Hi Jenna!

Similar to Kerry, we also have the Building Managers run the Setup Worksheets when they come on shift. We also switched over to Mazevo a couple years ago (strongly recommend and basically just an updated version of EMS) and they added my request to put a link to diagrams in the setup worksheets (yay!). Before when we had EMS though,…

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Hi Shauna!

• We require all student organizations have one faculty or staff member as an advisor
• In our semester email to advisors, I sent out the list below on ideal vs expected expectations of advisors
• On our campus, it seems like most successful faculty are doing it because they either like it or because of tenure implications. We’ve…

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Hi Ricardo,

Like many here, we also use Rockbot. The playlist are nice and you can change how energetic you want the music at different intervals throughout the day. For example we have lower energy music in the morning like “Coffeehouse Jazz” but faster paced songs in the afternoons. There’s also an app that we have on our Building Manager…

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Hi Patrick!

On the UWRF campus we have 14 student Building Managers, which I supervise and support. This year I transitioned the team to be cross-trained as both Info Desk and Building Managers, which I would say has been overall successful.?

I don’t have experience transitioning a team of Building Manager students to full-time staff, but I…

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I’ve found that taking the staff around the building and going through emergency procedures in a tour format has been helpful. At certain spots on tour, we’ll go over scenarios (most of which have actually happened), which I’ve noticed has improved critical thinking around the content they are learning because they think about it relative to…

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Hi Jennifer!

In our student union we have the Sensory Room. Bean bags, soft lighting, sound machines, fidgets, yoga mats, etc. I’ve attached an Instagram post below with some photos and a brief description. We opened the room last year by taking one of our small meeting rooms out of rotation. We were able to partner with our Student…

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Hi Kait!

Here are some screenshots of my slides on log posts. It’s part of my Office and Admin training session. The Building Managers write in the log hourly.

Pre-2018, the Building Managers would just write important notes during their shift (not hourly), but then we started having issues with very short responses like you are seeing.…

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For reference, this is what a log typically looks like during a regular day during the school year. Next year’s will just have more checklists!?

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI Read more

Hi Chelsey!

(For context I oversee our Info Desk and Building Manager teams)

I noticed last year more incidents of students not always doing a task if it wasn’t a checklist that could be actually checked (even if it was on a checklist like your own!). To remedy this, in our Building Manager OneNote hourly log, I added our closing items as…

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Hi Paul! Glad the newsletter was helpful!

For LinkedIn, our campus has access to the premium account, so maybe check in with your technology department if your campus has bought the rights to use it? I think everyone who watches it has to have an account, but a workaround could be for one person to buy the premium account and show the…

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Hi Cortney!

Though I typically try to have a customer training-focused session if time allows, I’ve found that, recently, it’s been better to integrate customer service through empathy building, real-life examples, and from a weekly approach. Preferably some sort of example in each training session.

So for example, when I’m introducing to…

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Thanks for sharing about Shifts Michael! I had never heard of that tool within Teams before, but will definitely be looking into it. We use another website, but being included in Teams is convenient and cost-effective.

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls

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Hi Stephen!

We haven’t had any battery-draining issues so far, and we’ve been using this setup for a few years now. They last for at least several hours – they usually still have battery at the end of any event we’ve used them for. Then we typically store the microphones on the charger when not in use. We haven’t had to replace the microphones…

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I’ll add that we don’t have a one-to-one ratio for the vests. We just like like 7-10 on a hook in the back! Which saves some $

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI Read more

Hi all!

We used to be just Under Armour polos and 1/4 zips (but not fleece), but we transitioned probably a year or two ago to let students wear branded t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. This year, we let them wear just school colors, but we will likely return to branded only for next year – as some students didn’t stick to this and it was harder…

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Hi Kait!

We use this model: https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/accessories/sbc200?variant=SBC200

It works really well and it’s convenient that it works to recharge the battery or you can put the microphone or wireless pack in the charger itself. Attaching a photo of what it looks live in our building.

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Hi Dave,

My union’s response (attached) is pretty similar to Jeff’s. Typically we don’t have to do the initial firebox warnings anymore because the campus or community alarms will go off first (with the same wordage). But if they don’t go off, the Building Manager will announce it over the firebox. Like Jeff, I watch the weather throughout…

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Good morning ACUI!

