1. THE POST WWW.THEPOSTATHENS.COM 3WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
Post Modern
CHECK OUT POST MODERN EVERY WEDNESDAY @thepostculture
‘HEROES OF THE HALLS’
Custodial workers in the residence halls go ‘above and
beyond’ to take on the role of pseudo-parents
R
akhi Panjabi Ihiga only spent
one year, 1999 to 2000, at
Ohio University as part of an
exchange program with Hong
Kong Baptist University. Fifteen years
later, after getting married and living in
Hong Kong, Prague and now Colorado,
she still remembers Trina Woods.
Woods has worked at OU since 1992
— the first half of her career in Culi-
nary Services, the second in Resident
Custodial Services.
Ihiga worked with Woods in Nelson
Dining Hall three mornings per week
and said she “dreaded” when Woods
wasn’t there because they would often
chat while prepping the salad bar.
“Trina kind of became like my mom
away from home,” Ihiga, 36, said. “She
helped me through a lot that year be-
cause it was the first time I was away
from home and was so far away and
experiencing so many new things, and
she was always there to listen and to
advise.”
Now 59 years old, Woods said she
could be a grandma to the students.
Yet, her parental feelings haven’t sub-
sided. They’ve grown now that she
interacts with students in their homes
rather than in the dining hall work en-
vironment.
“Say if mom and dad dropped you
off, I feel responsible to take care of
you while you’re in the building and
on the green and make sure … you’re
doing what you need to do,” Woods, a
custodial worker in Ewing Hall, said.
“It’s just a good feeling that you get ‘em
back home.”
Neitherthatresponsibilitynorthose
relationships are part of the custodial
worker job description, according to
Pete Trentacoste, executive director of
Housing and Residence Life, though it
has become “more of the rule … as op-
posed to the exception.”
“There’s a deep connection for a
lot of them in terms of, like, ‘this is
my building. These are my students,’ ”
Trentacostesaid.“Itgoesaboveandbe-
yondjustasimple‘I’mheretodoajob.’”
Because of that, Trentacoste called
the custodial workers “the heroes of
the halls.”
THE JOB
University Custodial Services is
split into two segments. Custodial Ser-
vices cleans the academic buildings
and works in three shifts: 5 a.m. to 1:30
p.m., 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and 9 p.m. to
5:30 a.m. Resident Custodial Services
cleans the residence halls and mainly
works from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Both po-
sitions come with a 30-minute unpaid
lunch and scheduled breaks, accord-
ing to Steve Mack, director of facilities
management.
A typical custodial worker is identi-
fied as a “CW-I.” CW-IIs are “lead work-
ers,” Mack said, a job which comes with
an increase in pay and responsibilities.
Woods was a CW-II in James Hall for
three years before returning to a CW-I
position in Ewing.
Mack said the custodial staff has
more than 200 workers — including
temporary service “utility workers” —
with 89 in the 43 dorms. CW-Is hired
before the most recent contract in 2013,
Mack said, earn about $14 to $19 per
hour, in addition to benefits. Anyone
hired after that contract, he said, earns
about $13 to $16 per hour.
Every day in the residence halls,
the custodial workers clean the lobby,
communal bathrooms, hallways, en-
trances and some outdoor spaces.
In newer dorms with suite-style
rooms, such as Bromley and the “side
five,” Mack said they only clean the
common spaces.
“A clean environment tends to re-
late to safe environment, and we also
are, where we clean bathrooms, main-
taining public health,” he said.
Woods added that she often re-
moves trash, sweeps, vacuums and
washes walls or water fountains.
Debbie Dowler, a CW-I who has
worked on West Green for five years,
said she likes to maintain a daily rou-
tine to accommodate the residents and
their schedules.
“It is their home, and we like for
them to feel comfortable,” the 36-year-
old said.
Custodial workers also call in work
orders, disinfect rooms of residents
who are sick with infectious illnesses
and alert staff to any problems such as
vandalism or damages.
Barry Douglas, 49, worked in Cus-
todial Services for 10 years before
switching to the resident segment
about three years ago. Although he still
cleaned bathrooms in the academic
buildings, Douglas said he also cleaned
chalkboards and chairs and often had
to buff or scrub floors.
Obtaining a position as a custodial
worker in Resident Custodial Services
can be challenging. When posts are
available, a bidding system kicks into
gear. Those already within the segment
have first choice, Dowler said, then the
position becomes open to employees in
outside departments.
Seniority is also a factor, Woods
said. Luxuries, such as elevators, also
influence which halls are bid on.
Woods added that the number of
custodial workers needed per dorm de-
pends on the square footage of the hall.
For instance, she is the only house-
keeper in Ewing Hall.
It took Dowler two years to get into
Resident Custodial Services and out of
Culinary Services, where she worked
for about 10 years. Many others, such
as Douglas, work in Custodial Services
before moving to the resident segment
because it comes with better, more
stable hours.
