Dear Brooklyn College staff, faculty and students,

We are now at the 60-day mark of our 90-Day Facilities Challenge. Things are going quite well. Here are some highlights of what, together, we have accomplished:

  • Except for a bathroom door we are trying to repair that may need to be replaced, we have fixed all other bathroom issues. As you may recall, we surveyed all 236 bathrooms on campus and assessed 1,634 fixtures, as well as the general conditions of each bathroom. We found 529 issues with fixtures and 228 issues with general conditions. All 529 bathroom fixtures were repaired and 227 of the 228 of the general issues were resolved. That’s a 99.9% success rate in 60 days: Thank you, facilities team!
  • We have trained our custodial supervisors on our new “BC Fix-it” app and they have begun making entries when they conduct regular bathroom inspections. Our plumbers and other trades will also be using BC Fix-it to indicate when something is repaired. Mandisa Washington and Anatoliy Gamaylo in our ITS department developed the BC Fix-it app and its infrastructure. Thank you Mandisa and Anatoliy!
  • I have begun to review the results of the recent Facilities Survey that many of you took. While I am pleased that 91% of you are satisfied with our grounds and almost 42% have noticed improvement over the last few months, we still have a lot of work to do. In the fall, I will schedule meetings with faculty, staff, and students to hear directly from you. We will develop new strategies to address your concerns. Thank you for engaging with us.
  • We are installing five new Water Bottle Hydration Stations across campus. These stations were funded by students themselves, through the participatory budgeting process. This is a great example of how students and administrators can work collaboratively. Thank you, students!
  • Now that we are approaching the end of the 90-Day Facilities Challenge, our next campaign will be: You Matter To Us. As the College embarks on its new five-year Strategic Plan, the entire Finance and Administration team will focus on supporting our success. I will send more on this new campaign when the fall semester begins.

I wish you a great summer, and I look forward to seeing everyone when fall classes resume.

Respectfully yours,

Alan Gilbert
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration