In order to ensure students could safely live and learn in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple UVA and Facilities Management teams helped assemble and maintain isolation and quarantine housing throughout the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters.
The University’s isolation and quarantine program ensured sick students and close contacts of someone with a positive diagnosis were separated from others and provided them with housing, meals, medical care and other resources. The program was led by Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Marsh Pattie and supported by multiple departments from across the University, including Facilities Management’s Housing Facilities team.
Housing Facilities was instrumental in cleaning and maintaining the isolation and quarantine housing, which, at its peak, involved around 1,000 residence hall beds on Grounds. This required the maintenance and custodial team members to work nights, days, weekends and even snow days in challenging circumstances.
In some cases, custodial team members were asked to clean entire residence halls following a positive diagnosis, requiring after-hours work in the evening or early morning after residents were moved out of a dorm. Emergency repairs required maintenance team members to enter housing occupied by students with a positive diagnosis, requiring special procedures to help ensure maximum safety of staff members.
Left to right: Roland Zumrunn (Photo by Jennifer Watson / User Experience & Engagement), Tanyia Moore (Video still by University Communications), Terry Maynard (Photo by Keith Woodson / Occupational Programs)
As an example of the innovative problem solving that was necessary, one evening the Housing Facilities team learned of a clogged shower drain in Courtenay House in a suite occupied by 10 students in isolation. A team led by Associate Director of Housing Facilities Rollie Zumbrunn and Maintenance Supervisor Senior Terry Maynard collaborated with colleagues from Health System Physical Plant to develop a plan and line up personal protective equipment so that the issue could be safely resolved, eliminating the need to relocate sick residents at a time when spaces were filling up fast.
The pan-University team supporting isolation and quarantine procedures was honored in May 2021 with a Hoos Building Bridges team award, celebrating cross-disciplinary partnerships and projects among UVA employees.
In addition to Housing Facilities support, additional Facilities Management and Office of the University Building Official (OUBO) staff members supported these efforts. OUBO staff worked closely with Facilities Management staff to address required maintenance of some residence halls to ensure they could be available as isolation and quarantine housing if needed. Geospatial Engineering Services also created a mapping tool of locations of the isolation and quarantine locations allowing for tracking of capacity.