“My daughter was young, and I
wanted to be there for her. I knew she
would be into sports. … It’s kinda hard
to do that when you work night shift,”
Tina Brown, a CW-I who works with
Douglas in James Hall and previously
worked in Custodial Services, said. “It’s
always family-driven to want to be in a
more stable position.”
Due to gender stereotypes, men
aren’t the typical image of a housekeep-
er, but Barry Arbaugh, a CW-I for nearly
18 years, said it doesn’t mean one is a
better custodian.
“I’m more of a mechanic. I never
would have seen myself as a person
that cleaned,” Arbaugh, who worked
in Jefferson Hall for 10 years but now
works in Read Hall, said. “But from
my standpoint, any of my bathrooms
would compare with any of the fe-
males’ bathrooms.”
Headmitted,however,thatheisn’ta
fan of the showers.
“I hate wet feet,” the 47-year-old
said.
Though the grease at the end of his
fingers proves his affinity for cars —
he had worked on an ’88 Corvette for
16 years — Arbaugh prefers Resident
Custodial Services because it allows
him to better juggle his work and play
time, especially after he served as a
flight line jet engine mechanic in the
Air Force for four years.
“(In the Air Force) it just didn’t seem
likeIevergotoffwork,andIdidn’twant
that for the rest of my life,” he said.
Before joining the resident seg-
ment, Arbaugh worked in Custodial
Services for seven years. He admits
that he doesn’t have the most “glori-
ous” job title, but Arbaugh pushes back
against the stereotype that the position
is for the uneducated.
“Somebody has to do it,” he said.
“This professor … asked me, ‘Barry, do
you ever think about going to go back
to college and becoming more than just
a custodian?’ And I said, ‘Well, when I
was a jet engine mechanic in the Air
Force, it was a very stressful job. If
my broom crashes and burns, nobody
dies.’
He likened it to the way people treat
those who work at McDonald’s.
“You go through McDonald’s, and
if you don’t get it right, you’re like, ‘Oh,
where’d that bonehead graduate from?’
” Arbaugh said. “But you don’t ever
think about the times you got it right.”
CARING WHILE CLEANING
A week before Halloween, Sue
Lane, 65, was getting ready to buy can-
dy for her “kids,” the residents of Dou-
gan House.
“We’re the mom away from home,”
Lane, a CW-I for about a year who
worked in Culinary Services for 18
years prior, said. “They see a familiar
face every day. They know that this
lady is gonna walk in, and she’s gonna
smile at me, and she’s gonna say ‘good
morning’ to me. And whether I’m hav-
ing a good day, bad day … she’s still
gonna smile — just like mama does.”
Mack said he often sees the custo-
dial workers take a parental approach.
“Sometimesit’snicetotalktosome-
body that’s not directly responsible for
anything in your life,” he said. “Some-
times it’s hard to go to (a residential
assistant or director) with an issue be-
cause it might be questionable, … but
you can go to a custodian and talk to
them about anything — except maybe,
‘Hey, I’m the guy that made the mess.’ ”
During her freshman year, Megan
Witmer lived next to Arbaugh’s office
and said she would talk to him multiple
times a day.
“He was like the dad of Jeff Hall,”
the now junior studying journalism
said. “He would always look out for
you. … I don’t think I would have been
happy here without him.”
Now that Witmer is an RA in Bush
Hall, she said she tries to emulate Ar-
baugh’s kindness. Witmer and Arbaugh
don’t talk as frequently as before, but
she said when they randomly see each
other, they talk for hours.
“He can start having a conversation
with someone like no time has passed.
Having someone like that who just
knew you for a year, remember your
name, your face — that speaks a lot of
words,” Witmer said. “That’s something
I want to be like.”
Arbaugh said he just tries to talk to
students about life.
“We’re all here with the same mis-
sion in mind, which is that we want
students to succeed, graduate and live
great, productive lives,” Trentacoste
said. “And I think that our housekeep-
ers are no different in what they do.”
“We’re the mom away from home. They see a
familiar face every day. They know that this lady
is gonna walk in, and she’s gonna smile at me,
and she’s gonna say ‘good morning’ to me. And
whether I’m having a good day, bad day … she’s
still gonna smile — just like mama does.”
SUE LANE
CUSTODIAL WORKER AT DOUGAN HOUSE
EMMA HOWELLS | PHOTO EDITOR
Top: Read Hall custodial worker Barry Arbaugh reflects on the 25 years he has spent working in the job for Ohio University.
The sign in the background was signed and given to him by the 2005-06 Jefferson Hall residents as a gift for his services.
Left: Custodial worker Debbie Dowler vacuums the second floor of James Hall. Dowler has worked on West Green for five
years. Middle: Arbaugh mops the floor of the Read Hall first floor women’s bathroom as a part of his duties as a custodial
worker. Right: Arbaugh wipes down the walls of a men’s bathroom in Read Hall on East Green.
MERYL GOTTLIEB | CULTURE EDITOR
@BUZZLIGHTMERYL
MG986611@OHIO.EDU