.
What declined last week?
- Nothing
Where is attention needed this week?
- SERF, Student Aquatics, Brenda Lawson, Arena, Stadium.
What changes are happening this week?
- Coil replacements, CHW coil repairs, split system installs, VRF system repairs, water leak repairs, and refrigerant system repairs.
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- SERF AHU-4, Claxton AHU-104, Arena AHU-3.
Building Electrical
What improved last week?
- Serf new power feeds for labs and implements a plan for Nielsen Physics Temp AC power.
Where is attention needed this week?
- Completing Serf power drops and power for the new furnace.
What changes are happening this week?
- Dividing teams so we can have extra tech working on newer work orders.
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- Planning the power feeds for the Temp AC for Neilsen Physics.
Building Plumbing
What improved last week?
- The new employees are meshing well with the rest of the team and have done an excellent job contributing to support and efficiency.
What declined last week?
- Nothing has declined.
Where is attention needed this week?
- Preparing for upcoming football games.
What changes are happening this week?
- Cleaning up the Plumbing Shop and listing jobs on our whiteboard for organization and communication purposes.
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- No critical repairs or outages.
Lock & Key Services
- No report received.
Comm & Info
WOM & IT
What was implemented or improved last week?
- FS IT with Space Management have started an Archscan pilot.
- Testing has begun for DASH FDI reporting.
Calls for service last week:
- WOM processed 292 requests for service last week.
- FS IT processed 176 requests for service last week.
Training
What did we learn last week?
- Did you know that K@TE offers courses designed to support non-native English speakers? Explore the available training resources in K@TE by searching “non-native English speakers” or clicking this link.
What challenge can training help us solve?
- Training can help reduce rework and missed steps by turning frequently asked questions or recurring errors into clear job aids, checklists, and short learning resources.
What do employees need to know this week?
- Beginning October 1, UT AI Hub will introduce monthly usage allowances for all users. Staff will automatically receive a $50 monthly allowance for research and business activities. Most employees will not need to take any action. Departments may request and fund additional usage for employees with greater needs. See more by visiting OIT’s website.
What best practice should we share across teams?
- When reaching out to Training for assistance, try to document the issue as thoroughly as possible. Note what happened, the steps already taken, and include photos of any error messages or relevant details. The more information provided, the faster we can identify a solution!
Utilities & Energy
A/C Utilities
What improved last week?
- Rebuilt Plant Bio condenser water pump
- Magnolia – installed cooling tower make up valve
- ANRB – repaired no. 1 chiller
- Neyland – prepped AC systems for Kennesaw State game
- Parking Services – repaired chiller
- KPB – repaired chiller
- TBA – rebuilt heating water pump
- Student Union – removed chiller no. 2 motor and sent off for repairs
- TBA – installed multiple magnetic strainers
What declined last week?
- East Skybox – Chiller condenser coil failure
Where is attention needed this week?
- Neyland Stadium
Electrical – High Voltage Utilities
What improved last week?
- Campus Standard light fixtures at Student Mall. Repulled wire to reinstall power.
Where is attention needed this week?
- Exterior lighting
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- Neyland Founders metering install
Plumbing Utilities
What improved last week?
- Prepared trailers for Saturday Football game. Completed small tasks and began to make progress on water quality units.
What declined last week?
- Nothing has declined. The team continues to work diligently to stay on top of work orders. Overall, teamwork remains strong, and collaboration has been excellent.
Where is attention needed this week?
- Focus attention on preparing for football games.
What changes are happening this week?
- We are addressing a water leak at the shop, checking on trailers, preparing for game week, and inspecting water quality units.
Steam Plant
What improved last week?
- Continued work with contractors on new boiler installation. Test ran 2mw generator. Replaced drain line for condensate polisher. Repaired sensor lines on #2 and #5 boilers.
Where is attention needed this week?
- Will work on cleanup and improvement projects around the plant. Will be meeting with the boiler inspector to finalize yearly inspections.
What changes are happening this week?
- Working on any issues that arise and working with contractors on the new boiler. Preparing for repair work on #2 boiler. Preparing for start up of new boiler.
