Spring commencement is one of the most special days at the university. Campus is flooded with graduates’ family and friends and we want it to be its best. F&O teams play many roles before and during commencement to ensure that campus is beautiful and functional. Here are some highlights.
Grounds crews spruce up priority areas of campus, such as the Diag and Ingalls Mall. They mulch, seed and edge lawns, and pick up litter. These tulips were planted last fall, creating a stunning backdrop just in time for the many photo ops that go along with commencement.
Matt Klein, a groundskeeper, power washes the Diag benches—taking them from weathered to wow! Grounds staff also power wash trash cans and building signs.
The lead up to commencement is full of events celebrating the end of the school year. The F&O Events team is responsible for issuing permits for all outdoor events, which keeps them very busy! Here, Chris Riggs of F&O Events talks with Alumni Center staff Tamara Rosinski and Ashleigh Hardy at an end-of-semester event their organization hosted.
The F&O Sign Shop fabricates 20-30 new signs each year. In total, they place and retrieve about 240 signs! The info is crucial for letting everyone know where to go and what to do.
Installation is part of this big job. The day of commencement, Sign Shop staff transport all the materials to the stadium and set them up. Here, Sign Painter Nick Scott installs banners.
Behind the scenes, in this unassuming building, EHS Fire Safety staff monitor conditions from the Fire Command Center. It enables staff to monitor alarms and coordinate with other entities.
During crowded events, it’s undesirable for a fire alarm to trigger lights and sound that could cause panic, especially for a false alarm or localized issue. So staff like Duane Lee, a senior fire inspector, monitor incoming alarms to determine the exact location to dispatch field staff. If there’s a need to sound the alarm, he can activate the relevant zone on this gray fire alarm control panel. “The intent is to quickly respond, size up and determine if it merits an escalated response,” Duane says. “Being part of big events is one of the highlights of being in Fire Safety.”