Message From The Executive Director

To all PPD Employees for your hard work in making the

PPD Celebration a huge SUCCESS!!!!!!!!

Work Hard, Work Smart, Work Safe, Have Fun

BIG THANKS

Virginia Commonwealth UniversitySpecial: Summer Edition 2012

Mission Statement

The Physical Plant De-

partment is dedicated to

providing timely, quality

workmanship and service

delivered in a cost effec-

tive manner to support

the University’s mission

Ed Bennett

Thanks for all you do! It has sure been a warm summer and I encourage everyone to make sure you are

taking appropriate precautions with outdoor work. You are the most important resources we have.

I continue to be excited and intrigued by the Quest for Distinction and what it can mean for VCU and for

us as an organization. I very much am looking to see what our first round of metrics tells us and what it

will mean with respect to initiatives and perhaps clearer focus of where our efforts need to be. I also ap-

preciate everyone’s help as we help FMD integrate Parking and Transportation into our team. I do not

know exactly how things will work out but I am convinced that we will do what we need to do and change

as necessary to make FMD as a whole better.

Lastly, I share my biggest concern for the coming year and that is reduced maintenance reserve

funds, which are the funds that help us replace outdated mechanical equipment, repair roofs and

make other repairs we can not make with our operating dollars. While funding can always be

found for large mechanical failures or a weather event like a hurricane, my worry is for those

less urgent items that really need to be done. Every year we do not perform some of this work

the more it will cost us in the future.

Above all though, I have the most confidence in each of you, and know that we are working

hard, working smart, working safe and having a bit of fun.

Ed

Message from the Executive Di-

rector1

BIG Thanks 1

PPD Celebration 2-4

Recognition & Awards 5-8

Sustainability 9

News & Events 10-12

New Employees 13

Inside this issue:

PPD Celebration 2012

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PPD Celebration 2012…..continued

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PPD Celebration 2012

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Recognition & AwardsClaudia Mangum: “The Nothing To Hide Award”

Sylvia Britt: “The Spotless Award”

David Gray: “The Life of The Party Award”

Dan Coake: “Oh My Award”

Bev Beaver: “The Fragile Award”

Zone 200: “The Get It Done Award”

Mark Powell: “The Friday Afternoon Award”

Jimmy Moore: “Superman Award”

Karl Volk: “The Artful Dodger Award”

Steve Fore: “The Gilligian Award”

Steve Davidson: “The Captain Kirk Award”

Job Well Done:

Bobbi Jackson: On June 23, 2012 Security Officer William Cromartie & Bobbi

Jackson (grounds) assisted in the apprehension of two drug violation suspects

from Monroe Park.

Mr. Cromartie & Bobbi Jackson were able to assist officers in tracking and lo-

cating two suspects that entered Cabell Library to avoid officers. There assis-

tance led to the arrest of both subjects on charges of trespassing, possession of

stolen property and possession of marijuana.

We would like to thank and commend them for there assistance!

VCU Police

Hello,I just wanted to write a note regarding the MCV campus grounds. They areSPECTACULAR!!! I have worked here at MCV campus for 25 years and neverhave the grounds, landscaping and foliage looked so wonderful. I realize howdifficult this task is in an urban, southern weather environment. The work thatthe dedicated, competent folks have done including the community garden pro-

ject for which I personally saw them working diligently to add this featureshould be complimented and commended. Often times, it is only the negativewhich is emphasized, but, I, for one, would like to place the emphasis on thepositive. It truly is a pleasure to walk to work from the parking areas with thesurrounding environment in such a wonderful condition. Congrats to all for ajob well done, and appreciated!

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Margaret,

I wanted to pass along to you that Frank Ludlam just fixed our leaky pipe

and all sorts of yucky stuff in Blanton. He's still working here, I think. I

just wanted to pass along to you that we adore him. He's so nice, a great

conversationalist and he works so hard.

Anne Stratton

Hello Ed, just wanted to let you know that I really

appreciate Monford and Jim's hard work in making

the necessary repairs from

the Fire Marshal's reports. They are willing to make

the extra effort to call and let me know when the

work is done and make sure that

it was done to a high standard and not a short cut.

Thank you.

Tyler Freeland

Dave,

Just wanted to let you know that Kevin Edwards suc-

cessfully passed his VA Master HVAC license exam on

Friday 03/23/12.

Beverly Beaver at reception on May 16, 2012 to honor her for

3 years service as a Staff Senator.

WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The following team member who at-tended

Dave Cooper

Zone 100-Chris Reed

Zone 300-Curtis Sexton

Zone 400– David Plott

Zone 500– Jay Bell

Zone 950– Billy Connor

2012 Hampton Roads Industrial Maintenance Show

2012 Ukrops Monument Ave 10K Race

Congratulations to Cassandra Taylor & Kim Robinson for finishing the UkropsMonument 10K Race!

Great Job Ladies!

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Recognition & Awards continued……..,

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Recognition & Awards continued……..,

Graduation: (2012 SRAPPA Toolkit Training)Robert Jorgenson (Zone 500)

David Plott (Zone 400)

Robert Huckstep (Zone 300)

Jose Bonet (Shop 950)

Individual AwardsJoyce Foster, Facilities Management, Planning & DesignLarry Walters, Facilities Management, Construction Management

Behind The ScenesAlicia Styles, Physical Plant

Beyond the Call of DutyMark Jacubec, Facilities ManagementRomero Payne, Physical Plant

Bright IdeasNancy Nicholson, Grants & Contracts Accounting

2012 F & A Customer Compass Awards

FirefightingJohn Thompson, Facilities Management

Fun At WorkPriscilla Clayborne, Grants & Contracts AccountingStephen Fore, Physical Plant

More with LessPresepine Fleming, Grants & Contacts Accounting

Recognition & Awards continued……..,

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The Office of Sustainability would like to recognize Harry Davis and the Support Shop and Paul Thrift andGrounds for outstanding service on such projects as the new community garden, Arbor Day, and renovationsat the new RamBikes Stand at 201 N. Belvidere. They are ever a pleasure o work with, and the quality of theirwork is always outstanding.

Support Shops staff start demo work to renovate 201 N. Belvidere, the fu-ture location of VCU RamBikes

PPD Grounds and Support Shop staff help buildand prepare the VCU Community Garden adjacentto the Larrick Student Center.

Paul Thrift demonstrates proper tree planting technique to 50 volun-teers at the VCU Rice Center on Arbor Day. A record-breaking 290trees were planted that day.

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The Pollak Vegetated Roof is complete and the ribbon-cutting was held May 10th. VCU received a special commen-dation for Best Green Institutional Project at this year's Vir-ginia Sustainable Building Network awards ceremony.

VCU was recognized in March as one of the top 17universities for bicycling receiving the League ofAmerican Bicycliss Friendly University-Silver designa-tion. Also in March, a bike loan program was launcedwith 4 bikes avalialvable to check out for free at each ofthe VCU Libraries. There have been over 300 uses sofar!

VCU Sustainability worked with Green Unity atEarth Day Rams Bazar in April.

A more complete view of the community garden.

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NEWS & EVENTS

Message from Mark Willis, CIOWe are pleased to announce that Google Apps for Education will be the new email, calendar, and col-laboration system for VCU faculty and staff. Google Apps was selected to replace Lotus Notes after acompetitive procurement process. VCU students have successfully used Google Apps for the last threeyears. VCU joins other major universities, such as North Carolina State University and the Universityof Michigan, in moving faculty and staff to Google Apps for Education.

Beginning immediately, VCU Technology Services will begin the process of transitioning faculty andstaff to this new system. The goal is to complete this migration to Google Apps before the start ofschool in August.

Google Apps is much more than email and calendaring, but these are the areas that will be the initialfocus of the project to ensure that faculty and staff members are comfortable with the tools. Immediatebenefits of migrating to Google Apps include:

Increased storage for email inboxes to 25 GB. No more worries about having to delete or ar-chive email.Messaging from within your inbox including voice and video calls.Document collaboration with students and for workgroups here or anywhere.Enhanced spam filtering to reduce email scams in your inbox.Constant product innovation by Google.

As with most new systems, the transition to Google Apps is likely to create some level of inconven-ience and even frustration. To help improve the experience, VCU Technology Services will providetraining in multiple ways -- in-person, online, and on-demand, including via the new Atomic Learningvideo service. VCU TS staff will also be available to meet with departments to demonstrate the toolsavailable in Google Apps. Finally, the VCU helpIT Center is available to answer your questions.

Please visit the project page at http://go.vcu.edu/google to follow announcements and schedules con-cerning the migration to Google Apps. Announcements for the project will also be provided via Tele-gRAM and the VCU TS social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

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VCU officially became a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, July 1. Here's a little history lesson for RamNation on their new home.

