Lots of Reasons to Smile

April is all about our guiding principle of laughter. I have a lot to be happy and smiling about these days, as the awards and milestones accomplished by the FAS Division keep coming in.

Another year passed by and I’m proud that our campus won Recyclemania for the sixth year in a row! As you may know, RecycleMania was launched in 2001 as a challenge between two universities to increase recycling on their campuses. It has grown to 607 colleges and universities, spanning 49 states and Canada. This year’s 10-week contest occurred from January 17 to March 27. Our campus claimed the Grand Champion title with a percentage of overall waste recycled of 71.82%. I am proud that recycling has become a way of life at our university not just during this contest period, but throughout the year. Many thanks go to Gary Cinnamon, Ed Johnson, the Facility Services Blue Crew: Cesar Aguilar, Danny Aguilar, Jim Dimartino, Rafael Lopez, Gilbert Munoz, Mike Tili, and Carl Hanson, everyone in Facility Services, and our entire campus community.

I’m sure you have all seen our beautiful new parking structure. It’s almost complete and will open in May. It just received the “Project of the Year” award from the American Public Works Association. Parking Structure 1 will provide spaces for 1640 vehicles, and another 200 spaces in its outside lots. It’s six stories tall, and connects to the campus via a pedestrian bridge. The floors are color coded inside for way finding. Some other fun facts: the structure will provide 30 Alternative Fuel Vehicle parking spaces, has 22 emergency blue phones, four elevators, and 52 security cameras. Many of you assisted with this project including Belinda Garcia, Robert Williams, Brad Fenton, Dora Knoblock, Doug Miller, Linda Leiter (retired Associate VP), and staff from Parking and Commuter Services, University Police Department, Planning, Design and Construction, IITS, and Facility Services. Thank you for your creativity, dedication, and excellent work on this project.

With all our incredible accomplishments, I can’t wait to celebrate at this year’s Spring Fling. I hope all of you join us this Friday in recognizing and rewarding our fine employees for their outstanding contributions to the campus. Candace even promises to wear matching shoes!