EMU Today

YPSILANTI – 455,000. 8,000. 385.

Those numbers, for face coverings, bottles of hand sanitizer and new hand sanitizer stations respectively, represent just a small slice of the enormous effort by Eastern Michigan University’s Physical Plant staff in preparing for and maintaining operations this fall semester during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The process began last March, when the campus went mainly online in terms of remote work and class delivery. The work intensified and continued through the summer as the campus remained open while most of staff and faculty worked from home.

The massive effort involved the areas of building maintenance, keeping essential capital projects such as Sill Hall and the Rec/IM going, and custodial and grounds response, which included greatly expanded cleaning and disinfecting procedures and altering campus for proper physical distancing and following needed safety protocols.

Those tasks involved some big and intriguing numbers, which were outlined in a presentation to the EMU Board of Regents at its regular meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22. Some examples:

• Face coverings purchased: 455,000, including 400,000 disposable, 50,000 reusable and 5,000 face shields.

• Sanitizer: 8,000 bottles, 250 buckets of disinfectant wipes and 500 cases of alcohol wipes (1,000 per case).

• Hand sanitizer stations: 385, including 244 wall mounted stations and 141 portable stands.

• Hand sanitizer bottles: 376.

• Disinfectant wipes: 256 cases.

• The moving process for various items required 92 moving trucks over 23 days. Crews moved a total of 3,852 pieces, including 3,512 chairs and 340 tables.

• Classroom and building entrance modification required 242 Plexiglas units, 142 of which were fixed, 92 movable and eight custom built.

• And here’s a daunting thought: The planning and implementation process involved more than 100 Zoom meetings and more than 100 conference calls. Emails? More than 1,200. Yikes!

Scott Storrar, director of facilities planning and construction at EMU, described the response to the very appreciative Board of Regents, along with Dieter Otto, who oversees custodial services and grounds maintenance at Eastern.

“We would like to add a special ‘Thank You’ to our entire staff for their excellent work,” Storrar said. “It was an enormous undertaking, and it could not have been done without their dedication, teamwork and energy.”

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 16,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.