UK Physical Plant Restructured

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 10, 2018) — "They love the University of Kentucky, they are passionate about what they do, they are loyal, and they want to do a good job." Mary Vosevich, the vice president and chief facilities officer of Facilities Management had nothing but positive things to say about her staff. Vosevich has recently implemented the restructuring of the campus Physical Plant Division in order to become a more effective workplace. The process began nine months ago.

With the new system in place, campus is divided into four separate areas. Previously it was divided into eight areas with non-assigned workers. Each area now has its own set of buildings Physical Plant staff members are responsible for along with specific individuals for each area. Each new area also has a local workshop staffed with a manager, supervisors and technicians. More specialized trades such as painting, masonry and elevators will not be assigned to areas due to the fact their tasks are uniform across campus.

Those on campus won't see any visible changes, but they will experience a more effective process. "The familiarity of the buildings helps us be more efficient and more effective" Vosevich said.  This allows technicians to focus on a smaller subset of the campus buildings and increase their expertise of those buildings.  In addition, more of their time is spent resolving issues while less time is spent traveling across campus.” 

The Physical Plant Division expects to see an increase in customer satisfaction and productivity in the future.

The process to request work or project estimates will remain the same.

Along with the restructuring, a Facilities Management Building Coordinator Program will be implemented as well as customer service training for all the employees in the division.

For a full list of all the buildings in each area, contacts for each area and a visual map visit https://www.uky.edu/facilities/facilities-maintenance-areas.