SSC_Newsletter_AUG_2018_2

SSC SERVICE SOLUTIONS Newsletter AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER 2018

Service, Innovation, and Safety At Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, there are interior roofs of classrooms that are difficult for a human to safely clean, so Eugene Fritzinger, Unit Director, hired robots. Watch the Video

Safety Moment

Student Worker Spotlight

Grounds Tips for Your Home

Years of Service

Robots on Campus

SSC in the Community

Recruiting Spotlight

New MIT Graduates

In This Issue

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Emergencies Outside of the Building In most cases; when an emergency starts outside of the building, the safest thing to do is find a safe place within the building. Most often, emergencies outside of the building will be weather- related or natural disasters like a tornado, earthquake or lightning storm. These events provide different levels of warning before they strike, so it’s important to be prepared to respond to the emergency quickly.

Emergencies Within the Building

What you need to know about evacuations and rally point:

For emergencies occurring inside of the facility (e.g., fires, power outages, etc.), the main goal is to get everyone out of harm’s way. To achieve this goal, staff should be aware of the fastest and safest way out of the building. It will also be necessary to ensure that evacuation procedures are easily accessible to customers or visitors, inside of the building. Having a broad understanding of the layout of a building can help staff prepare for unanticipated detours, along the most common emergency exits.

In the event that a building must be evacuated, all employees must proceed immediately upon announcement to the nearest possible exit. All employees should evacuate in an orderly fashion to a pre-designated rally point. The rally point at this facility is located at (Location). Employees should remain at the rally point until management has been notified that it is safe to return. Employees who do not report to the rallying point are presumed to still be in the building and possibly in need of emergency rescue. In the event of an actual emergency, this information should be relayed to emergency response personnel. Do NOT re-enter a building, unless informed it is safe to do so by emergency personnel.

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Devlin Hodges is a man of many talents. Since SSC started at Samford University in January, Devlin has been overseeing the supply room, issuing and delivering supplies, in addition to leading the student workers in the dorm furniture moves. Outside of SSC, most people know Devlin as Quarterback for the Samford University Bulldogs who has set 21 school records so far. While outstanding in these two roles, there is another record book Devlin has been adding his

name to. Hodges has loved duck hunting ever since he was a kid. Years ago, he picked up a duck call and became proficient at mastering different calls. At the age of 13, Hodges won the World Junior Duck Calling Championship and he has didn’t stopped there. Just this past weekend, Hodges took home the title at the State Of Alabama Duck Calling Championships. Guess that’s why so many people call him“Duck.”

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Grounds Tips for your Home: 2018 Years of Service Awards Now is the time to think about watering all trees, shrubs and perennials going into fall. This is the most critical time of year to ensure that they are properly watered as they store nutrients for winter survival. Deep infrequent soakings are much more effective NAME NAME YEARS OF SERVICE Mickey Deeds 30 Justin Bolli 25 Gary Cymbala

YEARS OF SERVICE

Patricia Canada

10

10

Sherry Bailey

20

Calandra Davis

10

than splashes of water. Slow is better; use soaker hoses with very low pressure or drip irrigation. For my veggie garden I’m going to clean out all summer veggies, turn the soil, let it set for 3 weeks, and then plant my cabbage, kale and collards for winter.

Yolanda Blackwell

20

Deadra Evans

10

Sheally Bush

20

Alvin Johnson

10

Barbara Johnson

20

Suzanne Long

10

Jerry Last

20

Wendy Moore

10

Christine Johnson

15

Zach Moore

10

Tracie Cigliano

15

Andrew Thacker

10

Happy Gardening! George Bernardon Regional VP of Grounds

Andrew Aultman

10

Debra Willis

10

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Article by: John Post, Director of Public Information Photo by: Rachel Putman, Photographer, Marketing and Communications Office

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith students returning to campus for fall classes may have noticed a surprising addition to the east side of campus. This fall, UAFS is piloting the use of a Husqvarna automatic lawnmower, also known as an automower, on a strip of grass between the Boreham Library and the Pendergraft Health Sciences Center, approximately 7,000 square feet of grass. Each weekday at 6 a.m., the lawnmower automatically turns on, cuts the stretch of grass hemmed in by boundary wire, and re-docks itself at the end of its run at around noon. In addition to convenience for both employees and students, the new technology also allows for educational opportunities for students, according to Matt Rich, grounds manager for UAFS and its contracted lawn service company Southeast Service Corp. This fall, Rich will teach lessons in Dr. Kiyun Han’s wireless systems course about the GPS technology employed by the machine. “In the class I hope to take apart the automower to show students the components and talk about how Bluetooth and GPS systems work on this machine and coordinate with the app,” Rich said. While automatic lawnmowers are still relatively new technology, Rich said the mower is safe