Curious to what others are using for signage stands? We have been using e-clips since opening, but it seems like the company we were using before has perhaps gone out of business. This is the product we have been using, so ideally if someone has a vendor that sells the same or very similar that would be the most conducive. …

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Hello!

We have some similar things to what Jeff mentioned:

• Silent duress alarm – though we have never used these
• Building Manager office is just behind the Info Desk, so if they hear something in the background that sounds concerning, they will pop up and assist (when they’re not out and about)

We did notice the same concerns though – so to…

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Hi Kim!

Attached is our Building Manager position description.

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI
(715) 425-3986
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2024 17:35
From: Kim Nicas Read more

Similar to Cortney’s response, ours is called Freddy’s Pantry. Freddy is the name of our falcon mascot. I haven’t heard of negative feedback around the name or Freddy’s Pantry naming decreasing the use and it gets used pretty often.

Maybe “(mascot/name) pantry” gives off more you’re going to a pantry in your place of living rather than a…

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Hello!

Since most of our dining locations are in the student union, typically we’ll stay open from 7am to at least 8 pm (until dinner service has ended) if the rest of campus is closed. Most of our student employees live only a 5-10 minute walk away (whether they live on-campus or off-campus). Since we live in WI it usually has to be quite…

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Hi Eva! We use Mazevo as the campus-wide scheduling for our campus. We used to use EMS, but we are really enjoying Mazevo – it was actually created by the makers of EMS, but they had sold the company and then created Mazevo. I would say Mazevo is better for what we needed – more customer service, browser based so it’s easier to check event…

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Hi Sarah,

Somewhat similar to Mic’s reply, we have students complete log reports for each hour. Then I review the log to see that items are getting done, including Building Rounds. They are told that they are supposed to go on one building round (check bathrooms and lounges on all four floors, meeting room resets/checks are after meetings or…

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We’ve also struggled with this concern this year as well. More at our Information Desk, our Building Managers haven’t seemed to struggle with it as much.?

Something that we did last year that has helped rising discontent around polos was to change the uniform code to require school colors/school apparel instead of just the polo and quarter…

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Does anyone have a cordless vacuum that they recommend? We are currently have one, but the vacuum head pops off at times and we have run into some battery issues so it’s not the most effective. Looking for Building Manager usage, so more spot cleaning than heavy, daily use.

Thanks!

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University… Read more

Good morning ACUI!

Does anyone have any feedback ideas that you would suggest for a Campus Information Desk? Similar to “How are we doing?” signs you might see at other businesses or on semi-trucks (ha).

We are trying to evaluate our customer service and gain examples to use when coaching student employees, but in a format that students…

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Good morning ACUI!

Does anyone have any feedback ideas that you would suggest for a Campus Information Desk? Similar to “How are we doing?” signs you might see at other businesses or on semi-trucks (ha).

We are trying to evaluate our customer service and gain examples to use when coaching student employees, but in a format that students…

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Hi Melanie,

We switched last summer and it has been great!

• Loads more customer support
• Easier to use and learn for customers and student staff
• Web based means Building Managers can look things up while they are out and about, not just limited to look questions up at their computer work station

For us, all of our students and staff were put…

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I saw that happen with another post this week that I was tagged on, so must have been something with the system.?

Best of luck with August and ramping up to semester start everyone!!

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI Read more

Hi Mike,

We don’t have a commuter student org. But we do have a commuter lounge outside of our convenience store. Anyone can use it, but commuters are told about it during Orientation and the commuter event during week of welcome activities.

It has a sink, microwave, paper towels, garbage, soft and hard seating options, a charging station,…

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Hi Teresa!

We are a Microsoft campus, so we use a team drive via folders and Sharepoint, but then also Microsoft Teams quite a bit.?

Tricks:

• I feel like having all the windows I use in a day open on startup, rather than having to open them each day, saves at least some of my mental capacity
• Teams can get overwhelming for folx with…

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Good morning ACUI!

Like I’m sure many of you, our department has gone through a variety of task shifts and people taking on new roles over the past few years. As we adjust back towards normal in some ways, we are reassessing tasks again.??

