Facilities services cutback due to budget constraints - Sarah Ferris and Ian Redman, GW Hatchet

The office of facilities is stretching its dollars further this year, rolling back on services due to budget pressures within the division, a senior administrator said. Facilities services set aside its annual painting projects and didn’t complete room cleanings, Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Support Services Robert Chernak said, because funding was funneled into the division’s higher-priority projects. Chernak said he found out last month that students were seeing “deteriorating room conditions” because residence halls were not cleaned and inspected “as thoroughly as they should have been.” This year’s budget for facilities remains the same as past years, Senior Associate Vice President of Operations Alicia Knight said, adding that “there have been no reductions in our activities.” But facilities is “dealing with a crunch” due to mounting costs for utilities and spiking housekeeping expenses that expand with the University’s growing square footage, Chernak said.