Campus Operations Program Allows Staff To Maintain Full-Time Hours During Departmental Downtime

Following the departure of students at the end of the academic year, some departments experience a lull, while others desperately need extra hands. The Campus Ops Cross-Utilization Program — or Cross-U — allows staff from departments with a reduced workload to assist those with temporary staffing needs.

“There are times during the summer that departments like dining services do not have the demand they have during the school year, while facilities is busier, preparing the dorms for students in the fall and maintaining them for camps and conferences, Reunion, and Special Olympics,” said Allison Steele Hicks, associate director of communications and professional development for University Facilities. “They have to flip pretty much every single residential location on campus. It’s a lot.” Through the Cross-U program, interested dining staff can keep their full-time hours while helping departments in facilities and campus business services avoid hiring external contractors.

Though staff transfers between departments during the summer had been happening informally for years, the program officially launched in 2020 during the pandemic when staff, faculty, and students were largely learning and working remotely. Hicks, who oversees the program, drew from her experience at Disney to implement the program on campus.

Participation in Cross-U is voluntary, and some staff prefer the time off during the summer. But for the 15 to 20 annually who want the hours, Hicks meets with them in the spring to explore their interests — and with department managers to assess their needs. “We don’t just blindly match people,” she said. “I want to make sure both the host department and participant are set up for success.”

The program’s primary goal is to help staff maintain their hours, but it also allows staff to develop new skills, learn about areas of campus, and build relationships. For some, it’s even a chance to explore a career change.

Stephen Birch participated in Cross-U during the pandemic to meet new people and put in extra hours. His assignment was emergency maintenance at the boiler plant. The boiler plant team was “more than happy to teach me and help me grow as a tradesman,” Birch said. “I left having learned more about campus than I had in my first four years here.” When a position opened up at the plant a few months later, Birch applied. “It was the smoothest job transition of my life,” he said.

Today, Birch operates boilers and works with departments across campus. “Cross-U helped me find where I best fit in the web and could best utilize my skills to help the community.”