By Tatum Mitchell | News Editor
Baylor’s campus is regularly considered one of the most beautiful in the country, but the work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly often goes unnoticed.
According to Joel Burnias, vice president of operations for facilities, Baylor has partnered with Aramark for facilities management since 2000 and for dining services since 1958. The three main components of facilities management are grounds, custodial and maintenance.
“We have a long-standing relationship with the university,” Burnias said. “We’ve been here almost a quarter of a century on the facility side, 60-plus years on the dining side. I think it’s a strong [partnership], and we’re happy to be a part of it.”
Burnias said the facilities and maintenance crews manage classroom renovations, energy programs and savings, the Baylor Energy Complex and more.
“I think if we’re doing our jobs right, the impact is not even noticed by the folks on campus,” Burnias said. “You know, our mission is to maximize the student experience on campus. We don’t see our mission as doing cleaning or maintenance or grounds. It’s to maximize the student experience on campus.”
Burnias said there are nearly 320 employees in facilities, and they work on a variety of projects.
Jeremy Oliver, zone maintenance foreman, has been at Baylor for 18 years. He oversees most of the residence halls and manages work orders with his team of six, while other teams manage four additional zones of campus. Oliver said one of his favorite parts of working at Baylor is the people alongside him.
“We can all help each other,” Oliver said. “There’s never been a time that we haven’t been able to pull from another zone and get help. That works really well for us. … It helps us get jobs done when we need it.”
During his day-to-day, Oliver’s team meets in the morning to address emergency work orders and anything from the day before or the night shift. They prioritize work orders on a daily basis and get through them accordingly, and they hold weekly inspections to ensure everything in the buildings are working properly.
“I don’t know if they realize how much we are here,” Oliver said. “We have a group that works from 7:30 [a.m.] to 4:30 [p.m.]. … I have another shift that comes in from 4 [p.m.] to 12 [a.m.]. We never leave here too much. And if we do leave, we’re on call.”
Maria Evans, custodial supervisor and trainer, has been at Baylor for six and a half years. She helps with training, interviewing and onboarding for employees.
“I love my job. I love helping our employees. Anything they need, a special need, like for health insurance, and … all things like that.”
For the custodial side of things, Evans said there are also three shifts through the day. She said the first morning shift focuses on residence halls, and the other two shifts are for cleaning the academic buildings. She said there are certain expectations for cleaning, and she helps train team members.
“Aramark has a routine for daily cleaning and weekly cleaning. … I train [employees] to be on the same page as everyone. The daily cleaning, like pulling trash, cleaning desks, clean everything, … everything you see [that’s] dirty.”
Burnias said work in facilities is often a thankless job since most calls come in when something needs to be fixed or is going wrong, but it’s vital to Baylor’s success.
“We want the university to succeed. We want students to succeed,” Burnias said. “We have folks on our staff who bleed green and gold. They’re happy to be part of this university. They understand the importance of this university, and they want to help it thrive.”