and has built-in mechanisms to prevent theft. Instead of the traditional blades like on push or riding lawnmowers, the automatic lawnmower uses three-inch box cutting blades that shave off around an eighth of an inch of grass. “It’s almost like a running weed eater,” he said. The electric motor also contributes to less sound, which is more convenient for campus. “One of the benefits we don’t think about is how quiet it is,” Rich said. “In the past, we’ve tried not to mow in the morning because it can be a distraction to students

on campus. Using technology like this and electric mowers that don’t make much noise allow us to use them at any time.” Additionally, Rich can track the mower’s location via GPS on his smartphone and will get an alert if the machine is taken outside of its boundary. If the trial lawnmower demonstrates proof of concept, Rich said they will look into purchasing two automowers in the spring for use on the intramural fields across Waldron Road, which is estimated to save the department more than 100 man hours of work each year.

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

As a result of working with sustainable irrigation services provider, Weathermatic, to upgrade the irrigation system on many of the TAMU System campuses, SSC Services for Education decided to partner with Weathermatic on their program called Save Water Give Life. The idea behind this campaign is that the water saved on campus is given to a community in desperate need of access to clean drinking water as 844 million people across the world lack access to this basic need. Weathermatic already had a partnership with a wonderful non-profit organization headquartered in the Houston area, Living Water International, and invited SSC to join the partnership. In 2016, SSC decided to implement a scholarship program for students at TAMU System campuses to partake in a Living Water trip, which entails building a water well for a community in need as well as teaching hygiene lessons. In 2016, SSC sent 2 student scholarship SSC in the Community

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

recipients to Nicaragua. Because of how successful the trip was and how much we believe in this worthwhile cause, in 2017, SSC decided to provide scholarship opportunities to 6 students to build a well in El Salvador. Just this past August 4-11, we sent 6 student scholarship recipients on a Living Water trip to Guatemala: Maureen McClellan and Razan Ghabin of Texas A&M University-College Station, Desiree Espericueta and Sasha Guzman of Texas A&M University-San Antonio, and Marilyn Dunn and Seif Hediya of Prairie View A&M University. SSC at TAMU Customer Relations Manager, Sarah Boreen, served as the trip’s leader. The team included the 6 aforementioned students, Ida Noack with Weathermatic and Lisa Gross with Associa. In the coming months we will be sharing with you the impact the initiative has made from the personal reflections of those involved.

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Sarah Boreen, SSC Team Leader:

Wow, what an incredible week this has been! The Guatemalan village we served is called El Amatillo, a community of approximately 800 people living in about 125 houses. El Amatillo has a K-6th grade school with an enrollment of about 135 students. The community is situated along a large river where many community members bathe, wash clothes, swim, play and spend holidays/ days off. The spot where Living Water chose to build the well is on a big grassy field-like area surrounded by houses and the school. This area serves as a center for the community, so it was the ideal location to build the well. I could use countless adjectives to describe the people of El Amatillo and how they treated our team. These precious people welcomed us with such generosity, hospitality, openness, friendship and true love. Though extremely poor, they shared what little they have with us. They graciously opened their homes and bathrooms to us and cooked lunch for us each day. The week was full of extremely touching moments that will forever be imprinted in my memory. One morning when the team and I arrived to the community, we exited the van and immediately noticed a little boy, Daniel, wearing a Texas A&M University t-shirt. I pointed him out right away to the two College Station students and we taught him how to do a “Gig ‘Em” thumb and promptly took photos. In that moment more than ever, we knew that this trip and experience was truly meant to be. I told his mother, Marta, that I work on the TAMU campus and that 2 of the students in our group attend school there. I told her we had been

ecstatic to see her son wearing the A&M shirt and I asked where it had come from. Marta told me that her sister had gotten it in a donated bag of clothing that came from Guatemala City. The Aggie spirit is indeed global! On our last day in the community, the well was finished and dedicated. Our team stood in a circle with a group of community members surrounding us. There were prayers, songs sung a cappella by a local woman, and sentiments by the community members to us and our team to the community. My parting words to the community best sum up how I feel about this whole experience (originally written

and said in Spanish; translated to English): Many thanks for your generosity and love that you have shown us this week. You all have given much more to us than I could’ve ever imagined. It’s been a pleasure to be here in your community, sharing this week with each other. I am most thankful for everything that happened this week! Thank you to the women of the community who cooked for us, the men of the community for all of your hard work on the well and to all of the children for their laughs, smiles and hugs. Each member of El Amatillo is so precious. May God bless you all with this well and with many more blessings. I love you!

