When students returned from summer vacation, they were greeted by drastic changes made by Campus Care, including equipment upgrades and landscape improvements.
Emily Krueger, the new director of Campus Care, explained some of the changes that occurred after the contract for Campus Care was transferred to Aramark last March.
“Part of our [Aramark’s] responsibility with taking on this contract is to bring new technology and innovation,” Krueger said.
One of the ways Aramark is fulfilling this responsibility is by introducing new ways of cleaning, such as “Blue Cleaning,” with a system called Hydris. This new method is environmentally and financially efficient; it uses distilled water and mineral tablets to create cleaners that are hypoallergenic and eco-friendly.
Krueger explained that Hydris works similarly to a dish washer or washing machine. She puts tablets into the machine which “look like white hockey pucks or pool chemicals, but they’re basically salt.” These minerals combine with the water to create a cleaning solution.
“It cleans as well as bleach, basically,” Krueger said. “It smells a little like bleach, but it’s not bleach, it’s water.”
This new method of cleaning has not only pushed Corban’s campus toward being more environmentally friendly, but it has also helped Campus Care financially by cutting costs for cleaning by 70 percent. This gives Campus Care more time to improve other aspects of the campus as well.
Some of the more outstanding changes that have happened around campus are the improvements of the landscape. The gold fish pond that was by the library entrance has been replaced by a sitting area. There are also new, repaved sidewalks and stairs in front of the library.
Dawson Stubblefield, a student and Aramark employee, said, “Improving the campus makes it look like we care about our campus when we have events or visitors.”
These superficial changes have not only improved campus, but they have also allowed more opportunities for community to grow on campus.
“Since other people are working hard and putting in the effort to make the campus look good, more students will put effort into helping it remain looking good,” Stubblefield said.
Lauren Moore, Prewitt RA, has also viewed these changes as ways to become closer as a community.
“I really like how people that work for Campus Care now have polos that have their names on them,” Moore said. “It makes it way more personal; I now know their names so I can start conversations with them.”
“Having new places to sit and nicer areas creates opportunities for people to hang out, and this makes the campus more inviting,” Moore added.
“Corban drives that train,” Krueger said. “We’re [Campus Care] the ones who facilitate it, and any time you can create a space that more than one person enjoys spending time in, I think you have already succeeded.”
With new leadership and future projects, Campus Care plans to continue improving not just the campus, but also the community.