Technology, enterprise pay off for campus housing staff, residents

June 27, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Department of Housing and Residence Education Custodial Services Department has won a 2006 Prudential Financial — Davis Productivity Award for designing and implementing a unique cost- and labor-saving program to improve the appearance and durability of high maintenance surfaces in campus residence facilities.

Assistant Director of Housing James Crocker, Maintenance Specialist Billy Pogue and Senior Custodial Worker Eddie Lumpkins comprise the three-member Custodial Service Chemical Technology team that received the award at the June 13 ceremony.

With more than 1,200 bathrooms in campus residence facilities, Crocker wanted to let technology do the brunt of the work. The team improved student satisfaction with the appearance and cleanliness of campus housing bathrooms using Adsil, a protective coating for a wide variety of surfaces. Over a three-year period, the team applied the product to more than 130,000 square feet of ceramic tile surfaces in campus housing bathrooms.

Crocker opted to have Pogue and Lumpkins certified to apply Adsil instead of contracting the labor, a decision which saved $344,000 in the initial effort. The Adsil product and application proved so effective at reducing the frequency and labor involved in cleaning bathroom tile surfaces that the department saved $10,000 in traditional floor-care product purchases and $40,000 in annual labor costs since the project began.

“This program eliminates major cleaning steps for us,” said Crocker. “With Adsil protective coating, staff cleans floors quickly between contract periods eliminating the need to scrub, strip wax, and reapply wax to every floor. We are able to reduce overtime and improve the overall quality of our work.”

The Prudential Financial – Davis Productivity Awards are given to state employees whose work significantly and measurably increases productivity and promotes innovation. The UF Department of Housing and Residence Education Custodial Service Chemical Technology Team and the Adsil program have made dramatic cost and labor savings for the department. The program is expanding beyond bathrooms to include patios, sidewalks, picnic tables, and other high-maintenance surfaces.

“I want to give my staff the tools and technology that allow them to work efficiently and to develop new ways of doing things,” said Crocker.