Finals:
I wanted to thank everyone for their efforts dealing with our first burst of winter. You have done a good job of keeping our buildings accessible. The return of winter also reminds us that finals will soon be here. We will be working with our partners from the Office of Classroom Management (OCM) to provide our students and faculty with a great finals experience.

Study days are scheduled for December 13 and 16 and finals themselves will be conducted from December 14 through 20. During this time we must do everything possible to limit disruptions (noise, strong odors, HVAC outages, construction etc.) in and around classrooms and classroom buildings. Buildings should be unlocked by 7:00 a.m., with classrooms prepared by 8:00 a.m. and then remain open until 10:00 p.m., both during week days and the weekend.

Our District Directors will be identifying which individuals will be responsible for unlocking and locking doors and Mike Garza will compile this list to share with OCM.

Thanks for being especially tuned in to student and faculty needs.

District Administrative Support:
As we role out our new organization structure in 2008, we are asking all of our District leadership to spend more time in the field working with customers and staff. We will also expect them to provide more information to help customers with planning and FM in our decision making. To assist in making that happen, each District and Central Services will be hiring office administrative support. These positions are the last of the district positions to be posted and will have a broad range of responsibilities including accounting, office services, contract management, student employment, card access, equipment and supply procurement, employee data management and budget development to name a few. The positions are posted here if you are interested in applying https://employment.umn.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1196959355456.

FM Loses a Friend:
As many of you are aware, FM lost a very dedicated employee when Paul Lake passed away last week. He worked for the U for 33 years and brought a passion to the job that we should all emulate. We recognized that passion earlier this fall by naming the state’s third largest chiller plant the “Paul Lake Chiller Plant.” Paul was an inspiration for many folks. Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, rather than mope around and curse his fate, he said “I’m a lot luckier then those guys on the Viet Nam War Memorial.” Having served in Viet Nam, one of Paul’s final wishes was to visit the memorial. He and his family fulfilled that wish before his death.

There are many ways to judge a man but two of the most telling are his children and his legacy. For those of you who have met Paul’s kids (or worked with Jason while he was at the U), you can see what a success he’s been. From a legacy perspective, please consider this: Paul had an idea. Puzzling away at it one Saturday, he called Marshall Skule trying to figure out how to provide back up cooling and power for the Health Science District’s research animals. Twenty-four hours later he called Marshall back with a solution. That Monday, they started writing it up and worked out a plan. The project received funding, has been started and will be done April 2008. Upon completion, Paul’s idea will be safeguarding critical research that will impact lives for generations to come. That is a legacy anyone would be proud to leave.

Mike