UTSA
Physical Plant and Information Technology Volunteers Take to the Highways
When Joe Rubio, assistant director of maintenance and custodial services, put out the call for physical plant volunteers for a new traveling assignment, he had more than enough to choose from.
But the project wasn't a pleasure trip, the volunteers were offering to drive all over the state and make deliveries to students whose property had been stored as a part of the Chisholm Hall cleanup situation.
Rubio says they initially started sending the students belongings back by UPS and Federal Express and found that the bill ranged between $400 and $600 dollars per student. After studying the costs, Rubio decided that if UTSA physical plant employees made the trip, the cost would be about $100 dollars per student along with the driver costs for a rental truck, overnight lodging,, gas and meal money.
Rubio decided to put a sign-up sheet for 18 volunteers and 20 people signed up representing a variety of areas of the physical plant operations. With the drivers in place, Rubio decided to do an initial run in the San Antonio and Austin areas. The drivers made 31 deliveries without any problems.
"We have had positive feedback in three different ways," said Rubio. "First, the students were glad to see their property come from a UTSA employee in a uniform instead of an outside delivery person handling their things. Second, the delivery teams placed the belongings in a garage or another room in the house depending on the students preference. Third, it gave our employees a chance to interact directly with the students as they traveled througout the state.
Rubio says they have made about 85 deliveries with the only problem relating to a truck getting stuck in the mud. A neighbor of one of the students at the location assisted in extricating the vehicle.
Student Afffairs has contacted the students letting them know that a driver is on the way to their homes and a follow up call was made by the driver when they were about an hour away from the location. If no one is at the house, a note was left indicating a delivery attempt was made and how the students could pick up their property.
Rubio said,"We are trying to put a litte positive effort on a situation that has received a lot of negative attention in the community."
Chisholm Hall Student Delivery Personnel
1. Richard Hernandez- Quality Assurance (Coordinator)
2. Mike Badillo- Support Services (Coordinator)
3. Juan Macias- FS Purchasing (Needs Coordinator)
4. Gabriel Garcia- FS Stores
5. Fred Weidner- Grounds
6. Theraran Blakes- Maintenance
7. Juan Villaral- Grounds
8. Armando Aoolinar- Maintenance
9. Jesse Ortiz- Maintenance
10. Jose Hernandez- Housekeeping
11. Jacob Castillo- Grounds
12. Joe D. Martinez- Grounds
13. Mike Zamaron- Sign Shop
14. Joe Arredondo- Maintenance
15. Jason Skow- Telephone Services (Information Technology)
16. Brock Jones- Telephone Services (Information Technology)
17. Erik Galvan- Telephone Services (Information Technology)
18. Jesse Rojas- Housekeeping