UMB celebrates World Facilities Management Day, which recognizes and honors the work of facilities professionals who keep our workplaces, schools, hospitals, and facilities clean, safe, and healthy.
Photo: Members of Table 23 pose with their marshmallow tower during the World Facilities Management Day celebration. Photo by Brian Cashion
For the second time in as many years, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) observed World Facilities Management Day, an international celebration May 8 to recognize and honor the work of facilities professionals who keep our workplaces, schools, hospitals, and facilities clean, safe, and healthy.
The UMB event opened with brief remarks from Dawn Rhodes, DBA, chief business and finance officer and senior vice president, Administration and Finance. Calling the team the “operational backbone of the school,” Rhodes listed a few of the innumerable contributions the team has made in the past 12 months in creating and maintaining spaces that are safe, sustainable, and conducive to growth.
Anna Borgerding, PMP, assistant vice president, Facilities and Operations, spoke next. She quantified the team’s contributions, pointing out that in addition to their daily duties, the team completed 22,000 work orders, which translates to an average of 62 per day. Borgerding then described how the team’s goals and accomplishments dovetail perfectly with Administration and Finance’s guiding principles.
Perhaps the highest level of excitement was reserved for this year’s team-building challenges. First up was the Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge, where each table was given some spaghetti, tape, a length of string, and one marshmallow. The rules for the Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge state that each table had 18 minutes to build the tallest possible tower that could support a marshmallow.
The challenge was chosen to demonstrate how Innovation and Discovery— two of the A&F guiding principles — can be applied to most tasks to generate more-favorable outcomes. Table 19 rose to the challenge with a tower that stood 46.5 inches, barely beating the runner-up tower that stood 45 inches high.
Next up was a rousing round of Mingle Bingo before the attendees received a guest appearance from UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, who stopped by each table to thank them for their efforts. A catered lunch rounded out the morning’s event.
Seated together for the event, Environmental Services employees Deneen Reed (who has been with UMB for 17 years) and Barbara Holloway (11 months) spoke about how much the day means to them.
“It’s such a nice event, and it shows that they really care about us, and that all of the work we do is appreciated,” Reed said. “It’s not always easy dealing with the customers, but the supervisors are always here to support us. There’s a lot of love in this room, and it really feels like family. When I go home at night, I’m a happier person because I’m coming from a happier environment.”
Holloway added, “I love it here. I love my job. This is my first World Facilities Day, and I loved it because there’s so much unity and love in this room. These days we’re all so separate in the world, so anything that can bring us together is wonderful.”
Meredith Diloia, MS, a sustainability and effectiveness specialist, said, “I’ve only been with UMB for seven months, so this is my first World Facilities Management Day. I don’t typically get to see the people who are the backbone of the University, so this is a great way to meet everyone. I thought it was a great event and it’s great to see how much leadership appreciates us. The team-building activities were great and I’m already excited for next year!”
Brian Cashion, manager, deferred maintenance, Facilities Management Shop Support, also was celebrating his first World Facilities Management Day. “It’s interesting the way it brings everyone together, especially for the team-building events. The creativity and the working together to come up with some really innovative ideas. It’s a nice event.”
Facilities and Operations is one of the largest divisions at UMB with 351 staff in six departments. Its employees maintain more than 60 buildings across UMB’s campus, providing custodial and quality-of-life services for more than 6.5 million square feet of University space.
In addition, they are responsible for maintaining, renovating, and servicing the buildings, grounds, sidewalks, and utility infrastructure on all 71 acres of the campus. As it says on the Facilities and Operations website, if you can see it, stand in it, or touch it, it’s part of Facilities and Operations.