I looking to learn which role does event diagrams? Is it housed more under the Production (AV), setup,…

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Hi Koriana,
Our dress code is below for Building Managers. I do need to update it a bit, since we now allow BM students to wear any school branded shirts on shift, rather than just the polo. I haven’t run into issues with leggings and shorts since I am clear with them on the first day about the safety concerns with wearing those items…

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Hi all,

I was reminded by our software lead that our pinch points were because you are not able to assign a task to a group of individuals (Building Managers) rather than not being able to assign (individual) staff.?

Sorry for the confusion!

I’m interested if folx that assign individual student staff tasks have issues with student…

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Hi Jacy! Could you provide a screen grab or screen shot of what it looks like to assign a specific task to an individual staff person? This is something we have been looking into.?

I’m also wondering if you have to use two-factor authorization? We have to use DUO security, which sometimes makes our experience on Mazevo a bit different.…

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For similar reasons the others have stated, we also switched to Mazevo. Very convenient, online and updated platform, easier for the students to learn and use. Definitely recommend!

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI
University Center… Read more

Hi Susan,

Here is link to the Canva presentation I do to train the Building Managers on Free Speech during onboarding. We usually talk about political season as it ramps up around elections during our weekly meetings too.

I also use a packet from a 2018 Campus Free Speech Training Guide from PaperClip Communications. I can’t share…

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Thank you Stacey for all the knowledge you have been sharing on Black History Month! I have enjoyed reading the posts you have been sharing and am looking forward listening to this podcast.

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI
University… Read more

Hi Chrissie!
Our info desk is around the corner from our printers, so we have staplers, tape, pencil sharpener, etc. on the ledge that folx can use. Because the desk is staffed throughout the day we haven’t had any issues with supplies walking away.

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
University Center Programs Specialist
University… Read more

Right now my map looks like a jumbo sticky note pad with areas of focus for this year. Since the roles are unique, but share some tasks I want to make sure we are being efficient across those roles. I’m also trying to invite students to think about their roles more around supporting the environment and ethos of the student union, rather than… Read more

Ha I feel you Chrissie! With a short J-term and training for two student teams, I feel like I didn’t get as much on my to-do list done over break. I feel a bit more okay with that this year though…balance!

On my to-do list:

• Continue mapping out long term vision for integrating and creating efficiencies across the Building Manager &…

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Good morning everyone!
This next semester my goal is to have more intentional push around student wellness for our Building Manager and Information Desk teams. I have a few ideas and trainings prepped already around Positive Psychology, but was curious what others are doing around this topic and any training materials you would be willing… Read more

Congrats Abby!?

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
Building Operations Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls, WI
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——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 12-07-2022 18:57
From: Stacey Givens
Subject: Spotlight: Abby Garcia!!

Hello everyone,

Please join me… Read more

Hi Erin,
I filled out the survey, but also listing it in the thread for others. We switched to Rockbot https://rockbot.com/ within the last few years because it was cheaper than the service we had been using. But it has more perks than we had previously had with Sirius!?

-User intuitive – all Building Managers are given access too and can… Read more

Hi Brad,
We used to flip rooms a lot, but over COVID we stopped flipping rooms. Last spring we started flipping rooms again, but less folx know that it’s an option.?

1. How many non-ballroom meeting rooms do you have?
10 meeting rooms?

2. Do you allow customers to customize these meeting room setups for every meeting?
Customers can customize the… Read more

Good morning Denisha,
Last year we switched to RiseVision https://www.risevision.com/ and we have liked it so far! Relatively easy to use and connects with Google Slides.

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Deanna Cahoon-Draus
Building Operations Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River… Read more

Good morning all,
We are working on reviewing our emergency procedures – specifically around active shooter procedures, but we are looking at all of our procedures as well through this process. Would you mind sharing your emergency procedures for your student union and if you have any specific materials you use to train your students on… Read more

Hi Joe,
Our Building Manager team uses Microsoft Teams OneNote to track building rounds. We have it sectioned out by date and time, with bullet points under each hour. It helps me track what they’ve been up to over the hour and if they have any questions. We utilize EMS/Mazevo, so setup notes go there, but if there are other tasks I need done at… Read more

Hi folx!?
I am transitioning out of my role as the Graduate Students & New Professionals Community of Practice leader. I have enjoyed connecting with folx virtually and in-person at conferences and look forward to connecting with some of y’all in the next year ahead!?

With this transition, the role is currently open! If you are interested in… Read more