On March 2, 1975, the idea of what is now the Atlantic 10 Conference was conceived. The Eastern Collegiate Basketball League(ECBL) began conference play in 1976 as a basketball-only league with eight members - Villanova, Duquesne, Penn State, West Vir-ginia, George Washington, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh and Rutgers. Initially, the league was popularly known as the Eastern 8.

The first changes came about with Pittsburgh and Villanova leaving and St. Bonaventure (1979), Rhode Island (1980), Saint Joseph’s(1982) and Temple (1982) joining. The changes created a 10-member league and the name was changed to Atlantic 10 in 1982.

Further membership changes increased the league to 14 teams. From 1997 through 2006, the league also operated a football conference,and during that period more than 20 schools were participating in A-10 competition in at least one sport. The football league endedwhen the A-10 football programs departed to join the Colonial Athletic Association.

Charter members George Washington, Massachusetts and Duquesne (the Dukes briefly left the A-10 in 1992-93) remain, along with St.Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and Temple. Dayton, Fordham, La Salle and Xavier joined in 1995, Richmond came onboard in 2001 and Charlotte and Saint Louis became members in 2005.

New members Butler and VCU will increase the league membership to 16 for 2012-13. Temple and Charlotte are leaving after 2012-13,bringing the league back to 14 members.

Today, the Atlantic 10 Conference spans nine states with a total population of nearly 75 million people. The league sponsors champion-ships in 21 sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, field hockey, men’sgolf, women’s lacrosse, men’s indoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s outdoortrack and field, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving,men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.

The league office has been located in Newport News, Virginia, since the fall of 2009. Prior to that, the headquarters was in Philadel-phia. Current commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade was named to her post on June 2, 2008.

Atlantic 10 MembersButler University, Indianapolis, Ind. (Private)UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C. (Public)University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio (Private)Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Private)Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y. (Private)George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (Private)La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Private)University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. (Public)University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I. (Public)University of Richmond, Richmond, Va. (Private)St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, N.Y. (Private)Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Private)Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. (Private)Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Public)Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. (Public)Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio (Private)

New Buses, Services for VCU Transit

VCU Parking & Transportation is overhauling its entire fleet of buses and services. While the permanent fleetwill not roll out until Nov. 1, passengers will start noticing changes immediately.

The most noticeable is the buses themselves.

While VCU has used GRTC buses since 2004, the university contracted with Groome Transportation for itsnew fleet. The interim fleet, which launched July 1, and the permanent fleet, which will arrive in November,both consist of VCU-branded buses.

"Passengers will be able to easily identify all of the buses because of the new VCU signs," said Robin Mack,assistant manager for transportation. "Also, Groome Transportation emphasizes providing excellent customerservice so we hope our passengers will notice friendly drivers who are focused on customer service, whichincludes timely service."

Groome Transportation's focus on exemplary service includes strategies to prevent "stacking," the frustratingoccurrence when two buses on the same route arrive back-to-back at the bus stop.

"The interim fleet will provide uninterrupted service, with the same stops and schedules, for all routes," saidMiriam Maddux, ombudsman and transit specialist. "The permanent fleet will have many new, rider-friendlyamenities."

Those amenities, coming in November, include GPS; Wi-Fi on the Campus Connector; cushioned, brandedseats; and LED screens at key stops. Each bus will have double doors for easy boarding and disembarking.Rather than flashing a VCU ID, passengers will scan their VCUCard in front of a card reader, which will col-lect information that can be used to make improvements on each specific route.

"VCU is excited about this new partnership with Groome Transportation and we are looking forward to hear-ing passengers’ feedback," Mack said. "I think they will be excited about the reliability and timeliness of thenew services as well as all of the new amenities on the permanent fleet, particularly the GPS.

"Passengers won’t have to guess when the bus will be there, they will know."

NEWS

August

14 & 15 FM Safety Awareness

training (Confined Space)

18-25 Welcome Week

23– Fall Classes begin)

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WELCOME (NEW EMPLOYEES)4/12-7/12

Name Department Hire Date

Dunn, Jeffrey Marshall Street Zone 5/21/12

Gaines, Jessica PPD Administration 5/25/12

Collins, Deirdra PPD Business Operations 5/29/12

Elder, Taliah PPD Contact Admin 6/4/12

Nesmith, Marjorie PPD Business Operations 6/5/12

Dickerson, Jared PPD Grounds 6/25/12

Little, Alexandra PPD Administration 7/10/12

Rojas, Jose PPD Administration 7/24/12

Ward, Stephen PPD Lockshop 7/25/12

Montague, Charles PPD Grounds 7/25/12

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