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Seif Hediya, Student at Prairie View A&M University

How can a last-minute event change a man’s perspective of the world? The story started on the 30th of April. Approximately three hours before the first day of May, I realized the existence of a great opportunity that supports a great cause. SSC Services offered students from Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas A&M University-San Antonio a fully paid chance to volunteer, focusing on drilling a well and teaching hygiene classes, in Guatemala with Living Water Organization. I spent 30 minutes to search and acknowledge the water crisis in Guatemala. Several villages in Guatemala didn’t have access to clean water, and people, who had been living there, had to walk miles to get water. Analyzing the situation, I was sincerely shocked by this frightening condition. Hence, I decided to race the time to write and submit my application for the opportunity. After 15 days, I was notified of the acceptance of my application, and I was invited to an in-person interview. A day after the interview, I was selected as one of the students to volunteer in Guatemala. Visualizing the benefits of turning the well into tangible reality, I became so zealous to start this eye-opening, critical chapter of my life. The journey started when I met the other participants in the airport. By talking to them, I noticed that each person will offer me some knowledge that I wasn’t aware of. Each person had certain skills in broad, different topics. Additionally, the group was ethnically diverse which added a great quality for the group. After we arrived in Guatemala, I asked myself an important question. How different

the reality of the crisis from the internet? My perspective onsite was totally different! The village was so undeniably destitute! There was no access to clean water nearby! The condition didn’t only affect the humans there, but also the animals living in the village. The stray dogs were so skinny that their ribs were shown excessively! I realized that this poverty is a hard-hitting reality that must not be denied since we had been living in an advanced world. The journey continued when the drilling team started the first day of drilling the well. The people from the village were so eagerly ready to help with the drilling process. They worked so meticulously hard which shows how crucial the cause is to their case. The two onsite Living Water members, who process. I, personally, enjoyed the roles that I was given in the process. I will never forget how hard each one was working on the drilling to achieve the desired outcome. What really stood out is how everyone was able to communicate effectively, even though I and some other participants were lacking the knowledge of the Spanish language, and work together in harmony while putting their personal lives and emotions on the side. Each person offered some cognizance of the drilling process that I would indeed be forever grateful for. I truly grasped the idea of how diversity brought an advantage for the group. I will never forget how committed everyone to the water cause, and I will always be grateful for the experiences I gained. By participating in the Hygiene are from Guatemala, precisely organized the whole drilling

team, I saw how eager each person was to learn about the proper hygiene procedures. We utilized some easy skits, which was organized by a female onsite Living Water member, to teach the kids and the adults. What really made me happy is how each kid was smiling and laughing while being able to follow the educational procedure. Also, putting smiles on kids’ faces while seeing the underprivileged condition they are facing was a true remark in my life that I would never forget. In a nutshell, the people in the village showed us a great hospitality and generosity, and they offered us delicious food for our stay there. From this volunteering experience, I learned a lot of lessons that opened the door to me for other volunteering possibilities that I am willing to pursue. Lastly, the people in the village sincerely touched my heart with their beautiful smiles and kindness, and I am truly glad that we, as a great team, were able to provide clean water and explain to them proper hygiene procedures. Share your stories, and let us know how you get involved in your communities on campus, locally, and abroad!

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Spotlight Do you know someone looking to grow their career? Do you want to grow your spending money? The solution to both is to help SSC and Compass Group fill open positions!

REQ 212258 Custodial Manager

POSITION

LOCATION

Ridgeland, SC

212262 Plant Ops Mgr

Ridgeland, SC

212263 Ground Manager

Ridgeland, SC

212285 Dispatcher/Facility Admin

Ridgeland, SC

210495 Maintenance Mgr

Arkadelphia, AR

206834 Facility Director

Arkadelphia, AR

207021 Custodial Manager

Arkadelphia, AR

207020 Grounds Manager

Arkadelphia, AR

200763 Construction PM

Commerce, TX

192966 Construction PM

College Station, TX

208100 Unit Director

Richmond, VA

Richmond, VA Refer and earn an extra $750+

176350 Unit Director-Floor Care

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SSC | SERVICE SOLUTIONS | NEWSLETTER | JULY 2018

Join us in congradulating the newest graduating class of MITs:

Anthony Wassel, Zaria Livingston, Chris Blair, Coulter Sims, Croix Sedillo, Josh Gore, William Brown, Khalil Allen. We had 8 MITs on the Student Track and one Early in Career. They all completed 12 weeks of on site learning and training in conjunction with online programs and projects, all culminating in week long live event in Compass offices in Charlotte. Chris has placed at Richland Co, Khalil at Kigore College, and Josh at Henry, Co GA. Two more are in the progress of placement and the others are transferring to STAT Team till they find a permanent home.

Would you like to contribute to next month’s newsletter? Please contact us with your idea! SSC Service Solutions PO Box 52370 Knoxville, TN 37950 865-546-8880 Contact@sscserv.com www.sscserv.com

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