Building Automation Systems
- What improved last week?
- Neyland Stadium Control Dashboards
- Pratt Pavillion
- Student Union
- What declined last week?
- Old Invensys systems.
- SMC Johnson system.
- Hodges Library Controls
- Where is attention needed this week?
- Prep for the football game this weekend
- Track and band practice field lighting controller
- Lab Air issues
- Lighting control issues all over campus
- What changes are happening this week?
- Repairing lighting control issues across campus
- MinKao 217 VAV repairs
- Triage issues found in HVAC systems
- Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- Chiller Plant troubleshooting across campus
- Pratt AHU-3
- Student Union chilled water system control troubleshooting
Electrical Control and Fire Alarms
What improved last week?
- Corrected several fire alarm troubles continuing from move in.
What declined last week?
- Fiber path for fire panels in Neyland Stadium went down
Where is attention needed this week?
- Correcting fiber path at the stadium and preparing for next football game
- Check on progress on water detection at Dougherty
What changes are happening this week?
- Just normal troubleshooting
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- Fiber path at Neyland Stadium
Chemical Treatment
What improved last week?
- Housing Closed Loop system health, equipment installs for TBA, SERF
What declined last week?
- Not declined more than it already is, but Nursing loop is being opened to Claxton chilled loop
Where is attention needed this week?
- Chill water closed loops for TBA, Claxton, and SERF
What changes are happening this week?
- Ability to feed chemicals into buildings that need it. As well as extra makeup water capacity in Claxton loop to prevent “drying” out the system. Jartu cooling tower monitoring/feeding install
Any critical repairs or outages that were addressed?
- Claxton
In-house Construction
- New projects received: 5
- New estimate requests received: 4
- Construction Projects of Note:
- Neyland Thompson Sports Center
- Build concrete bases. Set bronze statue and monument of Jim Haslam. Provide lights.
- Neyland Stadium Champions Corner
- Set bronze statues of Phillip Fulmer and Doug Dickey.
- Neyland Thompson Sports Center
Safety
Summer Isn’t Over Yet: Stay Safe in the Heat
Just because we are into September doesn’t mean summer is over in Eastern Tennessee. Hot and humid conditions are expected to continue well into the month, and we need to remain prepared for heat exposure while working outdoors and in hot work environments.
Hydration is key. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty to start drinking water. Begin hydrating before you start work and continue drinking water throughout the day. During extended work in the heat, make sure you are taking appropriate breaks and replacing fluids lost through sweating.
We can also reduce heat exposure by planning our work around the hottest parts of the day. When possible, complete strenuous outdoor work earlier in the morning, before temperatures and heat stress increase. During the hottest portions of the day, use available shade or air-conditioned areas where employees can take breaks and recover from the heat. Moving work into shaded areas or create shade with ez-ups when possible can also help reduce direct heat exposure.
A few simple reminders can make a big difference:
- Drink water regularly throughout the workday, don’t wait until you are thirsty.
- Start early when possible. Schedule strenuous outdoor work during the cooler parts of the morning.
- Use shade. Take breaks in shaded, cool, or air-conditioned areas, particularly during the hottest times of the day.
- Plan your work. Look for ways to reduce the amount of time employees spend working in direct sunlight or extreme heat.
- Dress appropriately for the conditions and use required PPE.
- Watch for signs of heat illness, including headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness, confusion, or excessive sweating.
- Look out for your coworkers. Heat can affect people differently, and employees may not recognize the warning signs in themselves.
Be Ready for Saturday Cause it’s Football time in Tennessee!
This Saturday also brings the second home football game of the season, which means many Facilities Services employees will be working around campus with increased activity, pedestrian traffic, and visitors. With the heat expected to continue, come prepared to work in the conditions.
Bring plenty of water, stay hydrated before and during your shift, know where you can find shade, water, and take appropriate breaks.
The combination of heat, physical work, and a busy campus can increase the risk of heat-related illness. Stay hydrated, use the shade, plan your work around the heat, and look out for one another.
Summer isn’t over yet, let’s make sure we are remain prepared for it.