Night Shift Heroes
Student troubleshooters answer the call to keep their campuses running.
by Steve Nakata
Most of the students had just gone to bed when a fire sprinkler broke on the eighth floor of Stephenson East Tower on the Pullman campus of Washington State University (WSU), flooding multiple floors and displacing dozens of residents. A similar incident happened at Virginia Tech when students playing soccer in the hallway of their residence hall busted a sprinkler, sending water cascading down the corridor. At the University of Louisville, one student, who perhaps had one drink too many, fell asleep in the shower with the water running, causing a flood.
As Ken Belcher, director for facilities and operations at Virgina Tech puts it, “At night, things can go weird in the residence halls sometimes.”
Facilities leaders know that – whether it’s a flood, or something more common like a broken toilet, clogged drain, or electrical outage – things can happen at all hours of the day and night. Fortunately for Belcher and many others like him across the country, they don’t always have to rely on professional staff to respond to a crisis, whether it is big or small.
Among the first to arrive on the scene of the flood at WSU were student troubleshooters from auxiliary facility services (AFS) in student affairs. First responders at the University of Louisville are called facilities assistants, and those at Virginia Tech are called facilities maintainers No matter what their title, these students are hired and trained to respond to incidents quickly and resolve issues to the best of their ability.
At WSU, the work of these troubleshooters largely goes unnoticed, as they operate during the night when most people are sleeping. Two troubleshooters are on call every night, responding to issues across 3.3 million square feet of building space, including residence halls, university apartments, the Student Recreation Center, the Chinook Student Center, the Compton Union Building, and Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center. “We can usually have a troubleshooter on the scene of an incident within five to 10 minutes,” says Dallas Ely, the AFS maintenance specialist at WSU. “Our goal is no longer than 20 minutes.” WSU’s Brian Baier, AFS associate director, explains that rapid responses often prevent further issues, such as extensive water damage or a fridge full of spoiled food during power outages.
The Ultimate Problem Solvers
Who are these superheroes hopping from crisis to crisis throughout the day and night? They are undergraduate students who appreciate a job with flexible hours, being part of a close-knit team, and the opportunity to help fellow students at a time when they really need it. “They are creating a better experience for students,” Belcher notes. “Most of their work addresses low-level issues, but those issues are irritating and can impact a student’s ability to sleep, study, and be happy.”
Maci Brantner, a senior majoring in psychology, is one of six members of the WSU troubleshooting team. “When I first got this job, I was super nervous because there are a million different situations I might encounter. But if I have questions or need help, there’s always another team member I can talk to.” Baier confirms that sometimes his phone rings at two in the morning, but he never hesitates to answer, knowing it could be a troubleshooter needing guidance.
Fortunately for Baier, the troubleshooters usually know how to handle the situations they encounter and have had extensive training in safety and health procedures, electrical work, plumbing and sewers, furnaces and water heaters, mechanical room equipment, and kitchen appliance repairs. They are trained by full-time professionals to identify and fix most problems. “We do so many different things in our jobs, so we never get bored,” says Garrett Newell, a senior majoring in neuroscience at WSU. “We are basically problem solvers, and I find that very enjoyable.” Newell’s problem-solving skills were put to the test in a different way when a police officer called to ask if he could remove a chair that had seemingly been thrown into a tree at Scott-Coman Hall on the WSU campus. The unpredictability of each night is something he enjoys about the job.
The University of Louisville has 10 facilities assistants, one for each of its 10 residence halls, who do everything from replacing batteries in door scanners to changing light fixtures and fixing closet shelves. As Terry Schwartz, University of Louisville’s associate director of housing facilities, explains, “I make sure the students we hire don’t mind getting their hands dirty. They are very important to us.”
At Appalachian State University, the facilities assistants work during the day alongside full-time professionals in maintenance, support services, and housekeeping. Brandon Nelson, director of housing, emphasizes that the value they bring to the team goes way beyond the physical work they perform. “The students bring a lot of youthful energy, creativity, and positivity to our team. And they are a great sounding board for us since they are students living in our halls.”
For all the benefits that these students bring to their university, these positions come with added perks. WSU, University of Louisville, and Virginia Tech provide them with free housing, and some also receive a full or partial meal plan, an hourly wage, or a stipend for working extra hours. With budget cuts and hiring freezes commonplace among higher education institutions, facilities leaders have come to lean on their student workers even more to fill the gaps. Belcher acknowledges how much these students contribute to the university community. “We treat them well because they make our operation more efficient and save us money by not having to pay full-time staff to come to campus after hours. They do a terrific job for us.”
Learning Skills for Life
Student first responders had such a positive impact at Virginia Tech that Belcher and other facilities leaders have begun expanding their roles beyond maintenance work. The university now has a team of junior project managers: undergraduate students who work with contractors and keep them on task when planning and implementing renovations.
Jason Griffith, associate director of facilities at Appalachian State, appreciates the skills and versatility of his facilities assistants, who have dug up a concrete floor, framed walls, worked on plumbing, and installed lighting fixtures during a laundry room remodeling project. “They are always learning, so the types of things they can do keep growing and growing. We have been super impressed with them and even hired one to a permanent position after they graduated.”
This experience has long-term benefits for these students. As Ely points out, when the troubleshooters graduate, they leave with more than an academic degree. They have skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Brantner, whose uncle was a troubleshooter in the mid-2000s, recognizes that her maintenance experience has already come in handy fixing things around her grandpa’s house. While her job does have its moments, she says she can’t imagine doing anything else. “Sometimes when I’m unclogging a toilet or wading through nasty water and I’m wet head to toe, I ask myself if this job is worth it. And the answer is always the same; it is absolutely worth it.” 
Steve Nakata is a public relations and communications coordinator in student affairs at Washington State University in Pullman.